Mark Hazard well done, I forgot about the brilliant Neil Williams:o

No problem, he was the first modern day Spitfire pilot I began to recognise when visiting air shows.

In the early 70s, when I started to take a deeper interest in aeroplanes (I had been taken to air shows since a babe in arms) and taking a camera, my first aircraft photos are of MH434 which I believe he flew into Halfpenny Green air show in 1972.

Would you believe that I actually managed to walk up to her, nipping under the single rope barrier 😉 (along with a crowd of other folk) and take close up photos of her, and even touch her – not a chance these days, unless you have a flourescent jacket and like getting in the way of paying punters trying to get a shot 😡 – but that’s for another thread.

Hi Peter,

I think I can help, check your PMs.

I well remember these from my childhood (and later) but mine were binned many years ago by my mother 😡 (who else) before I left home (although that wasn’t the reason).

Not tempted to revisit these myself, as I feel that they will be subject to the PC brigade :dev2: – that and I already have to much “junk” (as my mother would say) filling my flat anyway.

However, if anyone lives in (or visits) the Walsall area, there is a gent that runs a second hand book stall on Walsall market who has a box of what seems like hundreds of Commando comic/books, not sure of their dates, but the original prices on them range from pre-decimal £sd. I believe they are reasonably priced too.

update

I checked with the book-stall owner the other day, and his Commando comic books are priced at 3 for £1 – that’s right, £1 buys three comic books. he even offers to swap any you don’t want, take two of yours and he will let you take one in return, not bad, and he’s a very amiable chap.

I know quite a lot about the making of this series. It was filmed in the Summer of 1971 at West Malling. Hamish Mahaddie was the technical advisor.

Some footage of PA474 was taken for the series but most scenes were effected using large radio – controlled Lancaster models ,rather unconvincing full scale mocks – ups of sections of Lancasters and a lot of stock footage.

In some later episodes the large radio controlled Lancs were used for some rather unconvincing shots of Lancs sitting on the ground ,taxying etc.

Wing Commander Ken Wallis also participated in this programme, from an article I wrote many years ago:

Other Wallis autogyros have also appeared in films and tv but as a camera-ship: giving the supposed view from a Lancaster in a tv programme (The Pathfinders) about the World War Two bombers, and later the supposed view of the Luftwaffe pilot as the (12 foot wingspan model) Lancaster was shot down, Ken Wallis had to fly in formation with this model (to film it) before “shooting” it down.

And with reference to Family At War, didn’t Sally B also star in this programme prior to We’ll Meet Again? (or have I got my wires crossed?).

Far too cheap…

I guess asking for autographs purely to resell them is another kettle of fish altogether. They are also copied shamelessly (just try search Ebay) and its pretty hard for collectors to judge (i would think).

I would feel pretty well fooled (to put it mildly), if i was someone people asked to sign pictures, and then found them for sale the next day.

Which is why celebrities from films and tv now sell their autographs at events like Memorabelia. Too many of them were finding out that some sellers were making hundreds of pounds off autographed pictures that they had sent out free on request – “I am one of your greatest fans, could you send me 7 autographed photos for me, my 3 brothers, my aunt Fannny and 2 of my cousins” and not including names so that they were sent undedicated. The celebs also sometimes paying the postage because the “askers” didn’t provide any return postage.

That is one reason Sean Connery gives for not signing autographs these days.

You can find the current participation list at:

http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conEvent.2138

and click on the click here at the end of para 2

not sure if it will work, but direct route is:

http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/upload/pdf/AutumnAirShowV220080918.pdf

Vulcan memories:

The 4-ship scramble at Finningley in 1981 – only thing to come near was a 5-ship scramble of B-17s at Duxford when making Memphis Belle, but they lacked the “earthquake” effect.

A spiral climb-out at (I’m pretty sure) Cosford by either XH558 or XL426, what a (wonderful) racket, car alarms and babies screaming out together and the ground shaking beneath us – beautiful.

One thing I missed at Duxford the other week was the sound and shake of the Vulcan, not a single car alarm was heard :confused: