Colin van Geffen ~ Historian, artist and public speaker

Today I’m going to interview Colin van Geffen who has been a wonderful support to me throughout writing Ancasta Guide me Swiftly Home, not only in points of local aviation history in the Solent area but in designing the covers of my first two novels from the Riduna Series. If you need an artist or public speaker he’s your man! (details at the end of the post)

BACKGROUND

After spending thirty years working in industry Colin became a self employed Illustrator / Artist, covering a wide range of subjects from Animals and Aviation, to Maritime, Landscapes, Portraits – in fact most subjects in a variety of styles from cartoon to formal, and in a choice of media from pencil, pen & ink, or painted in either watercolour or acrylics. As well as commissioned paintings (eg forRE Regiment to paint the unveiling by The Lady Soames of D-Day Memorial (Arromanches)) Colin  has designed many series of Christmas Cards for local organisations.

In the last decade Colin has worked at Solent Sky Aviation Museum, Southampton and at Calshot Castle but he has also always taken an active part in various community projects including the Fawley Historians, Bournemouth Red Arrows Association, Solent Aviation Art Society and the Poole Flying Boats Celebration. You can the results of one of his contributions where he researched, collected & created visual displays of aviation history (sea planes & flying boats) for permanent display at the former RAF Station Calshot. 

Welcome to my blog Colin. Thank you for joining us!

Have you always been interested in flying boats? Was it living at Calshot that inspired you and why?

>> I’ve has a lifelong interest in aviation & developed a special interest in flying boats after I had the rare opportunity to fly on one in 1976 (my first ever flight) when it arrived at Calshot – a former RAF flying boat station, which is only a few miles from my home in the New Forest. I didn’t know what to expect (& couldn’t be called a good sailor) but the experience was unlike anything I had ever done before. I never imagined that I would still be talking & writing about it over 35 years later.

What a wonderful memory and since you now give many talks about The Schneider Trophy. Why do you think it is so important that we remember it?

>> I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations of the last Schneider Trophy Contest, as it took place close to my home. The more I learned about it – the evolution of the aircraft & their designers, the developments of new materials to produce better engines & strong airframes, the technical & political obstacles that had to be overcome, inspired me with a renewed interest in aviation as a specific subject plus the lack of reality that in school-day history lessons, that focussed only on names, dates, wars and laws.  I discovered the genius of those pioneer aviators – designers, engineers and pilots, and the contributions that their commitment to advancing the new discovery of aviation offered to the world. It is true to say that without the perception of Jacques Schneider in wishing to develop stronger, more capable seaplanes and flying boats, for the purposes of expanding business and travel around the world, our country could never have had the Hawker Hunter, or the Supermarine Spitfire, or the Rolls Royce engines that powered them. We can learn a great deal from studying our history and applying the lessons learned in a positive way; the Schneider Trophy story and its legacy are outstanding examples of what can be achieved from lessons learned.

Yes I agree. If history is relevant and interesting then it can begin a lifelong desire to learn, a very current topic of interest in the news!

I think in a way you’ve answered this question but since the whole of the area around the Solent is seeped in aviation history, do you have a particular interest in Supermarine and RJ Mitchel and why they should be remembered?

>> My interest in RJ Mitchell & his achievements at the Supermarine Aviation Company (& later Vickers Supermarine) are inevitably linked to my interest in the Schneider Trophy and both are sources of great interest for several of my Illustrated Talks, which I have researched, written & presented to audiences of wide interest groups, across the country and further afield, for many years. I do not consider myself to be an expert on Mitchell or Supermarine, but I have accumulated some specialist knowledge, along with other designers & manufacturers. I believe that it is essential not to perpetuate the fiction and myths, but to set them in context & to pass on the facts and the magic. I am not an engineer but have worked ‘on the periphery’ of the aviation industry, for some well-known & internationally respected companies. In passing on my acquired knowledge I aim to make it as interesting to my non-specialist audiences as it is to me and I always keep in mind the possibility that there could well be someone in the audience who knows more about the subject than I do – so I don’t attempt to baffle or bluff my way through, for the sake of expedience.

I must get down to one of your talks one day. I imagine, what with your passion for the subject and your sense of humour you must have audiences spellbound. Now returning to your artistic life and interests how long have you been painting? I know you paint all sorts of subjects but why do you think art is such a good way to represent the history of flight in the Solent?

>> I have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember – since I was first able to hold a pencil, I think (certainly my parents reminded me on several occasions of my early attempts to be creative on my newly-papered bedroom wall. I do have a vague memory of trying to find, or make, shapes within the random patterns on the paper. I won a couple of art competitions at school, in the days when manufacturers of household products or foods would encourage schools to participate in national competitions. I was also ‘invited’ to paint the scenery for the school play, at a time when I was unable to participate in sports lessons due to a long-term injury. Sitting in the playground helping classmates with their art homework was another pleasure, as was helping during art classes, when the art master was absent through illness. 
I found my art was commercially acceptable and having an interest in most things around me from landscapes, wildlife (and pets) people & portraits, marine & other transport subjects, I was and still am happy to cover most types of subjects, in a variety of styles and media (some samples of which can be seen on my websitewww.colinvangeffen.co.uk). I am proud to have examples of my work presented or on permanent display at several official sites including RAF Scampton, the home of the Red Arrows; in the HQ of 101 Squadron at RAF Brize Norton and in Portcullis House, London as well as aboard a number of Royal navy ships. 

But aviation is what inspires me most as it offers the challenges of such a variety of shapes, textures, colours, backgrounds and reflections and an essential understanding of each individual subject in detail. The aviation history of the Solent, so close to my home, offers a wide variety of choices in subject matter encompassing any and all of these criteria.

