Duxford Tuesday 18th September (Part 1):
The removal men arrived this morning, in the shape of a crack team of specialists from Parkhouse Aviation. In a carefully choreographed series of moves, the Varsity was slowly removed from Hangar 4 onto the hardstanding where she will be dismantled:
There are still signs of the last service use (CFS) and a few zaps from her civilian career:
The interior retains the layout from her days as a navigation trainer:
The flightdeck looks mostly complete, but not in very good shape:
By close of play, a start had already been made on the huge job of preparing her for the move to Newquay:
Varsity T.1 WJ945 was built at Hurn and first flew Feb. 23rd 1953. After RAF service concluding with the CFS at Little Rissington, she was flown into Duxford on 26th October 1974, having been acquired by the then DAS Chairman D. Selway. Registered G-BEDV on 26-7-76, she was a regular airshow attendee for a few years. This is my only record of her career, taken when rounding the corner at Old Warden in 1982:
Many thanks to the Parkhouse Aviation team for access.
Duxford Sunday 16th September:
Today was the ‘Showbus’ event, and although I try to keep out of the way of buses nowadays, there was a chance of catching the Duxford Wing returning from Goodwood in the evening light. I was very lucky to catch these arrivals (but not as lucky as the passenger in ‘Miss Velma’, who appears to be enjoying himself):
Duxford Saturday 15th September:
With today being Battle Of Britain Day, I had to post a couple of Duxford Spitfire shots from this afternoon:
Oddly enough, a timely first sighting of the Rudolph Hess Bf110 fuselage just arrived from South Lambeth, together with a DB601A engine from the same aircraft:
Interesting visitor was this brand new Super King Air G-HCCL:
And finally, on a lighter note:
Duxford Friday 14th September:
With preparations underway for Sunday’s ‘Showbus’ event, Sally B has been moved onto the grass next to the Amiot AAC.1 / Ju52:
Early departures were the TFC pair of P-47 and P-51, ‘Snafu’ and ‘Miss Velma’.
On the way to Goodwood, this would be the first landing away for the P-47:
Back in Hangar 2, the TFC Hellcat has fin and rudder removed:
The Gladiator project continues:
Bearcat and Sea Fury:
The first sign of objects moving from South Lambeth is the appearance of this Wurzburg Type A mobile radar:
Not featured before are some of the IWM engines that have been marked for disposal. Visible are Gypsy Major, Gypsy Queen 70, Tyne, R1340 Wasp and an unidentified Hirth:
Duxford Wednesday 12th September:
P-51D ‘Ferocious Frankie’ departed this morning for an appearance in Guernsey tomorrow (timed between a B-52 and the Red Arrows!). The Duxford skyline is certainly taking on an autumnal tint.
The IWM Varsity looks ready to roll:
With the OFMC pair away, the RE8 and Albatros D.Va remain on show.
It would be nice to see the IWM RE8 next to her newer version, F3556 has been hanging in Airspace since it opened in 2008. Here she is today:
RE8 F3556 was built by Daimler in 1918. Funded as a presentation aircraft by the people of Ceylon, she saw no active service. In fact, only one 30 minute flight was logged in France (on 31-10-18) before she was returned to the UK and stored. She owes her survival to use in a travelling RAF exhibition, then passing to IWM (who were rumoured to have the original crate) and was displayed at South Lambeth until a restoration began at Duxford around 1975.
These photos from the winter of 2005/2006 show F3556 after preparation for the move to Airspace (note the non-standard wheels):
Duxford Monday 10th September:
Less than five weeks until the next Duxford airshow….
A few participants remained this morning, two Hawks and a Tucano returned home in rather gloomy weather:
Probably here for a while are the RE8 and Albatros, currently guests at OFMC until the winds subside:
The DAS Ambassador has moved a short distance onto the old hangar base, wings should be attached over the winter:
Next aircraft to move is waiting in the wings:
Duxford Saturday 8th September:
There will be thousands of photos from today’s event on the way. Perfect weather and spectacular flying watched by a very big crowd. I’ll leave coverage to the experts, but this photo sums up my personal highlight:
Duxford Friday 7th September:
So much sunshine, so many warbirds..
What a day! With so much activity today and many better photographers around, I will merely record the simultaneous arrival of Harry and Albert at 1036 this morning:
The RE8 is night-stopping in a hangar of the same period:
A T-33 has been absent from Duxford for too long:
The Carbon Cub N396SR made her first flight this evening:
Duxford Thursday 6th September:
The Amiot AAC.1 / Ju52 was moved onto the grass this morning, ready to dominate the flight-line at this weekend’s airshow:
The two Buchons flew a wonderful display practice, another airshow highlight to look forward to:
To even the balance, another great routine from the OFMC Spitfire MH434, before she departed overseas:
Finally, waiting for the evening light, Spitfire Tr.9 PT462 was put through her paces after an airtest just before closing time. It was a pity that only a few visitors were still around to enjoy a spectacular routine:
Edit: Add an even more yellow 1-11:
Duxford Wednesday 5th September:
Big news today was the opening of the Duxford Activity Zone. Strictly for under 9s, no adults:
Another disturbing sight today was the DAS BAC 111 slowly turning yellow:
With TFC, the Hawk 75 and Spitfire V were airborne, and Mustang ‘Miss Velma’ was engine running:
The Carbon Cub N396SR looks nearly ready for test:
Classic Wings were busy, the two Harvards were doing solo and formation practice:
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