Times are hard.

But, thankfully, not so hard that they couldn’t scrape together the £40m needed to make the atrium smaller and darker.

The Breighton one (G-BGVZ) has also been repainted into Red Baron colours, since appearing in ‘Flyboys’ in a black scheme.

There was a lovely rotary-powered one flying from La Ferte Alais, but I believe it was taken back by its German owner a few years ago. The only other rotary one I can recall seeing is Michael Carlson’s in Sweden, now restored to full health after coming to grief at Duxford a couple of years ago. Most of the rest are being hauled around by flat engines or Warners, although I think the Graham Orphan one (which started life as a rather tatty project in California, I saw it before it was loaded in to the container there) mentioned earlier is now Rotec-powered.

Oh goody, another Daily Mail rant…

Don’t see the point of what? Aerobatics? Formation flying? Airshows?

The point of these mixed-formation photoshoots is to get publicity out in the local media (TV news, web, newspapers) for the forthcoming airshow in the days leading up to it. The performers like them too, as it gives them something different to put on their website and in their publicity material and display boards for the likes of the ICAS convention held in Vegas each winter (where organisers and participants get together and bookings for the following year are often made). I’ve been lucky enough to participate in a couple of these shoots myself, as long as it is well-briefed with experienced paricipants (as in this case), the risk is minimalised as far as it can be.

There are at least 8 currently flying in New Zealand alone, possibly another 20 or so worldwide (wild guess)

Quite a few have been crashed in recent years, one in France, one at Geneseo, one in Colorado.

Redfern also produced a set of plans for home builders of the type, as did Ron Sands.

There are four active in the UK, this one (I think it is now flying again after its mishap), the pair owned by members of the GWDT, and the Breighton one.