My first show was the Battle of Britain 50th Anniversary at Home Day at Abingdon in 1990.I remembered I was mighty impressed by the whole thing,but the details merge into a blur.I remember a black-and-yellow bellied TT Canberra and a French aerobatics pilot who insisted on pulling out of dives with about 2 feet to spare!Oh,and ofcourse the massive comemorative flypast at the end of the show with just about every RAF type taking part.
Think the display which best sticks in my mind was BBMF trio of Lanc,Mk.2 Spit and Hurricane.Will never forget the first time I heard the sound of six Merlins growling past…:)

Have to agree with Damien,would be great to see her back flying in the UK.She’s a fitting tribute to all the the Mitchell crews of the 2ndTAF,many of whom were Dutch,Norwiegen or French.As such I can’t help thinking she would be best kept as a european warbird.
The last thing I want is to see her disappear into the black hole known as Flying Heritage.:(

Hi Philo,
Thanks for the back up,I was beggining to wonder if I was on my own on this one!As for being sat next to me,I was only at the show on the Saturday,sorry I missed you.I did think about coming back for the sunday display,but my brother had other plans,so that was that.

I know it sounds overstated,but they really were over the crowd at the eastern end where I was standing.I don’t know how low they were,but my gut feeling told me they were low enough!
I am quite surprised that the CAA don’t seem to have said anything about it,but perhaps there were no CAA guys down at our end of the airfield to notice it.
I am not trying to knock the warbird movement or the professionalism of the pilots etc etc,it’s just that we can’t afford to have an accident near the crowd.Crashes anywhere are bad enough,but one that involves casualties among the spectators would really put the future of displays in jeapordy,and I feel it’s important that we keep displays as safe as possible.It can never be said that there won’t be an accident,whatever the condition of the aircraft or ability of the pilot.

Please can we STOP debating about what went wrong,what might have happened etc etc.I don’t feel that this is the time to start debating this kind of thing.I dunno about everyone else,but i’m still in a mood of reflection,and I think it’s appropriate to keep it that way for now.
On a more positive note,I saw this poem on another forum,and thought it would be very appropriate to reproduce it here:

Impressions of a Pilot (Gary Claud Stokor)

Flight is freedom in its purest form,
to dance with the clouds which follow a storm;
to roll and glide, to wheel and spin;
To feel the joy that swells within;
To leave the earth with its troubles and fly,
And know the warmth of a clear spring sky;
Then back to earth at the end of the day,
released from the tensions which melted away.
Should my end come while I am in flight,
Whether brightest day or darkest night; ,
Spare me your pity and shrug off the pain, –
Secure in the knowledge that I’d do it again;
For each of us is created to die,
And within me I know I was born to fly.