Rare breeds
(Internet Published) Oct 2000
In more than 40 years of writing I have had many letters, conversations and
phone calls from men who were born and raised in countries far away from
England. The experience has mostly been good - even if conducted in broken
English. I always believe that man of goodwill can communicate very well
even with just a few basic words and I can sense sincerity or the "other
stuff" very early in a conversation no matter how good or poor the English
is.
All too often these men make enquiries about Tipplers Rollers and a few old
breeds that no longer exist as a practical flying proposition. The main
problem is that these men have a false impression about Tipplers and
Rollers. They have heard about Tipplers that fly for 22 hours and 5 minutes.
They have heard about Rollers, which spin like a flicked coin.
They have heard about Cumulets and West of England Tumblers. They have not
been told about the extremist tactics involved to get marathon times nor
have been told anything about the capabilities of the average kit of contest
Tipplers. The statistics about fail rates, losses, culls within the Roller
and Tippler fancy have never been available.
One may ask what are the "RUN OF THE MILL" specimens likely to do in the
hands of the average man who has no pretensions of becoming a fanatic or an
extremist?
The "cumulets" and West of England's have no constructive following as a
flying proposition. I found them to be "pretty" but quite mediocre in the
air. I suppose that it is the same with the other Old English breeds. There
are no Tipplers that spend many, many hours at a great altitude "in the
clouds all day" and I do not believe that there has ever been. Nevertheless,
most men like to live in a world of fantasy with the ideals "just out of
reach".
Men of many races have told me about the fantastic pigeons in their old
countries. They do marvellous things but it is not logical because there are
no credible statistics available. I cannot go to these countries and see for
myself, neither can I import such specimens, yet, in fact I've tried some of
these exotic breeds and found them to be quite mediocre as flyers and
performers, or even " extremely unreliable" when flown.
Such losses are a problem because they are almost impossible to replace.
Tipplers and Rollers are easy to buy in England if one joins the appropriate
clubs and the membership fees are exceedingly cheep. Any enthusiastic novice
can get fixed up with the real McCoy and it will not cost him much money.
The top Tippler and Roller men of Britain are definitely not mercenaries and
con men.