With respect, acquisition of an AF toolkit is hardly a big issue, even if you went the whole hog, and ordered it from the Snap On van. In fact when HFL started working on Mustangs some years ago, I did just that. Not cheap, but I still have them!

For whatever reason, the aircraft has moved on, and not, I understand, to the Fighter collection. I look forward to seeing how the proceeds will be spent.

Slightly off topic but don’t many British aircraft require AF tools? I’ve never worked on any but do restore classic cars from the 1950’s onwards and although I acknowledge the older aircraft (and the cars I play with) are likely to use Whitworth. BS standards switched to AF not long after WWII and I find it surprising a mechanic/engineer/restorer working on such machinery doesn’t have access to AF tools?

And 613 squadron at Halton with whom I did my Basic and Advanced glider courses in the 1990’s in Vigilants. Happy days.

Quite a shame, more cadets at less venues surely means it will result in more disappointments in the event of bad weather or other delays to flying.

Not that a bean counter would care

Unless the information is being used as a propaganda tool

We are building lots of things. I’m sitting <100 yards from a very full factory building, 90% of which will be exported and used in larger skid/packages in the oil and gas industry the world over, even in a global turndown with oil at <$30/barrel. A flexible dynamic manufacturing industry is thriving all over the country and most of you don’t know we exist.

Small, flexible manufacturing companies can cope much more with economic difficulties, interference from governments etc and in times of trouble a company closing down will put a few hundred out of work rather than tens of thousands leaving whole areas of the country in economic strife.

I know it’s not the Great British manufacturing some of you will remember but that’s a fact of life and it doesn’t employ anything like the numbers of people it once would have but we are still going and still building products (including aircraft parts to keep this on topic) the rest of the world want to buy as a symbol of high quality low volume world beating products.

I rather tire of the image of a downbeaten British manufacturing industry as purported by the press. I’ve got a job for life (I’m in my mid thirties) if I want it.

You won’t see any flying*. The Spitfire, Seafire and Yak-3 have relocated. The Grace family went to Sywell and the Duxford diary shows the Yak as having lived there all winter. I assume it won’t be back as there is no service/support any more with the Grace’s gone. The last ML407 newsletter suggested they are keeping a storage hanger here but all maintenance and operations will carry on from Sywell.

I believe the museum is well worth a visit and I’m ashamed to say I can walk to it in under 5 minutes from where I’m typing this and have never actually managed a spare weekend that coincides when they are open. Reviews of the bus tours seem positive. There was a post recently on here telling us all they have the A-10 from Alconbury on loan which would be good to get close to later this year.

*well having said that the army Apache and occasional Osprey from Mildenhall often exercise over Rock Barracks (formerly MOD Woodbridge) which is right behind us on a fairly regular basis but not sure about weekends.

My office overlooks a very quiet abandoned airfield all because of a few local Nimbys

I seem to remember back in the 1990’s on an ATC squadron outing to one of the Duxford airshows (can’t remember which) a crosswind gust caught the lanc on landing and she came down rather hard on one Oleo which left her grounded there for some weeks under repair.

Or did I dream it?

I guess that depends on the definition of a kitchen. In theory you can have a room with a sink, fridge/freezer, dishwasher and a couple of machines that go ping or you can get a proper cook and give them the means of preparing and cooking food on site from base ingredients.

I don’t recall ever eating in Duxford cafes so I’m unable to actually comment on what was there before but the fact they are actually highlighting this new kitchen suggests the latter.

I wonder if they are still in situ?

And when they were last calibrated 🙂