Breighton Buchon

Cliff spink may have also flown G-BOML.

Yes he certainly did.

I’m not sure what is required with regards attaining a C of A. I gather it flies very well and so I see no reason to doubt it will get the thumbs up in due course – I guess that there’s a prerequisite number of flying hours and ‘ticks in boxes’ needed prior to getting the permit but as far as I know we’re well on schedule.

The guy you’re refering to is ‘our Barry’ – he was marking where the stencils needed to be applied and flagging-up any blemishes/scratches etc… as you can see from the picture, all of that has now been taken in hand and it looks pristine.

You can see the Buchon at Legends and at Breighton the weekend after.

Ah-ha. That was our opening question to ‘your Barry’! You know, the forum favourite “Will it be at………?”. Bit nervous about asking for fear of being run off the airfield for asking probably the most asked question of the day!

She does look good and look forward to seeing her aloft. Well done to the entire team. It’s really noce to know that there’s an airfield and team only an hour or so away from here with such a superb collection and attitude to match! Plus the bacon butties are woth it!

Nigel flew OFMC’s during the Breitling Fighters period, it was also flown by Brian Smith, Rolf Meum & i’m pretty sure Alan Walker as well as Ray & Mark.

Cliff spink may have also flown G-BOML.

I’m not sure what is required with regards attaining a C of A. I gather it flies very well and so I see no reason to doubt it will get the thumbs up in due course – I guess that there’s a prerequisite number of flying hours and ‘ticks in boxes’ needed prior to getting the permit but as far as I know we’re well on schedule.

The guy you’re refering to is ‘our Barry’ – he was marking where the stencils needed to be applied and flagging-up any blemishes/scratches etc… as you can see from the picture, all of that has now been taken in hand and it looks pristine.

You can see the Buchon at Legends and at Breighton the weekend after.

Davski, is she still on her CAA test-only permit? When we inquired at the Radial Fly-In on the 4th June there were still six weeks left on it (get the calendar out guys…). At the time, she was outside and was being smothered in small bits of masking tape indicating what stencilling went where: http://aviationpages.fotopic.net/p30184898.html and http://aviationpages.fotopic.net/p30184904.html.

Nice to see they’ve done it and added the ‘kill’ tally on the rudder. Nice photo.

This one. The RAC one needs the 60 white victory bars added to the rudder though 😉

And a photo of the real one with Schroer flying over the Agean, and of him getting out of the cockpit.

Schroer was the second highest scoring pilot in North Africa after Marseilles, and also was the top scoring Me109 pilot against 4-engined bombers with 26. His final score of 114 in only 197 missions gave him the second best strike rate in the entire Jagdflieger, and of those 114 victories, 102 were against the RAF/USAAF making him the 5th highest scorer in the West. Schroer survived the war and died in Feb 1985 aged 67.

For the full history of the Bf 109 and Buchons in Spanish service, I would strongly recommend the French booklet Avions HS.5-Les Messerschmitt espagnols.

P.S. Incidentally to correct a hoary old error in translation that is oft repeated, ” Buchón ” does not actually mean “Pigeon” in Spanish (try “Paloma”). A very loose and somewhat inaccurate translation might be “Pigeon-chested”. According to one who flew it in service , it is actually derived from the noun “Buche” for a birds crop which when full would give that shape bulging shape like the lower merlin cowling.

My understanding is that Buchón is a group name, not a species or breed name, rather like a pointers are a type of dog while an Alsatian is a breed.

Do we have any Spaniards able to be more specific?

The picture show the connection I think:

I should imagine they had some part in the early days in the air defence of mainland Spain as well.

Nigel flew OFMC’s during the Breitling Fighters period, it was also flown by Brian Smith, Rolf Meum & i’m pretty sure Alan Walker as well as Ray & Mark.

Just a little comment, did any of these Spanish Buchons see any action anywhere or were their guns never fired in anger, I was thinking possibly revolution in Spanish colonies, my knowledge on Spanish colonialism is non existant, any answers?

They were operational in the Spanish Sahara (alongside Casa 211s amongst others) in the late 50’s to early 60’s in the Ifni war. This has been well reported now and I’m sure one of our Spanish correspondents can fill in with greater detail.
P.S. Incidentally to correct a hoary old error in translation that is oft repeated, ” Buchón ” does not actually mean “Pigeon” in Spanish (try “Paloma”). A very loose and somewhat inaccurate translation might be “Pigeon-chested”. According to one who flew it in service , it is actually derived from the noun “Buche” for a birds crop which when full would give that shape bulging shape like the lower merlin cowling.
(Reaches for gin bottle and falls off chair).

The Buchon restoration was originally to be finished in the ‘States and flown on an Experimental ticket over there. However, two thirds of the way into the restoration the decision was taken to keep it in the UK, effectively leading to the team having to partially un-restore it for the benefit of UK regulations (hence the length of time it took to finish the restoration). RAC intend to display the aircraft at a number of UK shows this year and I believe that one of those will be Flying Legends at Duxford.

Thank you for the information 🙂

James

Presumably the ‘He111’s’ and ‘Ju 52’s’ may have been involved in ‘Police action’ as well then.

Just a little comment, did any of these Spanish Buchons see any action anywhere or were their guns never fired in anger, I was thinking possibly revolution in Spanish colonies, my knowledge on Spanish colonialism is non existant, any answers?

Off the top of my head they saw service in N Africa. How much was ‘police action’ type work and how much more I don’t know.

Just a little comment, did any of these Spanish Buchons see any action anywhere or were their guns never fired in anger, I was thinking possibly revolution in Spanish colonies, my knowledge on Spanish colonialism is non existant, any answers?

Us europeans have never had it so good!! its great that she is finally where she belongs, gracing the skies above Yorkshire.

Must say though, alot of credit has to go to DAVSKI for being patient and always keeping us forum folk updated!! cheers mate. 😀

Not really Fouga23 because I’m not engineer-minded, nor fully in the know regarding much of the restoration, but I gather that the UK certification requirement is much more stringent on certain matters than in the US. Lots of stress analysis and non-destructive testing of various components that were already fitted to the aircraft was needed, I gather that the snag list was inexhaustive.
My own personal thoughts are that given the density of population over here, safety is absolutely paramount and therefore the extra work/checks were understandable, if totally frustrating at the time. What I do know is that we now have a bloomin’ lovely aircraft at Breighton, a right little hot-rod, and much of the aforementioned frustration is now but a distant memory! The engineers and volunteers all deserve a big pat on the back for their patience – I’d have thrown my dummy out years ago!

effectively leading to the team having to partially un-restore it for the benefit of UK regulations

Can you explain this a bit more?

The Buchon restoration was originally to be finished in the ‘States and flown on an Experimental ticket over there. However, two thirds of the way into the restoration the decision was taken to keep it in the UK, effectively leading to the team having to partially un-restore it for the benefit of UK regulations (hence the length of time it took to finish the restoration). RAC intend to display the aircraft at a number of UK shows this year and I believe that one of those will be Flying Legends at Duxford.

was there a rumor that this Buchon was going to the USA? and will she be at Legends or at airshows next year.

All the best
James