Old Airshoe Pics-Biggin,Duxford & Farnborough

Vz345

I remember seeing VZ345 at Greenham Common back in about 1882 when it was flying from Boscombe Down (I have a photo amongst my many hundreds back in the UK). Soon after I think it was nastily ground looped and fairly extensively damaged. Amazingly the powers that be decided that it would be rebuilt to fly, a rebuild went ahead, but fairly late on they discovered that the fuselage was terminally twisted, so lots of money wasted. Don’t know where she is now.

Hi Darren,
My understanding is that the red SeaFury was bought by Kermit Weeks and that it is in storage here in the UK awaiting restoration to airworthiness.
Nice pics,btw. 😎

Thanks for the info Ant, and glad you liked the pictures. I do like threads with old pictures like yours, it shows just how many aircraft have come and gone, changed colours and owners etc.

Hi Darren,
My understanding is that the red SeaFury was bought by Kermit Weeks and that it is in storage here in the UK awaiting restoration to airworthiness.
Nice pics,btw. 😎

[QUOTE=SteveYoung]And some others which are unlikely to be seen, at least for a while:

RNHF’s Sea Fury VX930

Steve,

“VX930” is this correct?

The RNHF operated TF956 and now (when airworthy again) VR930

Looks like it could be VX653, the TFC airframe undergoing restoration.

It is nice to see some unusual and non airworthy airframes on the flightline walk. The German red Seafury along side the TFC and OFMC examples is great to see.

With all the moves at Duxford this year, imagine the legends line up options… Lancaster, Mossie..??

What ever happened to the German Sea Fury. I know it was sold, but where is it now. Also, did WJ288 go to Yeovilton?

We also used to have two seater VZ345, in the UK at Boscombe Down. Where did this go?

Thanks Ant. I’d best keep my thoughts about “Throat-Wobbler Mangrove” to myself as they are beyond the scope of this particular forum. Thanks too for the MontyP link. Fantastic.
Right … back to aviation … no more distractions.

Thanks for your comments folks 🙂

“The Concorde at Farnborough shot is probably 1992 or 1994. It can’t be 1995 because there was no airshow in ’95 (they are only held on “even” years).”

Cheers for pointing that out Eric,it seems I was having a blonde moment when I typed that.It would be 1994.

“Is an “Airshoe” a tyre?
Thirdly, is your signature really as naughty as I think it is?”

Janie,I realised the mistake in the title of the thread a moment after I posted it,but it appears you can’t edit the title once it’s up.Humbug! As for Raymond Luxury Yacht,he appears in a sketch in Monty Python’s Flying Circus wearing a giant polystyrene nose…

http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode22.htm#5

I don’t know of any dodgy meanings to the name,but that’s not to say there isn’t one!

B29 would be nice, but we don’t need another Lanc. We’ve a couple already, one flying, one trundling. I’d far rather, if we could dig up another, get it flying in Australia / New Zealand.

The selfless contribution that those countries made to Bomber Command deserves to be marked in the same way that the CWH Lanc does for Canada.

Moggy

I like your idea of a Lanc on the antipodean display circuit. The sacrifice made then by so many young men must not be allowed to be forgotten by the many countries they came from to serve alongside our own. It would also be good to find one for the South Africa/Zimbabwe airshow circuit.

Ant I agree that looks like Charlie Brown in the Spit. Isn’t it amazing how easy some people are to recognise even from that distance? Just what is it that makes Charlie so distinctive? we can’t say it’s his moustache as in that shot it’s hidden behind the oxeygen mask. Like you I was a late starter at putting dates and places to my photos and, like you, I regret not starting sooner as I have a lot of photos now that I can’t put a date or location to

The Concorde at Farnborough shot is probably 1992 or 1994. It can’t be 1995 because there was no airshow in ’95 (they are only held on “even” years).

Oh you want to bet do you? I’ll introduce you to someone who was very upset by the thought of Vintage Aircraft. Needless to say that the Vintage Aircraft are still around, but………

Would that be Mrs Yak 11 Fan? 😉

Interesting to see some historics lined up in the visiting aircraft park at the back; Devon and Chipmunk. I wonder whether, for future Duxford displays, space could be found to park them on the flanks of the flightline for such aeroplanes, to distinguish them from the spamcans and allow the public to recognise their own historic value…? Just a thought.

