Oh and there was a very nice and tight display given by two Spitfires.
When we first arrived a Spitfire, EP120, with its engine cowlings and spinner off was being towed from the west along the northern perimeter track. This struck me as odd so if anybody knows why please post.
A Maule MX-7-180AC dropped in.
And Avgas supply was topped up
The 4 Harvards mentioned earlier
There was a display given by the two Austers mentioned yesterday,
and a four ship display representing American aircraft on D-Day of two Mustangs, a Wildcat and a Thunderbolt.
As for movements from the Daks today this mainly consisted of 4 ship take offs with 4 Harvards which I understand was for photo shoots off field. An excellent low level three ship display all in wartime colours and invasion markings and the group that took off with the paratroopers.
I have to say that the thing that I will most remember is the mass take off of 14 ships yesterday evening just after the site closed. I just happened to be at the right place, the ARC end, at the right time. It is a shame that this take off could not have been timed for when the site was open but guess there were other considerations.
There was some Dak flying during the day but I will have to come back to that as……
It was just gone 1800, closing time, when the Dak nearest to us on the Jet Pan started up, followed by another one, followed, well you get the idea, as far as I could see Daks were starting up. I wasn’t able to count them but certainly in the order of ten then came trundling past us and queuing at the runway hold position until they all took off at about 15 seconds intervals forming a graceful line astern curving upwards. It was quite a sight and sound and was, of course, the sort of thing we had come to see. I am having bandwidth problems uploading the videos we took and so far only have one to share which is the end few passing and taking off.
Klick on image to go to the video.
Now it could be said by some that when you have seen one Dak……… Well that is certainly not true but I am guessing you have to be well into Daks to spot the differences at a distance.
So here are a few pics in the everyday life of a Dak showing some of the features.
Apparantly doors, and steps, can come in a range of shapes and sizes…
Presumably there are fuel gauges in the cockpit but the good old reliable dip stick can be seen in play here.
Then the topping up with Avgas and with the wind in our direction ……
Day three and another late start arriving about 1300 and parked North Side. Again very low numbers compared with an airshow day or even a normal open day so no problem getting any location wanted which in our case was back at the ARC end again. Early on I managed to damage the number one camera rendering it unusable and also unable to access any of the media so far taken. However, number two camera stepped up.
The weather was good and just breezy today with some overcast but no rain.
If the Wildcat did have engine trouble yesterday it had obviously been fixed as she went up for a practice display.
A Mustang did a practice display but I am guessing you have all seen a Mustang or two before so pics with interest.
The Sea Fury went up but I did not see it again and today I wasn’t listening to the tower.
A couple of other interesting planes made movements.
A 1952 Beech 18 Expeditor G-BKGM
And a 1954 DHC 2 Beaver G-EVMK
An attempt to convey the view, but of course, the “eye takes in” the whole setting which I think the pan view fails to achieve. And is only the front row. Best viewed if downloaded and blown up and then pan along the line.
Looking along the front row towards ARC from the members enclosure, with one Dak on the jet pan at the far end.
Right at the end we just had a few spots of rain and became dark and overcast.
I had wondered if there may have been a fly past by seven red jets as they were giving a display at OW. Possibly they closed the airshow as it was almost 17:30 and ATC could be heard talking to them about a fly past which seemed to be on. Then suddenly they came back and the fly past was cancelled. I see that the Reds are at Portsmouth on the 5th so a Reds Dak flypast may well take place there.
And so ended day two. In summation not many arrivals and the departure, on Sat, and return of the 7 Daks that went to OW were really the only highlights, other than, of course, the sight of so many Daks in one place. I am perfectly happy.
Tomorrow looks OK weather wise but just need to hope that the rain forecast for latter in the week doesn’t advance any.
The tankers were kept busy all day with the pleasure flights and thirsty Daks.
Hopefully this is a dip in the ground!
Err, then again definately a flat. Is there a place you can send out for a Dak tire? Although I would imagine they brought spares with them.
Interesting detail, well to me anyway.
Amongst the also rans was G-ARUL Cosmic Wind who ran through a display sequence
The Blenheim returning from the Old Warden airshow.
The Auster 3, NX534, seen departing was in Normandy in August 1944 with 4 squadron.
Also departing was Auster 4 NJ695
A frequent message from ATC was “watch out for pedestrians on the field”
Day two did not get off to a good start for me, the spirit was willing but the flesh was wanting, and we did not arrive at DX until about 14:00, so much for an early start. The on site car park had a sign up ” buses and motorcycles only NOW” although a few empty places could be seen. We proceeded to the North Site parking and were parked up close to the cabins.
Because it was members only there was plenty of front line room and we located ourselves in the middle of the fence line in front of the airliners. This was directly in front of, and almost in the middle of, the main Dak parking.
At the end of the day there were twenty one Daks in two rows facing the crowd line and one down at the Jet Pan, so 22 and it would seem, and hopefully, there are a lot more still to arrive.
Again we did not move from the spot and left at 18:00 closing time, so have not looked at any of the exhibits. From what I could see using the long lens you could pretty much get a position anywhere you wanted.
Although it was a pleasant enough day the wind speed was much higher with strong gusts but today along the runways, this did not appear to cause any flying problems other than one report of negative wind shear over the M11.
The 7 Daks returned from the airshow at OW with a fly past, east to west, and a peel off onto the south circuit to land.
One interesting sight was a relatively low pass made by a Boeing 737 YR-BMG on its way to Luton.
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