What’s wrong with making the effort to arrive early and sticking your chair by the fence? I see no sense in having to be present by your chair in the morning – why on earth would you want to guard your chair rather than having a wander around?

If you arrive to find a line of empty chairs then you’re arriving too late.

Windbreaks – if they only enclose sufficient space for the occupants then they’re not unreasonable. However, this is rarely the case.

A couple of things, I usually arrive early enough to choose a spot if that is what I wanted to do. I just think that reserving a space is a bit rude, it never used to happen years ago, I have been going to airshows since the seventies and the windbreak and chair reserving has really only taken hold in the nineties onward. I think that back in the day crowd lines used to be more fluid, people would move up and down and back to their car (not so easy at Duxford I appreciate) as things of interest (to them) appeared.

Also aren’t windbreaks there to as the name suggests ‘break the wind’ so to speak, stop the person behind it being in the draft, breeze – howling gale. If that is the case I expect to see people camped the wrong side of them when the wind is coming from across the airfield and in their face, I doubt that this will happen somehow, so what is their point?? I think they are used more as a marking of territory. If it is a free country and I am free to arrive early and claim my acre along the crowd line then I am equally free to remove unused obstacles (chairs and windbreaks) from this public (for the show) land and set up camp after someone has claimed it but as far as I can tell not used it!

I agree this is a great book, read my copy to find that toward the end instead of the correct pages there are duplicated earlier pages only, so I had to borrow a copy to finish it, good read though.
I am a First Officer with Flybe and everytime I fly with a new captain (new to me) I always ask them about there background and one of the guys I fly with was a Victor pilot on the raids, very interesting to talk to in the cruise.

Ooooh, interesting! Well, a very good landing my friend!

Nice pics, good landings in the Q400 are extremely rare, it is a pig!

Bid closes on the 10th of August, they are still light in Belfast, we are nitestopping there at present to cover the shortfall, they are short all over for captains.
I know that they are also short in Scotland, but some of our guys, man, have been posted up there from the last bid, so maybe that is covered now.

Well done and good luck, this is also my office, I am based in man. The aircraft is top drawer, but Flybe are in a bit of a mess at the moment, but as you say this is your first job so that will not matter to start with.
Do you know your base yet? Be interested to know if it is BHX!!!

This is sad news, The Big Show is the best account from a pilots perspective of WWII that I have ever read. Once you start this book you cannot put it down.

I have to agree with Moondance, the Big Show is a stunning read, right up there with Mr Wellums First Light…go get it!

I know it is not of the era but Chickenhawk is a great read too, a vietnam Huey Pilot!