Aviation in the family

Some paintings are primarily about an aircraft. Others are really about the people behind them.

This painting was very much the latter.

I was commissioned to bring together three generations of the Childs family, surrounded by aircraft that have formed part of their family's long involvement with aviation at Middlezoy Aerodrome in Somerset. At the centre is the wonderfully distinctive yellow Pietenpol Air Camper G-BMDE.

The painting became as much a family portrait and a record of an aviation legacy as it was an aircraft painting.

Three Generations of Aero Engineers

Aviation has run through three generations of the Childs family. Paul Childs and his son Simon have owned and operated vintage aircraft for more than 30 years, while Paul's late father, Bernard Childs, had a distinguished career in aviation engineering, eventually retiring as a chief designer at British Aerospace. Middlezoy Aerodrome describes Bernard as the driving force behind the family's projects and work ethic. (Middlezoy Aerodrome)

That made it particularly important to include all three generations in the painting.

Bernard sadly passed away, so the painting provided an opportunity to put grandfather, father and son together again in a setting that meant something to all of them.

The Pietenpol

Dominating the composition is G-BMDE, the bright yellow Pietenpol Air Camper that Paul passed on to his son Simon.

I've painted Simon as P1 in the rear cockpit, with Paul as P2 in the front of the aircraft. Bernard stands at the propeller, ready to swing it.

That small moment is really the heart of the painting.

Rather than posing the three generations formally together, I wanted them to look as though they were simply getting the Pietenpol ready for another flight. There's something wonderfully appropriate about that with an aeroplane such as the Pietenpol. The Air Camper itself comes from a tradition of accessible, hands-on aviation.

More than one aircraft

I didn't want the painting simply to be a portrait of G-BMDE with the family standing alongside it.

Across the background are other aircraft associated with Paul and the work he has done restoring, maintaining and helping to keep vintage aircraft flying. They turn the background into a snapshot of the world around the Childs family: old aeroplanes, engineering, grass airfields and the slightly informal atmosphere of traditional light aviation.

The setting is Middlezoy Aerodrome, on the southern side of the former RAF Westonzoyland airfield in Somerset. The site itself has an aviation history stretching back to the inter-war period and was subsequently used by both the RAF and USAAF. Today Middlezoy's own motto rather neatly sums up what I wanted the painting to convey: “Creating the spirit of the past for the future.” (Middlezoy Aerodrome)

Painting a memory

There was quite a lot to bring together compositionally. The Pietenpol needed to remain the immediate focal point, but the people couldn't become incidental details. Equally, I wanted enough happening around them to give the impression of a living aerodrome during one of our memorable Fly-ins, rather than three figures posed beside an aircraft.

I used the Pietenpol's brilliant yellow finish to anchor everything. Against the greens of the grass and the blues of the Somerset sky it naturally draws the eye, while the other aircraft, hangars and people gradually reveal themselves as you look further into the painting.

The foreground of long grass, buttercups and dandelion clocks was another deliberate choice. I wanted it to feel like a warm day at a grass airfield rather than a pristine museum setting. These aeroplanes aren't exhibits. They're machines that people have worked on, cared for and flown.

And ultimately, that's what this painting is about.

Not simply an aeroplane, or even an airfield, but the way a love of aviation can pass from one generation to the next.

Bernard at the propeller. Paul alongside. Simon in the cockpit. Three generations, and another flight about to begin.