The Axis History Forum (not for the faint hearted) covers this topic every now and again.

This thread seems to have a translated German document which may shed some light on the official position (it’s a long one though…)

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=14467

I’ve got many ‘558 display memories recorded on Hi-8 video tapes.

One of my favourites is from Barton, which as many of you will know, is a fairly small grass airfield.

I have always thought (no slight intended here) that on one horizontal pass, the display pilot somehow failed to realise just how tight his circuit was going to have to be, because I’ll swear as he went round the angle of bank kept increasing, as did the power.

The resultant fly by in front of the crowd was so close that all I got on the camera screen was a roundel, some green camouflage, and a row of rivets! (well, perhaps just a slight exageration…)

Besides setting off every car alarm on the field as usual, I remember it caused a small dog to bolt at what seemed like an ever increasing pace until it was out of sight, and I sometimes wonder if it’s owner ever caught up with it!

The end of Vulcan flying was the end of my airshow days, nothing but nothing could compare with the sight and sound.

So forum, let’s all look forward to the day when she takes to the air again and let’s cherish it while we can.

I’ve answered the latest plea for more money and I’ll do it again if needs be. This opportunity is just too good to miss out on.

mmmm…a lake, and conveniently near to the aerodrome boundary.

Has there been much scrapping at Baginton over the years? 😉

Just two more comments from me:

Cees, congratulations on reaching 1,000 posts! There are few other such active forum members whose posts I always read.

And Halibag-Phil, congrats on producing a stunning model! I can’t wait to see the finished product.

It looks like the remote control wheel for the D.F. loop.

Whether it’s the correct wheel is a bit difficult to say because your photo is rather small and part of the wheel’s rim is obscured.

It looks pretty much like the real thing, though.

Scramble Bill,

Your cushion sounds a little small to be a knee pad, but maybe it’s a seat from a turret.

That said, most seat cushions in Frazer Nash turrets are rectangular, but I seem to recall that Bristol turrets, from Blenheims etc, had circular seat cushions.

I would expect there to be a leather/leatherette cover, though?

JDK, yes, I’ve often pondered the value of placing a crew member in the astrodome as fire controller when under attack, given that most came from behind and beneath as you say.

Search the British Pathe site and you will find a film of a Lincoln being consumed in a fire training exercise.

The film clip’s reference is 281_01, but I have to say that this ref. appears to mean nothing to the site’s search engine, so you have to use keywords such as bomber/rescue/training, etc to find it.

There’s an even sadder clip of two Lancasters being burnt for the same purpose.
One appears to be a veteran which has actually crash landed – bent props etc, and the other is a brand new Mk. VII!

I hope those firemen could sleep at night! 😮

I hope when I’ve cleared out some of the clutter from the workshop, and finished a few other tasks, I’ll be able to resume work on the FN 5 from a Lancaster.