Great when photos like this pop up.

Thanks for posting.

Is it really a first post after twelve years membership ?  I think the counter is up the creek…

The tributes page invites you to leave a message on on of four Forums, including this one.

I have read outstanding body of work will remain untouched, but I think that is a shame.

His online warbird directory is The ‘go-to’  site for the most accurate and extensive info, and it will be a great shame if it gradually ceases to be a contemporary resource.  I believe it would be a better tribute to Geoff, to continue his legacy, and not just allow it to fade away. 

The dispersal and relocating of the various  Lancaster components is pretty hard to follow , but this website gives about the best summary I know of, though it may be a bit out of date in some details now.

Lancaster KB976 – The Full Story: Section 9 – 1988 to present day (timefadesaway.co.uk)

It is not a Twin Pioneer.  If you have to guess, perhaps you could phrase it as a question.

It is disgraceful that the Cosford Catalina has been left to the elements for so long, seven years now !

”In September the Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina was moved out of the War in the Air hangar and placed on temporary external display at the entrance to the History of the RAF.”     RAF Cosford literature – 2016

 I read recently that there is dismay in Denmark that the airframe which they donated, has been so neglected. There is a sentiment circulating to try to reclaim it, and I can’t say I blame them. 

It works for me in UK right now, on a standard consumer internet provider.

Yes, I think it has been a pretty good year, and the Tempest flight yesterday reminds us that there are still treats and treasures waiting to emerge in the coming months and years, the Percival Q6, for instance, and the Walrus , a rake of Seafires and plenty more.

The display scene is much reduced from decades past, with very little RAF support, but then we have very little RAF.  Astonishing to remember years past when most RAF stations would host an ‘At Home’ display once a year.   But what we have, is still pretty good, and the epicentre of the scene is the Duxford/Old Warden hub. It is a shame for the rest of the country that they are just 15 miles apart, which leaves many regions a display wasteland. 

There are certainly great spectacles to experience, for instance standing on the fenceline at DX in September when eighteen (total)  Spits + Hurricanes split the air with high power run ups, before blasting off in flights of three or four, just amazing!

We have enjoyed a pretty safe period, including this year, though the season has one more display event.  Since the trauma of Shoreham in 2015, no lives have been lost in UK air display activities, though there were two close calls, both ditchings, a Turbulent and a Stearman. The scene is well regulated, but more importantly the participants effectively self-police, and take the task very seriously. The era of Don Bullock and Jeff Hawke brushing the grass in B-17s and Mitchells is long gone. The recent T28 rolling to destruction in Hungary reminds us that opportunities to crash an aircraft are never far away, once recklessness and bravado come to the fore.

It is pleasing to see the forum picking up, it was on life support for a while, but a small core of posters kept enough activity going that people felt it still worth checking in just to see what is going on, and hopefully that momentum will continue and grow. I see it particularly as a sort of ‘clearing house’ for news and happenings, harvesting stuff from many sources and gathering it in a single ‘go to’  location.  I have not learnt to love the design of the forum, the fonts and the colours, but I guess like most things, you end up getting used to it. As in the Kubler Ross model, I have worked through anger, bargaining and depression, and at last have reached ‘acceptance’ !