Two came through Blackbushe, the first in June 1976 was T8B-124 G-BDYA which went onto the Confederate Air Force. This was a transport conversion with extra cabin windows and no armament, CAF later refitted these items.
The second was N-99230 in September 1977 which later went on to the USA.
The third for Doug Arnold was the one that crashed en route killing Neil Williams his wife and an engineer. I was led to believe that the Spanish ATC would not let them take a direct route from Spain, across the sea, as the other two had done, which forced them to fly inland up the coast and they took the wrong valley which ended in a cliff.

The report mentions “spent machine gun bullets”. I wonder if they mean bullets or cases. Farm workers could have thought they were being strafed if spent cases fell around them, possibly from an aircraft testing its guns.
If a axis air force had gone to the lengths of flying an aircraft to Britain they would have used it iether for something clandestine or to attack something strategically very important.

DH Heron heading north over Hampshire this morning. I assume the one from the Channel Isles. Is it still for sale?

The old Eastchurch airfield site has been a prison for many years but is now being given up(strange as I thought we were short of prisons) and the local council has an ambitious project, utilising the old WW1 hangars as a museum/visitor centre.
Details on their web site. http://www.theflyingstart.co.uk/main4.htm

Has anyone any pictures taken at Easchurch, a relative was stationed their for a while.

Here’s Seafire LF111c PP972 back in 1999 at Earls Colne. Lot still to do at that time but hopefully getting close to completion.

Fantastic looking aircraft, love the look of desert colours and vokes filter.
Is this the first Spit to fly with this nose profile since they were used in wartime?

Only three X15 airframes were built, number 1 and 2 did the early flights and number 3 blew up prior to its first flight, it was repaired, and all three flew until Number 2 broke its back on landing. That was also repaired.
They all continued to fly until Number 2 suffered the excessive heating damage after which it was repaired but never flew again.
Number 3 was destroyed when it broke up in the air due to high G loads following a spin, Major Adams killed.
That left number one to make the last flights ending with flight 199 on 24-10-68.

X15-1 56-6670 Air and Space Museum Washington.
X15-2 56-6671 Dmgd/repaired/dmgd/repaired. Wright Patterson Museum.
X15-3 56-6672 Blew up/repaired/destroyed.

A slender delta version was proposed but not built.

No thats the pilots version, two sets of flight crew.

I bet the passengers dont moan about low cabin air recirculation levels.