There seems to be a concensus that putting (and keeping) vintage aircraft in the air is the best memorial for people like Brian Brown, but that people would be willing to contribute to some kind of tangible memorial. Personally, I can’t think of anything more moving than the final display at Biggin Hill last year when John Romain displayed MH434 to the sound of the Last Post in memory of Ray Hanna. I don’t see why similar displays, in aircraft that are associated with particular fliers, could not be done more often, on the understanding that if people want to give money to the memory of particular pilots, they can donate to whatever restoration company or project. Perhaps even something more formal could be instituted, like a memorial fund for Brian that could be put towards the restoration of another Hurricane to flying condition, that could have his name permanently painted beneath the canopy. Just a thought.

Oh and a HUGE pot of cash – now that WOULD be nice:D

That would be completely historically inaccurate for the Fleet Air Arm I’m afraid. I think you must be thinking of the USN.

I’m going tomorrow Bex, I’ll look out for you.

Looking forward, looks like a good lineup and I’ve not been to an airshow since Biggin Hill, so it’ll be good.

Going through some of my archived photos I came across these that I took in Norway a couple of years ago. Thought I’d share them here! Andy Saunders

Nice pics. They’ve done an absolutely fantastic job on that cockpit section (they have a seat as well), I saw it when the team from NLM Bodo brought it to the Skua aircrew reunion at the FAA Museum a year ago. It would be lovely if the FAAM could get something similar too, a repro would be possible given the NLM’s fastidious reconstruction.

Airshow convert

I was a bit of an aircraft nut when I was a child and was no stranger to airshows (the Duxford autumn show traditionally fell near my birthday as luck would have it) but nothing prepared me for seeing the Vulcan display at Southend in I think 1989 or 1990. Seeing that big wedge of an aircraft dancing round the skies, seeming to float at time, at others to be standing on its own jetwash. And whenever it turned away from the crowdline the way that ground (for those who have never experienced the Vulcan, actually, literally) shook was like nothing I have experienced before or since. I’d like little more than to see that again. It remains the only time I have seen a Vulcan in the air, but its one of the highlights of my childhood.

Oddly enough, my little brother too. He tended to get dragged along to airshows and generally disliked the experience with a passion – until the Vulcan, which to this day he still raves about.

Well, depending on how far you take the ‘what-iffery’, my view on the question ‘What if the Fw-190 had been used by the Nazis in 1940 during the Battle Of Britain how would that have changed the outcome?’ is that the result would have been exactly the same, perhaps resulting in an even earlier Allied victory than was actually the case.

Bearing in mind that the Fw190 V1 first flew in June 1939, it is not totally beyond the realms of possibility that it could have been rushed into production by the summer of 1940. This would have necessitated that the engine originally intended for it, the BMW 139, was used instead of the 801 that was eventually fitted after a redesign by Kurt Tank. This was horrendously unreliable and tended to overheat badly. These engine problems can be added to the other sundry development issues that all aircraft face, but which in our new scenario, Focke-Wulf wouldn’t have had time to fully address. This would, in my view, have outweighed any performance advantage the 190 may have had. Luftwaffe serviceability rates were critical by October 1940 and a new and highly unreliable type would have made things worse than they already were.

If we are suggesting that the 801 engined version was developed a little quicker (190A-0 models were in service, though not operational in late 1940) the problems would hardly have been better – the BMW 801 still needed a lot of work to make it a reliable, adequately cooled powerplant.

In fact, I think the nature of the Battle of Britain would not have favoured even a fully reliable Fw190 particularly. The range was not appreciably different to the 109, so loiter time would not have improved. When Fighter Command got wind of fighter sweeps aiming to erode defensive capability, they simply declined to engage. The 190 was no more of an escort fighter than a 109. Ultimately the BofB was about British fighters trying to knock down German bombers and avoid German fighters wherever possible, I don’t see what the 190 would have changed.

If it would help I can send you a repro WW2 American aircraft recognition model of a Blackburn Skua. These were made from parts stamped out of a sheet of card and assembled into a semi-3D model. I have an unassembled version which I’ve scanned. Might count as cheating, but you’d have the flat sections already there…