I’ll second that. For me,as a spotter, the more interesting aircraft are always parked on the far side(as the show aircraft vary little year to year). Just think of those ex SAAF T-6’s, the Swiss PC3’s and P2 to name but a few. If only they could park the more interesting ones by HFL for instance.

Ant:
Firstly, thanks for the pics. I love the old stuff.
Secondly,

Old Airshoe Pics …

Is an “Airshoe” a tyre? 🙂
Thirdly, is your signature really as naughty as I think it is? 😮

A challenge?!

now THAT’S the kind of porn that doesn’t get you into trouble with your other half! 😉

Oh you want to bet do you? I’ll introduce you to someone who was very upset by the thought of Vintage Aircraft. Needless to say that the Vintage Aircraft are still around, but………

A challenge?!

Have just pawed over the photos of MK732 in her D-Day scheme in this months Hairyplane Monthly – now THAT’S the kind of porn that doesn’t get you into trouble with your other half! 😉

Steve, et al-

For those who would lament the loss of a Hurricane and a Spit to these or other shores, consider….we only have x amount of Spits in the States (and less of Hurricanes)

Woa there – you have 17 (yes seventeen) flyable Spitfires out there Mark!

Thats a quick count up by the way and not a chalenge to Daz etc 🙂

…. now if only we could respond in Kind and loan you the B-29 and the Canadian Lanc for a year or two…I’d love to see it!

Mark

B29 would be nice, but we don’t need another Lanc. We’ve a couple already, one flying, one trundling. I’d far rather, if we could dig up another, get it flying in Australia / New Zealand.

The selfless contribution that those countries made to Bomber Command deserves to be marked in the same way that the CWH Lanc does for Canada.

Moggy

Steve, et al-

Yeah, Friedkin does the world a service by displaying his birds in other environments where they might not otherwise be seen, good on him for doing so (I personally enjoyed watching the British reaction to the Grummans, a friend of mine said that they were the only planes he’d ever known that could be out of sight behind the horizon and STILL drown out conversation)…they were an interesting addition to the already good mix of planes at DX that year…
For those who would lament the loss of a Hurricane and a Spit to these or other shores, consider….we only have x amount of Spits in the States (and less of Hurricanes), so these birds are REALLY appreciated when they show up at the airshows they go to each year, it gives the airshow a ‘worldly’ feel, having two of Britain’s finest on the ground in the U.S….now if only we could respond in Kind and loan you the B-29 and the Canadian Lanc for a year or two…I’d love to see it!

Mark

Mark, I think there was a thread on here a couple of weeks ago with the Flying Legends brochure cover image. The image depicts a Spitfire which looks very similar to ML417 flying in formation with a couple of other D-Day schemed examples, and the general concensus appeared to be that she may be coming back, albeit temporarily.

I do appreciate what you say though, the Grumman biplanes were something I never thought I’d see here in the UK until Tom Friedkin sent his two over, and I’m sure our NZ contingent will wax lyrical about the La-9 which now lives out there. Worldwide movement of warbirds is of course an expensive proposition, but it increases the opportunities for all of us enthusiasts to see aeroplanes we wouldn’t normally be able to.

Reckoned that was what you meant…I know of his propensity to send things to the UK, was there for the Grumman F3F’s in 2000 and whatever he sent the next year also. Was nice to see the Spit and Hurri at Chino a few years ago, but I reckon the UK scene misses them. Had my pic taken in front of AE977 during it’s first show at DX, then again at Chino a few years later…whod’a thunk? Love having a flying Hurricane around tho…can’t wait for the Lone Star example to get out of Middleton’s shop and into the air, hopefully this summer…

Mark

Why and how would ML417 find its way back over there?

Mark

D-Day combat verteran + 60th anniversary of D-Day = Flying Legends perhaps? 😉

Mr Freidkin has been know to send a few of his planes over here in the past. 😀

Cheers

Paul

Why and how would ML417 find its way back over there?

Mark