How much? And I bummed a jump seat ride on a water bombing practice session way back in ’81 for nothing. Sometimes you don’t realise how lucky you’ve been until much, much later.

Spitfire (Mk I?) low over old Hatfield airfield 09.55 am heading West(ish), remarkably quiet, didn’t hear it coming until it was over the trees.

…and back again at somewhat higher altitude 25 minutes later. Now where can he have been in that time?

Yes heard it myself 🙂 but the forest stopped me seeing it ! Grrrrrrr Did manage to see the DAK En route to DX also heard a Harvard but yet again ! that bloody forest 🙂

Dakota passed over St Albans at lunch time too. Harvard obviously not coming this way.

Probably no more than a reporter completely unaware of what they are looking at (there are very few of the other type) asking someone “What’s that?” and getting the reply “A Mk.1 Swordfish.”.

On the other hand, my local cafe has just put packets of Swordfish coffee in the window, with a nice picture of said biplane on the packet, but no mention of the “F” word.

The whole airfield site was, I believe, bought by a property company called Goodmans, who developed the Northern end as a business park, whilst leaving the Southern (St Albans Road) end undeveloped. It is currently a sort of park cum wildlife reserve called Ellenbrook Fields administered by the local councils, but is ultimately intended for sand and gravel extraction. A company called Bretts have the rights and recently submitted an outline propsal of intent to erect an aggregate processing plant and a readymix concrete plant on the site. Expected duration of operations was given as 37 years, so if you want a walk where Comet & Mosquito once taxied, get in quickly!

Red & black Antonov An-12 low over old Hatfield airfield 11.40 a.m.. (UR-CKL, out of Luton. God bless Flightradar24. I’d have been puzzled by an oddly coloured Herc for ages…)

Don’t write it off too soon. I had a flight in G-ANMV about 20 years ago. Then a couple of years later it suffered a forced landing, flipping over on to its back when the undercart collapsed. Now flying as D-ECTM with Meier Motors…