Duxford Wednesday 1st May:
At 1520, The TFC Gladiator G-GLAD / N5903 returned to the air. I think the following sequence speaks for itself:
And while the P-40 was cavorting outside, a group of family and friends were in Building 80 celebrating the life of JOHN MILNE, S/L Brian Lane’s rigger with 19 Sqn in 1940, who died last August. A moving letter from Dilip Sarker was read out; and past and present members of 19 Sqn were present, including F/O Ken Wilkinson, who joined 19 Sqn in October 1940. Ken and John were mentioned in a thread here in 2011, when they unveiled a plaque on the childhood home of their old boss, Brian Lane.
Today’s gathering was a fitting and effective tribute to a lovely man, who was extremely proud of his RAF service at Duxford and Fowlmere in 1940, and much further afield later on in the war. I was proud to have known John in later life, and I was honoured to be invited to be present at today’s celebration of his life.
I’ve been sent a photo from last Saturday’s celebration of John Milne’s life, featuring F/O Ken Wilkinson of 19 Sq with the last C/O of 19 Sq.
It’s a reminder that Duxford’s history is so much more than just the aeroplanes.
Thanks to Mike Peirson for the photo.
Duxford Tuesday 30th April:
Unlike ‘Super Tuesday’ last week, absolutely nothing of note happened today at Duxford.
However, something will be happening shortly to the B-17G in the American Air Museum. There’s a clue on the other side of the fin, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise yet:
The IWM Harrier is still being prepared for the move to London. You might be interested to see the engine still installed:
Until the cardboard and tape reveal the truth:
Still no sign of the P-51D being assembled. Hopefully she won’t miss the big event at the end of May:
Some details of the completed P-51C in 2005:
Flying Legends, 10-7-05:
Flying Legends 9-7-06:
Sadly, Princess Elizabeth returned to the USA. G-PSIC was cancelled 23-1-07 on becoming N487FS and left Duxford in February 2007. These pics 7-2-07:
One of her first appearances in the USA, at Columbus, Ohio on 28-9-07 at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends. (2 pics thanks to Dave Jones):
Recently, N487FS has been seen regularly as lead ship with the Horsemen (2009 pic thanks to Peter Green):
The airframe returned to Duxford on 7-1-00, having been re-sparred and re-skinned. This pic from Tony Clarke on the day of arrival:
A thorough five-year restoration followed. These pics taken at various stages of the project:
Nearing completion on 6-7-04, with painting underway:
Now marked as ‘325147’ on 22-3-05:
Early engine runs, 2005:
Another ‘first ‘flight with Pete Kynsey on 3-6-05:
With the return of P-51C ‘Princess Elizabeth’, here’s a look at her story so far.
The airframe is very much a composite, containing a lot of new structure alongside parts from P-51B,C and D models. However, her origins (and official identity) start with P-51C 43-25147, built at the Dallas,TX factory in 1943. Her wartime service is unclear, and the airframe was ‘discovered’ in Israel as ‘13’ having been retired to the Holz Technical School in Tel Aviv. Used as an instructional aircraft from 1960 to 1975, the remains were recovered from Israel in 1978 by Pete and Angelo Regina.
The project was registered as N51PR and the rebuild was carried out at Van Nuys using many P-51B and P-51D parts. She was completed as ‘Shangri-La’ as flown by Don Gentile of the 4th FG. First flight (by Dave Zeuschel) was on June 11th 1981. Skip Holm raced the aircraft at Reno in 1982. Seen here at Point Mugu 20-10-84 (Mark Morgan pic via Tony Clarke):
In 1986 it was acquired by Joseph Kasparoff and became the all-red ‘The Believer’ No.97. This pic somewhere in the USA (Dick Philips pic via Tony Clarke):
Santa Monica 1991 (via Tony Clarke):
At Camarillo, date unknown:
In December 1996, the Mustang was acquired by Stephen Grey and ferried to Chino for attention before being shipped to Duxford (These three pics by Tony Clarke on arrival at Duxford 3-7-97):
An all-out effort by TFC saw the Mustang assembled and painted in time for Legends ’97, first flight was by Steve Hinton on 12-7-97. The chosen markings represented ‘Princess Elizabeth’ 2106449/HO-W as flown by Lt William Whisner of the 487th FS/352nd FG from Bodney. (These pics 6-7-97 and 11-7-97):
On August 1st, the Mustang was part of a formation marking the official opening of Duxford’s American Air Museum by Her Majesty The Queen:
The aircraft was not flown extensively, with some parts of the airframe needing attention. These pics 10-8-97:
N51PR was disassembled for inspection and a major rebuild was decided upon. Re-registered G-PSIC on 16-4-98, she was shipped back to the USA in December 1998. This pic Autumn 1998, with parts being sent for paint stripping:
The cockpit:
Wings and fuselage after stripping and cleaning:
Duxford Saturday 27th April:
Roobarb’s latest masterpiece is now on view in Hangar 3. The aircraft it represents is Spitfire IIA P7308 as flown by (Lt Col) William R Dunn of 71 (Eagle) Sqn from North Weald 1941. Dunn was the first American ace of WWII, and I’m sure there will be much more about the background over the next month or two:
A couple of based trainers active today:
The OFMC P-51D ‘Ferocious Frankie’ has her new Packard V-1650 in place, but there’s still a lot of work needed to complete the installation:
Finally, an energetic display from the TFC P-40B:
Over to Duxman for the flying shots…..
Duxford Friday 26th April:
Having been beaten to the Spitfire exclusive, all I can offer are a few random shots from this morning:
Duxford Wednesday 24th April:
Only a quick visit this morning, but plenty happening in just two hours. Sally B was extracted from her Winter home in Hangar 2 and is now on the flightline ready to work up for her 39th airshow season at Duxford.
As usual, the other Hangar 2 residents were dispersed to make room for the move:
The only hiccup was a minor oleo snag on the Bronco, soon fixed:
The Yale and a few Chipmunks:
In Airspace the IWM Harrier had the wing removed this morning:
A busy sortie from the Sabre included two full practice displays (maybe some more photos later):
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