As Uncle Roger would have said…

“Late on the round-out again, Hoskins!”

Adrian

No worse than mine, Kev! Don’t forget that the pros not only have all the top kit but also all the experience as well. My one niggle is that your pic of the Vans RV6 doesn’t show just how purple it really is:D (should be sponsored by Dairy Milk if you ask me). and your middle pic of the SE5a is spiffing (so says SWMBO, the resident Biggles collector).

Kermit Weeks seemed to be having a whale of a time as well, a very quietly-spoken chap.

The Edge 540 was the only thing that scared me more than the EoN Primary – the aerobatics it can pull off can be summed up in three letters – WTF?

Adrian

I also enjoyed the commentary (sorry, Oxcart!), particularly as he said very little while the aircraft were in front of the crowdline, and mostly let them speak for themselves (I believe other people have spluttered in the past about commentators not doing that :diablo:). He did use some very long words, and got in a nice ad-lib when a rather different formation came across that was RSPB rather than RAF.

It was really nice to see some different things flying (even if I do enjoy the barnstorming!), and the Slingsby Petrel was as wonderful flying as it is beautiful to look at – a real joy to see. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that could cure constipation faster than the EoN primary glider.:eek: I haven’t seen a Storch in the air since Duxford September 1982 – thank you, Hairyplane! – and I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen Gnats displaying since the Reds at the Essex Show – which gives you an idea of how long ago it must have been. I had a picture of a red Comper swift on my wall as a child (our bedroom was decorated with a set of uncut sheets of illustrations from an Ian Allen book, title I never knew, would love to find it but trying to ID an Ian Allan book from the three photos you can remember is, I suspect, a mugs game), and saw one fly for the first time as well. To top it all off, the weather was beautiful too.

I’ve never yet been disappointed at Old Warden. Long may that continue.

Adrian

ETA – I’d have been happy to pay the price and drive the distance just to see the Edwardians in the air – they are wonderful. Everything else was a bonus.

Given the size of Bassingbourn village, and where the airfield is, it’s quite hard to believe that you missed it. If you head out towards Wimpole on the main road (ie not turning at either mini roundabout), you go right up past the post-war barracks accomodation complete with gateguard (either an armoured car or a cannon, can’t remember which), and will cross where they used to roll B17s across the main road to disperse them under the elm trees of the Wimpole Hall avenue…

Adrian

Agreed – I’ve never been to Drem but if those hills are at Andrewsfield I’m a Dutchman.

Adrian

In terms of field size, the longest take-off run is around 880 metres. In the right conditions, enough for anything up to DC-3 size. But maybe not a laden Lanc 🙂

I don’t have the runway length to hand, but Horsas were recovered from Great Sampford by towing off with Dakotas – anyone at Windrushers fancy building a Horsa? Now that really would be worth seeing!

Adrian

(yes, this sounds bloomin’ fantastic!!

One my favourite books of all time is about the 4th FG at Debden – Tumult in the Clouds by James Goodson. Gives the details of Kid Hoffer and Vic France plus others.

Lent it to someone, need to replace it!

I can also recommend “Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Warm Beer”, LeRoy Gover’s story – joined the RAF as a volunteer, then transferred to the USAAF and flew Spitfires and Thunderbolts from Debden. A good pairing!

Adrian
(author’s name currently escapes me – Philip something. It’s not Gover, anyway)

[QUOTE=spitfireman;1933050rest of it can be seen here:

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=119478

Baz[/QUOTE]

She’s lovely, Baz – is she airworthy?:diablo:

Seriously, you don’t know until you ask – as aeronut 2008 has shown!

Adrian