If you have ever wondered why we employ someone of such extreme age as Ted, then rest assured that you are not alone. But it has all to do with the strange association between Avro and Ted's painting skills, going back to bygone days.

It all began in 1890, when Alliott Verdon Roe was already showing signs of his future career by becoming school conker champion. As historians know, this achievement was not based on the size or weight of his chosen conker, but on its aerodynamic shape, and its passage through the air. In fact, a tattered scrap of blotting paper, preserved in the Heritage Centre, contains his rude sketch of a flying machine, based on the shape of a streamlined conker, attached to a tethered line.

When a small and insignificant junior challenged him to a duel one day, all his chums laughed, but they soon stopped laughing when Ted, for it was he, smashed Alliott's conker into little pieces. When asked for the secret of his success, Ted shyly revealed that his conker was painted gloss black!

AV remembered this in later years, and many Avro 504s had gloss black engine cowlings. And Ted, as well, never forgot the devastating effect that this treatment could have. Even today he will swear that several coats of gloss black, applied with loving care, will improve most items. So, it seems that we can still learn from the Victorian Age

Presented to Edward by Fellow Ex RAF Workers 2001

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