The first of some 30-35 airshows/aviation events for me this year…
I had high hopes for today’s Gathering of Warbirds & Legends, and I’m pleased to say that all my expectations were not only met, but exceeded. The early rain and grey skies cleared to more or less perfect conditions by mid-afternoon, allowing the vast majority of visiting warbirds to make it in (with the exception of ‘Big Beautiful Doll’ – can’t think of any other cancellations of the top of my head). The wet start certainly didn’t put off the punters, with the event attracting a pleasing turnout which is always good to see, and will hopefully go some way towards securing this event’s future as an annual get together for UK warbirds and WWII veterans. The certainly set the bar high!
Several of the warbirds were parked behind barriers at the the request of their owners, which wasn’t an issue as they were unobtrusive and placed at a suitable distance from the aircraft to allow both wide-angle and detail shots for the photographers. A number of aircraft, such as the Fennec, Mustangs, Harvards, Beech Super 18 and Me-108 were parked up with no crowd barriers, allowing unrestricted access from every angle. It was particularly nice to see a fair few pilots and engineers remaining with their aircraft for much of the day. Such intimacy is lacking at a lot of venues and the openness of the event made the Gathering really stand out as something special. There was a lot to see, but plenty of time to do it, with a perfect, relaxed atmosphere to boot. Also nice to see people being respectful towards the aircraft – I didn’t see one instance of someone inappropriately touching a warbird! In all, I’d rank it up there with the most enjoyable events I’ve been to – just a cracking day out.
Can I also just say that both Janie and Marinell are utterly, utterly gorgeous. I was in awe at just how immaculate they are up close. Really beautiful work on both machines.
On Saturday, I popped over to Duxford to see the warbirds departing and was surprised to be treated to excellent solo displays from Cliff Spink in Spitfire Ltd’s Spitfire IX and Rod Dean in Historic Flying Ltd’s Spitfire TIX, followed by a fine display from Dave Harvey in the Historic Aircraft Collection Hurricane XII. Later in the day, John Romain piloted the Buchon, which looks utterly gorgeous, leading the two Spitfires in a vic formation and tail-chase. The Spitfire TIX flew in the early evening, as did HAC’s fighters which departed to North Weald. The ARC trio left after 5pm and made one fantastically fast, low and close formation beat-up before heading south. Wonderful!
Good to speak to several people from various forums, too. I’ve only had a quick skim through my photos, so I may add more during the week. More at http://www.flickr.com/photos/esmarsh if you’re interested.
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By: Mada Gaskar - 27th April 2010 at 09:47
Elliot
Thanks for catching my “best side” in the AT-6 picture!Phil
And mine!!! What a face to pull!! 😮
By: G-APDK - 27th April 2010 at 08:26
Elliot
Thanks for catching my “best side” in the AT-6 picture!
Phil
NW Ground Crew
Next event at NW is the Air-Britain Fly-In 19-20 June
www.air-britainflyin.co.uk
By: pimpernel - 27th April 2010 at 08:05
Lovely shots there Elliot.
Brian.
By: barry flahey - 26th April 2010 at 22:28
Fabulous photo’s Elliot. Love the unusual angles and the raindrops. Appreciate all the work that went into getting those superb angles. I agree with AL, think I’ll just drive down to the Grand Canyon with my photo gear and jump off!
By: Elliott Marsh - 26th April 2010 at 20:45
…and some too big to post in 1024x.
Larger versions and more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/esmarsh. That’s the lot!
By: Elliott Marsh - 26th April 2010 at 20:43
A few more I’ve been through this evening…
By: Al - 26th April 2010 at 17:53
Damn – after 45 years of taking aviation photographs, I think I’ll just give up now. Absolutley stunning!
By: The"Eh"Team - 26th April 2010 at 16:24
Nice shots Elliot and I hope a couple of mine might turn out as well as some of yours.Yes it was a good day with the reward of some nice light after 2pm and the visiting mustangs of Maurice Hammond and co.,.
The relaxed atmosphere reminded me of the 70s and was a pretty cool retro day for a few people and very nostalgic for the veterans.:):):rolleyes::rolleyes:
By: Elliott Marsh - 26th April 2010 at 12:50
Mr Marsh
Did you by chance ask a member of The Squadron to pass the barriers, as this seems to be out of the public area.
I also noted that a shot of you was taken last weekend on the airfield boundry ( live side ) at Duxford, as it was posted on another forum.
Here
http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=21933
There were ground crew and a member of staff wearing a high-viz jacket down that end when I arrived who didn’t seem to be concerned with the dozen or so people standing there. I’d noticed people coming and going between there and the Squadron all day. Airfield security drove past the people on the hill several times and acknowledged us – had I been asked to move back, I would have done so immediately. As I said on the UKAR forum, in hindsight I/we should have found someone in the Squadron to ask before heading down to where the ground crew were, rather than assuming that their presence amongst the spectators gathered there meant it was permissible to do so.
Re: Duxford – the shots were taken along the edge of the field on the south side (a common spot taken by many – not me, I might add – during airshow days, accessible by parking on the road that runs parallel to Duxford and walking down the well-worn pathway to the bottom of the field). As you can see in the photograph posted by member ‘Arno1’, I was standing outside the airfield boundary on the grass area between edge of the airfield and the fields.
By: Blue_2 - 26th April 2010 at 12:26
Very nice. more of the same for the rest of the season please 😀
By: Arabella-Cox - 26th April 2010 at 12:04
Mr Marsh
Did you by chance ask a member of The Squadron to pass the barriers, as this seems to be out of the public area.
I also noted that a shot of you was taken last weekend on the airfield boundry ( live side ) at Duxford, as it was posted on another forum.
Here
http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=21933
By: Red Hunter - 26th April 2010 at 08:17
Really nice photos, the more so as I was unable to be there, having planned it for several weeks. I can’t match 30-35 shows – aviation really is your life:D – about 4, maybe 5, if I can get to Audembert, is all I will be able to muster.:)
By: kev35 - 26th April 2010 at 07:43
Very nice, Particularly like the Dakota photo’s.
30-35 events? For the third year in a row I will be unable to attend any, not that I am at all bitter.
Regards,
kev35
By: Flygirl - 26th April 2010 at 06:57
Nice shots.
By: GliderSpit - 26th April 2010 at 05:37
A lot of great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
By: mike currill - 25th April 2010 at 23:44
Brilliant. Glad you had a good day for it. Superb photos as always.
By: Elliott Marsh - 25th April 2010 at 23:28
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Thanks for looking.
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April 25, 2010 at 11:27 pm