Duxford Sunday 16 May

Hmm, how to pitch this without pi$$ing anyone off…?

I’m quite amazed at some of the comments I’m reading – not necessarily from TFC, but from some of us – where the consensus appears to be that the exit from a loop was very low, heart in mouth stuff, but “it’s obvious Mr Grey was enjoying himself”.

Yet on another thread, we’re criticising a Yak pilot at a Canadian (?) airshow for getting far too low and coming within feet of being another statistic.

Come on folks, let’s be consistent eh? Don’t forget that when aeroplanes and mother earth come into unintended contact, mother earth will seldom come second, regardless of who the pilot is.

To be fair to TFC, they’ve issued a statement above saying that Mr Grey doesn’t intend to scare anyone and apologises if he did. That’s fair enough, and I applaud them for making the statement. And yes, before anyone else points it out, Mr Grey owns the aeroplanes, he can do whatever he want with them (CAA legislation permitting of course), and yes, he has a hell of a lot more hours than I do, therefore knows far more about display flying than I ever will.

But in all honesty, I couldn’t give a toss about apologies. I appreciate the fact that Mr Grey and TFC acknowledge the concerns that have been voiced, and that’ great. But I for on really would much rather see an extra 500 feet added to the gate heights, and therefore give 500 feet more leeway to help a pilot remain alive.

Just my 2p’s worth…

Woah, Steve….. No need to overreact!

I’m guessing you weren’t at Duxford on Sunday? Yes there were a few low moments, perhaps a bit lower than we would expect at an airshow, but I was never in any doubt that everything was under control. Nothing occurred that was even remotely comparable to that Yak video….

Sunny Sunday. Duxford airfield. You in a Spit Aeros need practising.

I’d say that was Pimms O’Clock 😀 😀

Cracking good fun TFC, more power to Mr Grey’s elbow.

Hmm, how to pitch this without pi$$ing anyone off…?

I’m quite amazed at some of the comments I’m reading – not necessarily from TFC, but from some of us – where the consensus appears to be that the exit from a loop was very low, heart in mouth stuff, but “it’s obvious Mr Grey was enjoying himself”.

Yet on another thread, we’re criticising a Yak pilot at a Canadian (?) airshow for getting far too low and coming within feet of being another statistic.

Come on folks, let’s be consistent eh? Don’t forget that when aeroplanes and mother earth come into unintended contact, mother earth will seldom come second, regardless of who the pilot is.

To be fair to TFC, they’ve issued a statement above saying that Mr Grey doesn’t intend to scare anyone and apologises if he did. That’s fair enough, and I applaud them for making the statement. And yes, before anyone else points it out, Mr Grey owns the aeroplanes, he can do whatever he want with them (CAA legislation permitting of course), and yes, he has a hell of a lot more hours than I do, therefore knows far more about display flying than I ever will.

But in all honesty, I couldn’t give a toss about apologies. I appreciate the fact that Mr Grey and TFC acknowledge the concerns that have been voiced, and that’ great. But I for on really would much rather see an extra 500 feet added to the gate heights, and therefore give 500 feet more leeway to help a pilot remain alive.

Just my 2p’s worth…

Thanks very much for the info. It’s good to get an update on what was happening and always a pleasure to see Mr. Grey enjoying himself on a quiet Sunday……

Thanks very much for the inside info! Very interesting and nice to hear that Mr Grey was enjoying himself – it was pretty obvious!

Thank you for clarifying the situation, it is good to know that he enjoyed his day.

Response from TFC

For information purposes, Mr Grey was scheduled for two test flights at Duxford on Sunday.

The P47 has had a major overhaul to its landing gear during the winter and this was its first flight after substantial ground tests. One minor malfunction was found to one of the undercarriage doors and he elected to return early but after proving the rest of the system. His comment was “well done lads, only one minor snag – sticky sequence valve”.

