Flying Spitfires

My point was, however, I KNOW several thousand pictures were taken – I heard several hundred shutters go off while I was taking my own pictures.

My shutter could have been one of them unfortunately the film got exposed to light and the camera went in a bin in several pieces. **** happens:D

Oh, and without one set of optics, ‘tween me and the Spitfires, it’d be a big swam of noisy dots at best. My glasses, not to be forgotten!

Hi Moggy,
A valid point of view. I like to take pictures – it has a number of uses, not least to be able to share a icture with those people who weren’t there, or like Tbirdman, who were ‘otherwise occupied’.

I think we can respect each other’s choice. Given my shaky memory, pictures do serve as a memory aid and sometimes substitute. :rolleyes:

My point was, however, I KNOW several thousand pictures were taken – I heard several hundred shutters go off while I was taking my own pictures. Watson, Holmes, where are they? :confused:

Cheers

Originally posted by JDK
Oh dear.
With all these Spitfire aficionadoes here, it’ll be a poor show if I’m the first to post a shot of that 16 ‘plane formation. :rolleyes:
Cheers

Not at all. I find this heartwarming.

With due respect to those to whom photography is an engrossing hobby, the thought that anybody could see a 16 Spitfire formation heading towards them, and then deliberately place a little window and a series of optics between them and that sight beggars belief. You might as well stay home and watch it on tele.

I was there.

I certainly have no pictures.

Moggy

Touche.

Er… You, and 15 other ‘lights hidden under bushells’…

Cheers!

Bet you can’t name the pilots!:D

A warm feeling.

Also we’ve PROVED that those 16 were all ‘airworthy’ at once!

Cheers

“Prize for the first person NOT called Mark12 to number ’em all off.
Cheers”

Hmmm,ok here goes…

TE566
BM597
ML407
ML417

EP120
TD248
PS853
MV263

PL965
TE184
PV202
MH434

AB910
PS915
PM631
P7350

What’s the prize?? 😀

In the 2000 Duxford show, am I right in recalling that the “Bader Big Wing” came from behind the crowd with 4 boxes of 4 while the BBMF “warmed up” the crowd with a 4-ship prior to the arrival of the “Big Wing”? Something to do with the BBMF not being cleared to fly when other aircraft were operating in same chunk of sky. So I suppose you could say 20 Spitfires were airborne at the same time if not in the same formation.

OK.
The previous pic is a fake. This is the real deal. If you look closely, you can see ALL the Spitfires are different. Prize for the first person NOT called Mark12 to number ’em all off.
Cheers

Well, I’ve found it. Daz’s 18 Spitfire formation. The guy in front was just crusing along…

Regularly?

Every five years, on the dot, never misses – regular as clockwork. 🙂

Mark

Airworthy – flown regularly (MH434, ML407 etc?)

Flyable – flown at least once a year (TE554?)

Airworthy/Resting – maintained in airworthy condition, but not flown (TE356?)

:confused:

Flying Spitfires?

NH631 – Airworthy Resting.

Still waiting for the definition. 😉

Mark

Yup that’s the one I have.

Formation was led by Rod Dean who did a grand job of getting it formed up over Kings Lynn. I was told shortly after, by friends who live there, the town sorta came to a stop with that lot swarming overhead!

I recollect that after we passed along the Duxford display line we then broke the formation up for a flyby of the individual 4-ship formations. I was in the OFMC lot and it was quite exciting!

Huge fun and a great privilege to have been involved.

Rgds

T

Humble pie & chips

Found a photo, believe it or not! Can’t recall which site I cribbed it off, unfortunately.

The smart sod has even written the number of planes on it! 😉

Didn’t realise you had a 110 before your current bells n’ whistles?!

This always kills me. There I was standing among THOUSANDS of other people, almost ALL of whom had and were using cameras. Even the trusty 110 photographers would’ve got something, as 16 Spitfires in tight formation (thanks T-Bird – surprised you had time to take a pic… joke) is a biggish group! But can we see a pic? Nooo!

So that makes our total of flying Spitfires 44, 45?

I’m gonna check my tape (if I can find it) and count ’em in the formation! (Daz prepares for a big gob-ful of humble pie! :p)

Here’s a shot of NH631 on her last public display (picture nabbed from the Warbirds of India website).

It WAS 16. I was in the formation. Remember it well as it was blowing a hooligan that day!

Will try and dig up a photo later and post here.

Rgds

T