BBMF Moved??? to Ottawa!!!

Well no, the BBMF is not moving across the pond to Ottawa, though given the other BBMF rumours of late, who knows.

But today in Ottawa we were treated to a sight to rival the BBMF. A ceremony was held this morning at the Canada Aviation Museum to mark the 66th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The highlight of the event was, for many I am sure, the flypast. The flypast was unlike anything I have seen before around here. The lead formation consisted of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Lancaster, flanked on one side by the Mustang and Spitfire of Vintage Wings Canada (Michael Potter), and on the other side by Hurricanes from Vintage Wings Canada and the Russell Group. OUTSTANDING!!!!! Following were modern aircraft from the Canadian Forces – a CP-140 Aurora, a Griffin helicopter, and 2 CF-18s, though frankly, for most in attendance they were completely overshadowed by the lead formation.

At the end of the ceremony the Lanc returned for a single pass, followed by the fighters. Those who stayed, and few left – even the foreign dignitaries all stayed to watch – were then treated to several low passes as the fighters all came in to land. They were later joined by a Harvard, also from Vintage Wings Canada, and the Tiger Moth from Vintage Wings had arrived at the beginning of the ceremony, along with their Beaver. WOW!!!

As always a moving ceremony, and the flypast was indeed an emotional and memorable moment for this in attendance. It was great to see so many vets there, along with serving military, cadets, and of course a pipe band and military band to add the right touch of pomp. And there was a very large crowd out. This event gets bigger and better every year.

My pics were frustatingly dissappointing, but hopefully someone else on the board was there and can post a few – Mike perhaps? I got one decent one of the 5-ship formation, which I will try to post later if no one posts anything.

Charles