The second test flight was of the Spitfire MkXIV, to see if faults which appeared during a previous sortie last year could, after engineering investigation, be duplicated. The supercharger volute drain had been cleared and it started normally and without exhaust stack fires. The undercarriage retracted normally but one leg became unsafe under G above 4. Upon reselection and further test the undercarriage remained safely up. A well known sequence of practice aero’s were thereafter engaged, in which power settings of 2250 rpm and boost varying between +6 and +8 were used.(For your interest, maximum available boost is +18lbs ! Imagine how it goes at that power……..This was as originally tested by Mr Grey after its first restoration flights and is well remembered by some! Boost is now gated at +10lbs. The Griffon installed is one of the few 65 engines – as originally factory fitted – and is in very fine fettle). The undercarriage anomaly is under further engineering examination.

When advised of this thread Mr Grey asked me, on his behalf, to apologise if anyone was concerned – he was simply doing a job that needed to be done on a quiet pre season weekend and enjoying himself in the process. He also mentioned that he invariably practices the old safety dictum – “Keep your airspeed up”.

We hope to see you all at Flying Legends.

🙁 Shame the weather was’nt like that for the wings over Malta Day ,oh well the love of british airdisplays and weather, :rolleyes:

Thanks for the pictures, they look great, apart from the dodgy looking engineer ruining the one of the Spitfire.

A few pics from yesterday:

SG takes off for a very short P-47 flight.

MV293:

Charlie Brown & HAC Hurricane

I wonder what power settings they use in MV293?

It’s just that it seems to have a bit of extra ummph compared to the other Griffon machines! 🙂

Cheers

Paul

Yes, we noticed that one too. The power settings seemed to be quite high

Ho hum another engine to rebuild.

Another shot of Mr. Grey in MV293 during the “Joker” slot on the Saturday of Legends 2003

It used to be a combination of violent manoeuvres to get the gear to come down if they hung up.

(note to self – must ask any current Spitfire pilots about this for my novel!)

Something similar with the Undercarriage happened to Mr Grey at last years fateful Legends and he was told by ATC wihen they fired warning flares was quiet scary after seeing the Firefly accident to see this also,I only have this two poor quality photo to show this.

Found this photo of mine also

Something similar with the Undercarriage happened to Mr Grey at last years fateful Legends and he was told by ATC wihen they fired warning flares was quiet scary after seeing the Firefly accident to see this also,I only have this two poor quality photo to show this.

If, after selecting gear up, you pull into a high G manouevre before it is locked, it can fool the hydaulics into thinking that the gear is up and locked when it isnt. The selector will trip out, and one leg continues to hang.

It can usually be fixed by re-selection. In the cockpit, you wont get a red light with one gear down, so the pilot should notice.

Bruce

A very ‘spirited’ display – there was one particularly low pull out which sticks in my mind…..

Yes, we noticed that one too. The power settings seemed to be quite high – when Mr Grey was looping and rolling some way off away to the north to begin with, the Griffin was plainly audible in a way I don’t usually recall noticing and when he dived for the first loop over the airfield we were quite surprised by the speed of it. And as you say, one pull out seemed very low – I lost sight of the aircraft behind the T2 as it bottomed and I notice that he had put on some bank as if to extend the bottom of the loop.

Fair made my day though. I havn’t had my heart in my mouth watching a display for many years. As much as safety must be a prime consideration, I must say that the displays we used to see in the 60s and 70s were much more – heart stopping – than we see today. This is probably a Good Thing (safety, that is), but I do miss the excitement!

It looked at if Mr Grey was thoroughly enjoying himself yesterday. Great stuff.

It was Stephen Grey. I also noticed the port undercarraige leg had not retracted proplerly and apperead to be moving slightly during his first display. Thankfully ATC alerted him as alot of TFC boys were watching quickly noticed and then signalled that he was aware of it. After he cleared to alow departure of Chipmunk WZ879 and Spitfire BM597 his second display seemed to be very power hungry! But I was most releived to see him safetly back on the ground. What happens in a situation like this Spitfire fans?

It was Stephen Grey. He initially went up in the P-47 but the u/c door didn’t close properly, so after a single pass for a visual check he went round and landed again.

I couldn’t believe it when he then took the Spit up and the u/c didn’t go up properly on that either. Fortunately he managed to shake it up. A very ‘spirited’ display – there was one particularly low pull out which sticks in my mind…..