As far as I’m aware, Filton isn’t closing as such, it’s the airfield that’s going. The Airbus bits produced there will be transported by ferry in future.

Not s long ago there was a thead on here regarding Ray and Mark Hannah and how much the way they used to fly the Aircraft is missed. Both Ray and Mark would have been this low many times and yet they are hailed as hero’s in many eye’s. Double standards somewhat at work here, there is low and then there is really low and then there is to low!!

To my mind, there several differences between the Hanna’s techniques and the above incident. This is a large aircraft with alot of inertia, and therefore the control inputs (particularly aileron) do not have such an immediate effect. Also the visibility from the cockpit is relatively poor- the pilots’ eye-line is quite high up, the view in some directions is like peering through a letterbox, and with such a large aircraft with the wingtips behind the pilots’ line of sight it can be very difficult to judge clearances. It’s a bit like driving a lorry through a width restriction at full tilt.

As for the Hannas, they appear to have only done such low flying in types with more control responsiveness and better visibility. Added to which, Ray was formerly a Tac Recce pilot where such low flying was an operational necessity.

Although I don’t know the history and experience of the crew involved in the above incident, I still insist that even with Hanna-like skills and experience doing such a thing in a DC3 is seriously ill-advised.

Great piece of skilled flying….good to see.

Are you having a laugh? Anyone who thinks this is good should watch again and pause the vid between 0.16 and 0.17, he’s a gnat’s chuff away from a propstrike. Also note the pole sticking up out of the water just a few feet away from the port wingtip!

It’s reported in other parts of the press that nine aircraft will be used for ceremonial flypasts, with seven being used for display work.

The Mustang is a bit of a special case as they are in such high demand in any condition, even a crashed wreck sells for thousands more than most museums could afford. A full size model is understandable in the circumstances.

As for the B24/Spitfire swap, the IWM surely got the better half of the deal?? The USAFM badly needed a Spit, and the IWM badly needed a B24. I don’t see how else IWM could have got hold of one, I’m frankly surprised the deal was agreed to at the US end.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Engelbert Humperdinck is that it’s his chosen stage name, his real name is Arnold George Dorsey! Why on earth would you choose Engelbert Humperdinck!!

Thanks for the latest update, that 504 scheme is the bees knees! It’s good to know the engine appears to be running so sweetly, it’s good news not just for the 504, but also for the Bristol M1C that the 504 has been playing musical engines with over the last couple of years. Hopefully if the engine behaves itself while attached to the 504 then it means the M1C is a step closer to flying again. Fingers crossed…

John Green,

I have to wonder if you have actually read my post correctly, I don’t claim to be infallable but describing my above comments as “fatuous” is surely a bit of an exaggeration? I’m not a fan of making things ‘modern’, ‘trendy’ or ‘PC’, and I agree that there was a financial aspect to the name change as you and David Burke allude to. But I still insist that my above statement holds water.

I don’t like to go around spreading mis-information, so would you please be kind enough to explain what I have got wrong and what information you have to the contrary? I referred to the Cobra Den thread above because it is written by the guys who maintain the aircraft, they themselves described much of the previous work as ‘junk’, and so forth. I’m not exaggerating or making claims based on thin air when I say the CAF were picking up a bad reputation in some areas.

As for the high average age, I’m not suggesting that older members are necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that A) organisations need new blood to keep going and B) in the CAF’s case there were a number of examples of old hands being less than positive about new members. For example, there were several cases where old hands were possesive about the aircraft they flew and wouldn’t train up new pilots on ‘thier’ aircraft. All of this was more than somewhat off-putting to prospective members.

In summary, I admire the CAF of old as a preservation pioneer back in the 60’s and 70’s, but the new CAF is more than just a financial juggling act and some very real improvements have been made under the new banner.