Nice pictures of the DC-6, but for an old lady the attitude looks a bit extreme ! probably within speed limitations but what if she lost a donk (engine)? The loss of the DH Mosquito at Barton was scary to watch,and due to a faulty carb under extreme attiude.

You make a good point here and the flight ops team has sent this reply:

“Notwithstanding the effect that camera angles have on the drama of a photograph (and well done everybody for some outstanding shots this season), the team do fly to some exciting angles. It’s worth pointing out, though, that the highly banked manoeuvres are all flown with a strong vertical element which enables the turn to be both co-ordinated and within the normal flight loads for which the aircraft is certified.

With reference to the Mosquito accident, there are two major points of difference. First of all, the pressure injection carburettor fitted to the R2800 radial engines of the DC-6 is not notably susceptible to the specific condition noted in the accident report and has no such “reputation for cutting under negative g conditions”. Moreover, as noted above, the DC-6 routine does not involve negative or significantly reduced g manoeuvres of the sort which the investigation found may have caused the loss of fuel flow in the left hand Merlin’s float type carburettor.

Nevertheless, every part of the routine is flown well above the two engine minimum control speed, let alone the three engine Vmca. Loss of power from one engine is almost a non-event but would obviously curtail the display. The unlikely loss of two simultaneously would be challenging but not onerous, as the aircraft is perfectly capable of climbing on two engines and with excellent authority from the lovely unboosted controls.

Each year a lot of thought goes into producing and practicing a sympathetic, safe and enjoyable routine. It’s a privilege to do so under the gaze of such an enthusiastic and well informed public. See you later this month at Sywell and Bournemouth…”