It was certainly flown by Christophe Marchand on the fifth of May this year, in formation with other a/c including the interesting Caudron racer replica, to Hemet USA.

Yes indeed Snoopy, and I’m very happy with the air-to-airs I shot of it that day. 🙂

Thanks for the links to the videos, I’d not seen them before. Interesting to see the view from the other direction, looking back at myself in the T-34.

Actually, Robin Reid flew it to and from Hemet, with Christophe flying the Comet and Caudron on local flights out of Hemet.

There’s an example in Northern Califonia that was restored to airworthy in NZ about 5 years ago but never flown. It has recently been placed on the US register, so hopefully will take to the air at some point.

Isn’t there a radial-engined Hawk being done in NZ?

For me, it is the overall collection that generally makes planning a trip worthwhile, but I’ll give it my best shot James. In no particular order:

NASM for the Wright Flyer. A tough call between this and the Ryan NYP, but I remain not a committed fan of Lindbergh (sorry Baldeagle). So the Flyer it is, the first one that really managed to get this powered flight malarky right.

NASM Udvar-Hazy for the Aichi M6A Seiran. No particular reason, but having to pick a particular airframe from the vast collection on show there made me think of this, it just tweaks my fancy being an unusual concept (an aircraft to be carried by and launched from a submarineat sea) and a unique survivor.

Vigna di Valle for the M.C.72. Need I say more James?

Seattle for the Paul Allen Fw190 in the air. The only airworthy example of a very significant type, and it is unlikely to fly anywhere else so you’ll have to go to Seattle to see it. Just remember to pack your umbrella! Oh, and you get the added bonus of seeing one of only two original long-nose Fw190Ds in the same hangar.

Old Warden for the Hind. One of my favourite aircraft, a rare military survivor from the inter-war era, and there’s nowhere on earth (that I’ve yet found, and believe me I’ve tried) that beats the ambience of an OW flying day on a sunny afternoon. And if you’re lucky you might get to see it fly with the Demon and/or the Gladiator – it doesn’t come any better than that.

Krakow for the PLZ P.11c. A nice collection in a great city, a significant airframe in WWII history (albeit briefly), and again, just a personal favourite.

The Savoia-Marchetti S.55 in the ‘Wings of a Dream’ museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Again, a rare survivor of the era (an inter-war flying boat), significant due to the Balbo flight, and it just looks cool!

Anywhere in the UK that PA474 is flying. This airframe has huge significance to me as it is the only flying memorial in Europe to the sacrifices made by the men of Bomber Command in WWII, and is seen (and heard, there’s nothing quite like the sound of 4 synchronised Merlins) annually by millions of people across Europe.

Dayton for the XB-70. The over-used term ‘awesome’ is for once appropriate in this case. And then there’s the rest of the collection. Having travelled to many aviation museums over the years, not much takes my breath away these days. The Dayton collection did just that, an amazing place and well worth the trip.

Anywhere in the US that ‘Fifi’ is flying. A significant and unique flying survivor, and a magnificent achievement by the CAF to keep it in the air

And just to irritate James (as he said I could only have 10) I’m going to have another one:

Louis Bleriot’s cross-channel XI in the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris. The first aeroplane to make a significant distance flight connecting 2 countries, a concept that we all take for granted these days.

So that’s my list, and I haven’t included anything from the Science Museum, RAF Museum, Duxford, Chino, Le Bourget………..can I have another 10 (or 11 :p ) please James?

Better get going, I’ve still got Brazil and Washington DC to visit from my list above!

If the Il-2 isn’t at least invited to Legends it would be a travesty.

It didn’t take long, did it? 3 posts :rolleyes:

A great achievement. I look forward to seeing it when it reaches its new home (and no, that won’t involve a trip to Duxford. :rolleyes:)

The museum there are building a Hughes H-1 replica. On my last visit there in Feb I was told that they had sourced a (very rare) engine for the project.

The ‘airworthy’ DH4 in the US was flown for a season about 3 years ago, and has been parked up in the museum at Creve Coeur since then. There’s another one in restoration at Kermit Weeks’ place, they just hung the engine on it.

The Yak-3 to which you refer has become embroiled in a rather extended financial and ownership dispute, and to my knowledge is still in California.

it is indeed still in California. I had the opportunity to examine and photograph it last month.