Battle of Britain 75th Mass formation 15th Sept 2015

Just been watching the Channel 4 show again & I’m surprised at James Holland’s statement that LACW Margaret Horton took a ride on the tail of a Spitfire at RAF Westhampnett, when if fact, this took place at Hibaldstow & he also failed to mention that the actual Spitfire involved, AB910 was taking part in the event. Not knocking the program, (a welcome relief from the Jeremy Corbyn media hype) just seems strange that he was so ill informed. (Or am I having a ‘senior moment? :rolleyes: )

Regards, Rich.

For anybody interested, my film of the event highlights at Goodwood, which lasts about 32 minutes, can be viewed here – https://youtu.be/7wXLFXcfnfI

Steve.

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Wish it was shown stateside!

…and in Moscow! :p

“I wouldn’t tell the C.O. that, Sir”

Subsequently re-cycled.

Mark

It must have been ‘Sticky U/C lever day’!

Watching various footage of the event, I note that MK732 wasn’t the only aircraft to have gear retraction problems.

P7350 seemed to get have it’s stb gear leg stuck down during gear up selection, as did the Seafire III!

I heard the latter on the R/T being advised, and confirming that he got it sorted out.

Cheers

Paul

“I wouldn’t tell the C.O. that, Sir”

Subsequently re-cycled.

Mark

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It will always be known as the Spitfire…without the codes.

Mark

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Living near enough, I and many others traveled from abroad. Its what ones priorities are surely, with health/ work commitments excluded.
Great work by Goodwood estate staff and all involved many thanks.

😉

Sadly they were in different flights. It would have been nice to see the two of them in formation together.

Not since the 1950’s.

Mark

Best photo on this thread :eagerness: . Now if we can just persuade the FR.47 to make an appearance this side of the pond…..

Rob

Wow, can’t believe that not since the 1950’s a Dutch Beech 18 has visited the UK. 🙂

🙂

No not the final gathering of the Seafire XVII fleet of the FAA for storage at Stretton in early/mid 1950’s, the last opportunity to get two Seafires with engines running in the same shot, would I suggest be the Burmese Air Force Seafire XV’s still operational at Hmawbi well in to 1957.

Mark

Not since the 1950’s.

Mark

Wow, can’t believe that not since the 1950’s a Dutch Beech 18 has visited the UK. 🙂

Between this thread and the whinge related one I wonder how many of the negative contributors that have had a dig at the event organisers or programme makers have ever been in the RAF, served during WWII, worked on vintage aircraft, produced a TV programme, or organised a large event. If you have then perhaps you should volunteer you knowledge and expertise to help with the next big event. If not please take up another hobby that you can contribute positively to and stop decrying the work of people who do actually make an effort.

As I mentioned in the “Whinge” thread the event was staged in commemoration of ‘The Few’ and was planned to fly over as much of the south east and sector airfields as possible. It was not intended to be a public event at Goodwood. They released free tickets anticipating 3000 attendees. Instead 32,000 free tickets were issued. Kudos to those that made it happen and for bearing the costs to allow free public attendance. The costs would have been quite substantial.

To the organisers, concessionaires, staff on-site, pilots, groundcrews and operators thank you for making Tuesday a fantastic occasion. 🙂

I guess the event might have been more fun for those who live near-enough to see any of it in person, but for the rest of the country it was a television event and as I’ve said before, the most we saw was eight aircraft together. It seems reasonable to conclude therefore, that eight aircraft would have produced the same results, even if the flypast routes had to be flown individually rather than simultaneously. It just seemed rather silly to have gathered so many aircraft together on the ground and then missed the opportunity to assemble them in the air even if only for a few minutes. I’m not the only person who thought this.

Thank you ,just watching it now 🙂 Very nice.Was the P51 being used as a camera ship?
I assume it was very windy,there was alot of wing wobbling.
Lovely to see the Silver Hurricane ,a rare sight.

Yes, I think the P51 was being used as a camera ship for C4 as well as joining in the fun. It was fairly breezy although from a fairly steady direction but a crosswind to most of the flypasts. The number of Hurricanes alone surprised me and I agree ,the Silver Hurricane was a real bonus – one that I was unaware existed. All in all it was an absolutely wonderful exceptionally well organised event. Hopefully there will be similar offerings at the same venue in years to come and if they get the hoped for hard runway even more may be possible?

Steve.

For anybody interested, my film of the event highlights at Goodwood, which lasts about 32 minutes, can be viewed here – https://youtu.be/7wXLFXcfnfI

Steve.

Thank you ,just watching it now 🙂 Very nice.Was the P51 being used as a camera ship?
I assume it was very windy,there was alot of wing wobbling.
Lovely to see the Silver Hurricane ,a rare sight.

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in this tribute. Really. I hope you had the chance to get together and share a beer or two but know for many this wasn’t possible. It meant a lot to the nation, not just us spotters and was a logistical triumph.

The weather looked pretty pants, Tom mentioned about the turbulence, talking of which I think he did pretty well considering that to bend his middle was very uncomfortable. Dermot and the historian worked pretty well, all things considered. They both had real enthusiasm for the subject matter and great reverence for those who served, and that’s worth a lot. Small dits like ‘out of this bet on a rivet, a Spitfire was made’ kept things lively. The disabled pilots bought things around in a circular fashion….’against adversity, triumph’.

I don’t care that there wasn’t a thirty ship, save that for the Duxford balbo. They covered as much ground as possible to commemorate the battle, job done.

A brilliant occasion.

For anybody interested, my film of the event highlights at Goodwood, which lasts about 32 minutes, can be viewed here – https://youtu.be/7wXLFXcfnfI

Steve.

The two events were designed around different themes.

Biggin Hill was to try and give a feel for the events of 18th August and therefore was very specific, with a mass launch, then a standing patrol over the field followed by all the aircraft returning and then getting them all back down in a controlled manner just as occurred during the Battle. Added to that it had the chance to get quite close to the aircraft.

Goodwood was to commemorate the day perceived as the big turning point and was designed to get as many people as possible in the main Battle area to see an aircraft associated with it on the 75th anniversary, also with a mass launch and partial recovery to the airfield. To do that it needed numbers and succeeded.

Both events were unfortunate with the weather to some extent and also aircraft availability, but have provided us with something special to mark an important event in world history. I was at Biggin Hill on the 18th August and the atmosphere and spectacle was one of those “I was there” moments. From the writings here and on other forums Goodwood was clearly the same.

Ultimately we should be glad that it is possible to put on such events, that there are more of these aircraft being restored and operated. Most importantly that there are still survivors from the Battle of Britain to see it and know that they will be remembered.

Regards,

Dan

Just had 2 spits and a hurricane of the bbmf section of Red section overfly the house while circling Northolt.

Any reason you’ve quoted my poor attempt at humour?

Meant to quote another post but must have clicked the last in list by mistake 🙂
In fact maybe that’s bug. I’m sure I quoted the post above yours? Maybe your post snuck in before I got to post mine?
Anyway I corrected mine.

Just out of interest where did the money go for the Biggin event. Did it go to charity? Don’t really mind, just wondered.