08Apr16
Once the low cloud lifted and the sun came out, ARCo and TFC provided the afternoon war bird entertainment and there were a couple of interesting visitors that visited for a couple of hours.
Sony Alpha A6300 Compact Systems Camera with a Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC
Brian
05Apr16
As it was a quiet day, I had a wander around the American Air Museum and soon found out that my wide angle lens wasn’t quite wide enough for a lot of the shots I wanted. I’ll have to dig out my fish-eye lens for that unique perspective that only a fish-eye lens can give. In the ‘Bunker’, the room with the entrance under the nose of the B-52, there are electronic Roll of Honour screens at either end. They list the names of all the airmen of the Eight and Ninth Air Force of the USAAF who died during the Second World War. Where possible there is a photograph of the person and any names highlighted in blue indicate those who died on this day, in this case the 5th April but not necessarily the same year.
Brian
02Apr16
With the Fly-in at Sywell cancelled, I was hoping there might be a few extra visitors to Duxford on Saturday. Wasn’t disappointed as the jet pan soon filled up with a wide variety of GA aircraft during the day. Although there was hazy sunshine, there was a strong cross wind blowing from the south which made for some interesting arrivals and departures. Classic Wings Tiger Moths were taking off across rather than along the grass runway because of the wind and I missed the Dove 8/VP981 arriving but thanks to Dave and Gary for the flight line access.
Photos in the order they were taken with a Sony Alpha A6300 Compact Systems Camera with a Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC
Brian
31Mar16
Nice to get out and about in the sunshine again the only down side being was that when anything interesting was flying, the clouds rolled in. A busy day with visitors and aircraft. A surprise visitor was the arrival of P-51D/’Miss HELEN’ which parked up on the grass down at ARCo. TFC had Spitfire Mk.Ia/P7308 out on the airfield for a couple of low rev engine runs. Duxford heliport was open again when a Schweizer 269 C-1 dropped in for an hour or so and a Qatar registered Eurocopter EC155B1 was doing circuits before the crew stopped off for a tea break. Outside the Land Warfare Museum, the Mulberry Harbour Roadway had been lowered onto its supports.
Brian
19Mar16
With the public opening of the refurbished American Air Museum, it was probably not the best time to visit as the place was crowded. First impression, I was quite impressed. The emphasis has moved away from the large objects (aircraft) to a more human orientated exhibition with lots of extra displays about the Americans who fought in the various conflicts over the years with the aircraft tying in to the exhibits. Photography wise there were to many visitors about to get any decent shots of the ground exhibits and the hanging large objects were a bit of a challenge as there was natural light coming in from the front wall and artificial light all the way around the inside. When the initial interest dies down, I’ll be back to have a good wander around. Photos in the order they were taken.
Sony Alpha A6000 Compact Systems Camera + Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC Lens ~ Manual Settings
Brian
Preparations were well under way for the opening of the American Air Museum. A crowd barrier has been erected across the top half of the site as the AAM and Land Warfare Hall are not open to the public until the weekend. It stopped me from getting to the Tank Bank as The Fighter Collection Hawk 75 was doing engine runs on the tie down. The western parking area has been cleared of the GA aircraft that were parked there, moved to the Jet Pan, and a pair of Harvard’s were parked on the grass opposite the AAM presumably for the Press Day. Official VIP opening is tomorrow Thursday and open to the public on Saturday. Good news for the Victor as starting next month it’s to be dismantled in AirSpace and moved to hangar 5 for a 3 to 5 years restoration. Harvard ‘Taz’ was doing circuits and Chipmunk WB569 was flying around as well.
Brian
14Mar16
When I got to Duxford this morning, there were a few visitors snapping away with their camera phones at an articulated lorry in the car park. Strange thought I. Even more strange when when I saw that Homer Simpson had been the inspiration for the cab design. Love the rotating wind screen wipers. The Sea Fury was already flying and was up for about 50 minutes doing low and high powered circuits above the airfield. After it had refueled, it left after its extended stay at Duxford in company with its support aircraft. Harvard ‘Taz’ was doing circuits along with Duxford based Chipmunk/WK522 and outside the Land Warfare Museum, contractors were installing supports to support a section of World War II D-Day Mulberry harbour roadway that was recovered from Gold beach in the late 50’s.
Brian
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