![]() But his first experience airborne proved to be rather sketchy with the instructor taking Taylor aloft, flying round the airfield a few times while putting the plane through a few turns and subtle maneuvers and leaving Taylor in utter confusion. ![]() Taylor had anticipated being given a more ordered, systematic introduction to the theories of flight. This entailed him being led by his instructor to a Maurice Farman pusher aircraft, which, in appearance looked much like a fragile box kite with a small, narrow bathtub-shaped cockpit, fixed landing gear and wings. For instance, upon arriving in Britain in the latter part of 1916 from Australia, Taylor, after gaining acceptance into the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was sent to Netheravon for his initial flight training. It represents a way for the reader to connect with a distant time when aviation was in its infancy and the perils of flight loomed large on a regular basis. 'Sopwith Scout 7309', which was originally published about 50 years ago, is a rare book that, to my knowledge, has never been republished. And luckily enough, several months ago I came across this first-hand account by the pioneer Australian airman, Patrick Gordon Taylor, who had been a fighter pilot on the Western Front during the spring and summer of 1917. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.įrom the time I was a preteen, I have had an abiding interest in First World War aviation and the people who played a part in its development. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. Click ‘Customise Cookies’ to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. If you agree, we’ll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements. Presumably all the mods have added weight.We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice. Of course, air suspension would sort these niggles out but then it would become an Audi Allroad and cost about £15 grand more. You get extra wind noise at speed, too, courtesy of that lofty stance. This means lumps and bumps in the road unsettle the cabin more than in the standard car. To counter the extra roll induced by raising the body from its wheels, Skoda has firmed up the suspension. On-road ability has had to be compromised in the transformation to off-roader. We drove it round a bumpy and hilly snow field at a ski resort and it coped admirably. Like the four-wheel drive Octavia Combi, the Scout uses a Haldex multi-plate clutch to transmit drive to the rear wheels only when it’s needed. But that raised ride height and four-wheel-drive will help you down the ruts of a muddy lane without getting stuck. But let’s face it, you’re never going to climb mountains in the Octavia Scout. It’ll probably do about as much in the rough as most people will ever need. And there’s a chunky grab handle in front of the passenger which, bearing in mind the car’s modest abilities off-road, may be taking the rugged 4×4 theme a bit too far. There’s plenty of other kit such as automatic headlamps and windscreen wipers. There’s a leather-wrapped steering wheel and leather around the gearlever gaiter, too. Inside, it’s like being in a top-of-the-range Octavia and then some. ![]() It’s got foglamps and silver-coloured skid plates to protect the underside from any errant kerbs around town. ![]() And those chunky plastic body mouldings that run from front to back help, too. Lifting a car by four centimetres might not sound much, but it gives the rather bland Octavia a darn sight more presence on the road. ![]() The result actually looks quite sensible. With this model, it’s taken the Octavia 4×4 estate and made it longer, wider and higher by raising the ride height and adding extra body kit. It’s Skoda’s way of describing mildly tweaked ‘off-road’ versions of its cars. View all Skoda Reviews Skoda Octavia Scout: sounds a bit Dib Dib Dib? ![]()
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