What a wonderful life you lead Colin inspiring and rewarding I should think. Many thanks for joining us today. I know that you would be very pleased to hear from any group who would like a talk or anyone interested in your artwork.

All the best to you and yours.

Colin van Geffen can be contacted on 023 8089 7793      or     cvg@hotmail.co.uk

His website it well worth browsing! www.colinvangeffen.co.uk

SUPERMARINE ~ Keeping the Name Alive

Where is the name ‘Supermarine’ still used today? Do they live up to their name of speed, quality and craftmenship? I had a great deal of fun researching this post but here are several firms and groups who keep the name ‘Supermarine’ alive!

Supermarine S.6B of Schneider T

SAILING:

A bit of poetic licence here but what amazing motor launches these ‘Supermarines’ are. The Supermarine Swordfish certainly looks as if it could fly, or must feel like it anyway.  The Swordfish has certainly earned the name Supermarine, like it’s predecessor, the Supermarine S.6B which  won the Schneider Trophy outright back in 1931.

SUNDRIES:

Bremont, a British firm who crafts pilot’s watches ‘to perfection’ has a Supermarine range.

http://www.bremont.com/chronometers/range/supermarine

SPORT:

Supermarine Rugby Club are recruiting now! Their website explains that the team started as a works team for Vickers Armstrong, who continued to make Spitfires when the Supermarine site in Woolston was bombed during WW2. Click on the link for a more detailed history.

Also keeping the tradition of Supermarine alive is The Swindon Supermarine Football Club suitably nicknamed The Marines, who are part of the Southern Division.

There’s The Supermarine Bowmen too, but I have not been able to find out why they took the name. Flight and skill certainly!

SPITFIRES:

Back to the famous Spitfire there is even a factory which makes spare parts especially for these well loved aircraft, also called ‘Supermarine.’ A well eared name since without them we would not see such wonderful air displays and The Battle of Britain flight passed.

I was also excited to hear in the paper a couple of years ago that an Australian firm had taken on the name ‘Supermarine Aircraft‘ to ‘keep the name alive’ and are actually building reproduction Supermarine Spitfires!

If you know any I’ve missed, please let me know in the comments box. I’d love to hear from you, or by email diana@dianamaryjackson.co.uk.

 

100 years ago this October Supermarine was born

What does the name ‘Supermarine’ mean to you? The Spitfire? Nothing? An important company in Southampton’s history and later Swindon too? If you’re a football supporter to Swindon do you know what the connection is?

It meant little to me until my parents started looking into our family history and Dad began to speak of how important Supermarine was in our family when they lived in Woolston and once my interest is stirred I have a need to go and do some research. Why?

• to know why the company was important historically
• to find out what impact it had on my family
• to understand how it changed every day lives of my family, their friends and neighbours.

This satisfies the social historian in me….not an exact science of facts and figures but and exploration of real lives for real and imaginary people. So here’s the historical facts laced with my interpretation in italics:

In 1913 Pemberton Billing, often described as a maverick in political terms, approached a little known boat builders called White’s in Itchen Village on the banks of the River Itchen.

I can imagine the rumours in the village pub, The Yacht Tavern while negotiations too place with Hubert Scott Paine in his yacht moored up the river.

He wanted to use the skilled craftsmen to build flying boats and an agreement was made to begin production in October 1913.  Supermarine was not the official company name until 1916, but Billing registered the name for telegram purposes but also had the name emblazoned on the roof in November 1913. 

I believe that the people of Itchen Ferry and Woolston would have been proud of the new developments and excited to see the newly developed flying boats take off from the river near where they lived and worked.

Why Supermarine? The main use of flying boats for the military at that time was to look out for submarines….sub..under the water…supermarine…over the water. 

Why did he have the name painted on the roof? To be noticed from the air of course, especially to catch the attention of the military to be taken seriously and to gain orders and build business.

(For the family in my novel ‘Ancasta Guide me Swiftly Home’ living in Woolston, split from Itchen Ferry only by the Portsmouth Road, I reasoned that this could only be good news, since two of the characters in my novel Ernest and Jack already worked at White’s. It meant better job security and job prospects.)

Flying boats were important in WWI to protect convoys, search for submarines and also to bomb strategic sites, out in Turkey for example.  In WWI they also helped in rescue missions for crews of sinking ships. It was a innovative development for the navy with the newly opened RNAS station along Southampton Water at Calshot. With the first sea plane carriers also in operation during WWI technological development was moving fast.

Why were flying boats so important to us in Britain?

Firstly there was no infrastructure of runways before WWI. Planes just landed where they could on fields and park land so it was quite reassuring, us being an island, that the aircraft could land on water. This was important, not only to impress the military but commercial projects later on. In 1913 it was only 4 years since the first ever flight across the channel.

If entrepreneurs were to persuade the wealthy public to pay for air transport, it was thought that they would be happier that the craft could land safely on land or water.

Supermarine Works 1919

Supermarine’s most famous engineer RJ Mitchel was responsible for the development of more famous sea planes; the Sea Lion which won The Schneider Trophy in 1922 and the S6B  which won the Schneider Trophy outright in 1931.

Mitchel’s developmental work to such a high specification led on to the timely Spitfire. In the gallery of Solent Sky, the aviation museum in Southampton , there is an exhibit of small model aircraft right from those early sea planes to the Spitfire.

Many say that, if it hadn’t been for the development of the S6B, an amazing feat of engineering by Mitchel to develop the fastest amphibian aircraft in the world at that time, the technology would not have been in place to develop the Spitfire.

And so Supermarine was born one hundred years ago. It was a major employer in the area up until the second world war when Woolston’s Supermarine Works were bombed out, after the local people had been inspired by witnessing the first ever flights of the Spitfire right over their heads, including my father.

To me the facts are important, but it is the way in which I can weave lives of ordinary people through these facts that brings history to life.