Further to my previous post, speaking to the curators at MAM, they have a big problem with not being recognised by the tour operators. I spoke to some tourists at my hotel who visited the Craft Centre(alongside which MAM is situated at Ta’Qali) but were not taken to the aviation museum or given time to visit it themselves, which caused great disappointment. The Tourist Board in Malta really need to take this museum more seriously, as the work they have done in preserving Malta’s aviation heritage is World Class and I have no hesitation in recommending that they ‘rescue’ the Gladiator from the War Museum.

Raymond Baxter, Alex Henshaw and now Neville Duke! Very sad that we are losing such fine aviation legends in close succession. I was very privileged to have met them all and was very pleased to celebrate the Hunter’s 50th Anniversary with Neville at Boscombe Down in 2001, which was the last time I saw him. A fine gentleman and a great credit to this country. My condolences to his family.

Thanks Tim. I think we’ve debated this before and in fact a petition was raised over this issue. I really don’t think the locals have much to complain about as the occasional flights by Delta Jets Hunters and the flying school there are hardly worth complaining about. There will always be someone that finds something somewhere to complain about. How about they close the airfield, build a council house estate on it and the locals get plagued by vandals and yobs that have nothing better to do. Perhaps they would prefer that?

(just imagine it was a pikey caravan park near your home that was licenced for 10 caravans, for half the year, yet 20 turned up, all year round…. i bet you’d be on the phone to the council!)

…so you are saying that the people who choose to live near an active airfield should not expect to see aircraft flying? Did they create a fuss when the Red Arrows were there, or when 5 MU was flying and testing aircraft, or when the USAF was there maintaining and flying A-10s, F-5s etc? If the airfield was disused, that would be a different matter, but Kemble has been in constant use for years. Would you buy a house near an active railway line and then complain about the number of trains running, because you expected only one a day? 🙁

Westland Whirlwind…that would be a cool sight.

..and which Westland Whirlwind would that be:confused:

Where do you stand on Team Guinot, Albert? Surely them there Stearmans never wore those colours in service life? :diablo:

Absolutely! If I had my way they would all be blue and yellow in U.S.Army Air Corps markings, but then you couldn’t have the lovely girls on top!!;)

I wonder how this will effect the running up of the vulcans apu and her systems?

May have to open the hangar doors! :rolleyes:

I think this is a shame. Although it looks good, this Spitfire was actually wearing its original Irish Air Corps colours and serial, so was different but portrayed another part of the aircraft’s history outside WW2. Although the new markings are authentic, they are not applicable to this actual aircraft that only flew as PV202 and IAC 161.