Lancaster crew prepare for royal fly-past

Lancaster crew prepare for Royal fly-past

Would that be anything to do with this: http://www.itn.co.uk/home/18068/bomber

“Veterans have joined senior members of the Royal Air Force for a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of a monument to thousands of RAF bomber crew who lost their lives during the Second World War.

The Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, central London, will pay tribute to the 55,573 RAF crew who lost their lives in the conflict and will be completed by May 2012.

Those present at the ceremony included leading donors and supporters such as Robin Gibb, of Bee Gees fame.

Some £5.6 million of a £6 million fundraising target for the memorial was achieved after donations from mobile phone entrepreneur John Caudwell and Lord Ashcroft, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.

The memorial, which will be built from Portland stone, has been designed by awarding-winning architect Liam O’Connor, and will feature a bronze centrepiece of seven aircrew by sculptor Philip Jackson.

Fundraisers also need to raise a further £2 million for maintenance of the memorial.”

Looks like the BobMF Lanc flypasts over the capital are getting to resemble the proverbial London bus service – nothing for ages, then two come along at once!

what route is the lanc taking today? over Hornchurch pretty please…..

I live in Romford! Anyone know if it will be coming over Hornchurch?

what route is the lanc taking today? over Hornchurch pretty please…..

I would GUESS that the route kept them within range of the Thames….

BBMF also doubled back for the funeral of the Queen Mother when they arrived too early as the funeral cortege was just turning into The Mall and past over a second time when the cortege was mid-way up the Mall.

I was intrigued to see that the BBMF took a rather odd route out of London, almost doubling-back (even the folks on the balcony saw them come back). I can’t imagine why they did that and I’m surprised that they did it, with the safety considerations of the Spit and Hurricane in mind. Usually, the aim is to get both aircraft across central London as swiftly as possible, the only escape route being the Thames. As far as I can recall, the only previous occasion when the Spit/Hurricane doubled back was the BofB50 flypast when Bill Wratten and his wingman had to go around to re-appear at the end of the flypast.

Five Merlins and a Griffon…

What a beautiful sound. The sound of a 1,000 bomber raid with Lancasters and Halifaxes must have been a sound for the ages.

Isn’t the sound of 6 Merlins in close formation good enough for you?

What more could anyone want
Dai

6 Merlins? I only saw 5 and a Griffon 😀

Either way, Nice to see the BBMF get some exposure to the general public. Must have captured a few peoples imagination atleast.

similar story is being told on the catering forums

That’s why I’m on an aviation forum

Anybody see the wedding pull out in the Times yesterday? Nice picture of the jet flypast. Unfortunately, not the flypast at the wedding, as it was a photo of four Tornadoes in formation….

Paul

I should imagine a similar story is being told on the catering forums, vintage horse-drawn coach forums and union flag distribution forums etc etc

I do agree with you Chox, but unfortunately it needs to be put into perspective.

I’m always disappointed by television coverage of the flypasts over London. The telly folks are often afforded great filming opportunities and they almost always waste them. It’s particularly sad when I know from first-hand experience just how complicated and difficult the flypasts are to perform. Looks easy to get a gaggle of aircraft in perfect formation over the palace at precisely the right time, but of course it’s not easy at all – they just make it look simple.

I would imagine that most viewers would have a lot more respect and admiration for such feats if they were given a better idea of the effort and skill involved. As it is, they see a formation go by and think “ooh that’s very nice” and move on! Guess that’s typical of TV these days. If there was an opportunity to vote an aircraft out by telephone, it would probably get much more coverage… :p

It would have been even better to see the Lancaster!

Isn’t the sound of 6 Merlins in close formation good enough for you?

What more could anyone want
Dai

My/Andrew’s flying instructor was Phil Shaw, naval commander, warbird display pilot, GB Airways/easyJet captain and a wiz on the Chipmunk!

Gentlemen,
This is a public forum where one can share information and also glean information from the very knowledgable members that are either in the Air force, Restoring aircraft or running the various Museums in the world.

I have yet to meet a person who knows everything possible about aviation etc and that is why this forum is so valuable in that we as members,can share information thus expanding our knowledge.

There have been vitually hundreds if not more questions asked on this forum by various members new and old and it is great to see the mutual help and information,details given freely to those that are making enquiries, wether it be aircraft specific or historical in nature such as combat records, loss of a crew etc.

When someone asks a legitimate question or makes a point it is inappropriate and violates the COC to insult the person so as Moderators we ask that you take a moment before posting a reply to think “would I like to recieve this message”?

JT442, thank you for the reply to the initial question, I for one was unsure of what protocol would be involved.
Now back to the discussion.

Peter,
Moderator

HRH The Duke of York…Prince Andrew…and a Naval rotary wing aviator combat veteran from the Falklands campaign.

Mark

I didn’t recognize him…he’s changed since I last saw him.

Seriously, who is he? And what kind of uniform is he wearing?

HRH The Duke of York…Prince Andrew…and a Naval rotary wing aviator combat veteran from the Falklands campaign.

Mark

PS… and if I may say, I thought the whole day was magnificent.

This chap and I shared a flying instructor. 😎

Wow!
You know the head doorman for the Grosvenor House?

Seriously, who is he? And what kind of uniform is he wearing?

Time for another photograph of an aircraft spotter on the balcony. That’s a big genuine smile.

This chap and I shared a flying instructor. 😎

On the subject of saluting:

HRH was not dressed as an RAF Officer (Flt Lt), but rather that as a high ranking Army officer – in that respect alone, he would not have saluted an aeroplane, nor the ‘junior’ officers within unless they had saluted him. It is the Queen’s Commission one salutes, NOT the man / woman holding it, and certainly not an aeroplane.

As stated, he was hat-less. You cannot salute without appropriate headwear.

As much as it would have been a ‘nice’ touch to salute the BBMF as they passed by, it would have been against etiquete in all respects.

Now, can we get back to normal bickering about Spitfires?……