A Flying Filled Friday at Duxford – 24Jun11

As the bus was arriving at Duxford, I could see Terence the Tug pulling the Mk1 Spitfire into Hangar 2/North. By the time I got there the doors were closed. Half an hour later he was back and dragging aeroplanes out into the sunshine to extract Taz the Harvard and the Stearman. The Grace Spitfire was on the move to the end of the runway, which flew several times that morning, and was followed by Cliff Spink in the Desert Buchon who flew it up to Humberside and returning later that afternoon. The TFC Harvard, and later TAZ were doing pilot check flights and the TFC Spitfire Mk V and Mk XIV were out on the grass. The XIV was there for an engine run and the Mk V went flying later in the afternoon. The ARCo T9 Spitfire was also flying around. At 12.45, B-17 Sally-B fired up her four Wright Cyclone engines in great plumes of white smoke. It did a couple of circuits over the airfield before departing for Cambridge. It returned at 14.10 with a very nice topside pass but I photographing the Mk XIV Spit sitting in the sunshine outside the TFC hangar and didn’t have the right lens on. The Stearman closely followed the B-17 into the air and it was closely followed by a Beechcraft Bonanza which was acting as a camera ship. They both returned later on with the Stearman performing a bit of an aerial routine over the airfield. The HAC Spitfire had been pulled out of the ARCo workshops, minus engine panels, and had a brief engine run. After the panels had been replaced, it went up for probably an air test. Pete Kynsey was taxiing towards the runway in the Cosmic Wind as a Chinook appeared from the west and tried a noisy beat up as it flew through. Of course the highlight of the day was the arrival of the cling filmed Fury. Apart from the clouds rolling in and blocking out the sun for most of the day, a very enjoyable flying filled day at Duxford. Many thanks to Greg for the lift home and the Magical Mystery Tour around the villages of Cambridgeshire as due to another incident on the A14, it was gridlocked.

Photos in the order they were taken.

Brian