Aircraft

Ernie Brooks, from Tudhoe Colliery, designed a one-seat gyroplane, the Brooklands Mosquito, in his garden shed and then built it in his garage at Coulson Street, Spennymoor. He was planning to open a factory in the town but tragically Ernie died on March 9 1969, aged 40, when his Brookland Mosquito crashed 150ft at Teesside Airport. A blue plaque is now displayed on his house at 45 Attwood Terrace, Tudhoe. Click to see a film of Ernie Brooks flying his Gyrocopter.

The extraordinary story of Ernie Brooks in the Northern Echo

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Trevor Brooks, Ernie’s nephew, has rebuilt a Mosquito gyroplane which was revealed at a lunch at the Daleside Arms in Croxdale to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ernie’s death. It was then taken to Teesside airport and will be displayed at the Sunderland Air Museum next to the Nissan factory. Shirley Jennings, a gyropilot and instructor from Cornwall, chronicles the early days of gyroplane flying in Britain in her book Spinning on the Wind: A Gyronaut’s Tale.

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Bikes

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Family Transport

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Funeral Transport

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Commercial and Heavy Vehicles

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Coaches

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Railway

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