Probably a silly question on MH434

The Fighter Meet North Weald Late 80’s

Bradburger – agree that it’s nice to see ‘434’ in her Swire scheme – brings back alot of good memories of either Mr Williams or Hanna flying a brilliant impromptu display at Shoreham around the time this photo was taken – what a display! The photo looks very similar to how the display started – with the Spitfire appearing from behind one of the hangars!

Great shot Mike!

I’ll put my money on it being Mr Hanna.

And nice to see a shot of 434 in her early ‘Swire’ scheme.

I must admit I was never that keen on the later one she wore.

Cheers

Paul

I took this photo at Biggin Hill in 1974 (Battle of Britain.) Does anybody know if the display pilot was Ray Hanna or Neil Williams?

Originally posted by Ant Harrington
IIRC the markings ‘CK-D’ were apllied for an ITV drama called ‘A Perfect Hero’ starring Nigel Havers.I didn’t see any of it (I was only 10 or 11 so was probably tucked up in bed when it was aired),does anyone know if it was any good?
Like the others,I’d put my money on it being Ray or Mark Hanna on the day you saw her Arthur.By the way,did she have RAF or Belgian roundals when you saw her?I seem to remember she wore Belgian markings for a short time whilst retaining the BofB style camouflage and the ‘CK-D’ codes.

I remember her in Belgian markings at a Biggin Hill airshow and Mark flying her that day,dont know what year though

IIRC the markings ‘CK-D’ were apllied for an ITV drama called ‘A Perfect Hero’ starring Nigel Havers.I didn’t see any of it (I was only 10 or 11 so was probably tucked up in bed when it was aired),does anyone know if it was any good?
Like the others,I’d put my money on it being Ray or Mark Hanna on the day you saw her Arthur.By the way,did she have RAF or Belgian roundals when you saw her?I seem to remember she wore Belgian markings for a short time whilst retaining the BofB style camouflage and the ‘CK-D’ codes.

Re: Probably a silly question on MH434

Originally posted by Arthur
The best warbird display i’ve ever seen was in the spring of 1991, when MH434 was used to kill some spare time during a spotter’s day at Kleine Brogel. While my main interest there were the parrafin burners (i can’t help but like afterburning Starfighters staying below 15ft after wheels up), looking over some old pictures the performance of MH434/CK-D i remembered how wonderful it’s display was.

It included a few simulated strafe-runs over the public (it wasn’t a real airshow, and KB spotters days weren’t that crowded yet. I believe there were some 300 people in all), some very low but very fast fly-pasts, and some nice twisting and turning. It kept low all the time, which was nice because there was a low cloud base that day.

My question is: who would have been the pilot that day? IIRC, the date was somewhere in April.

Sounds Like Ray Hanna but Mark was more than equally capable of a display like that and often did!,I remember a few years ago at Biggin Hill on arrivals day seeing Ray do a superb display the airfield was quiet maybe a few hundred people at most(if that)it was like Ray flew just for me and my mates and in a way he did as he hardly needed to practice!Moments like that are priceless and unforgetable.

:rolleyes: Clear brainoff moment there, Black Knight is quite right!

Would be better trying OFMC.

If no-one here says for definite, you could ask ARCo themselves?

The I-17 – Lovely indeed. But flying?

Cheers
James

Was that fun in Russia?

My money would be on Mark.

Thanks. I was wondering if it was Ray Hanna – i had heard of him before, but in all honesty i never cared all that much for the people inside the cockpit.

And yes, i do like piston-thingies a lot, although i really don’t like it when warbirds end up in fake markings or look better nowadays then they ever did during their operational careers. My favourite piston sightin was undoubtedly the I-17 prototype, lovely rare bird.

From the description, Ray Hanna – Man & Machine in perfect harmony, but it might’ve been Mark Hanna. Somewone here will know won’t they?

So… A Spitfire display is better than spotting squits? There’s some hope for you yet then! :p
Cheers