A Wasp (Westland) over Amersham 3/10/07 and today a Beech 18 and Mooney in formation over Booker and heading west at 15.10

Has someone got two different forum identities as a wild guess?

Nice shots Slummer,

Not a fly past, or a flyby, but a good old fashioned beat-up!

I expect the fun-police are licking their pencils this very moment!

We have been here before, sadly, and the sense of shock is widespread, and sincere. For most of us, hopefully , it passes quite soon, for that is the nature of shock. For those who have lost someone near and dear there is no such relief.

Nobody who steps onto the display ‘stage’ is unaware of the toll that is sometimes extracted, and their dedication is appreciated by the masses who are still drawn to see this entertainment. The efforts of the few for the many have particular resonance on Sept 15th.

If this seems an especially bloody year, it is perhaps partly due to the fact that some terrible events like Oshkosh and the recent Polish accident have been so irresistably spectacular to the media that they become front page news, with a breadth and quality of images that we simply did not see in the pre-digital era.

In the UK, we have had a good season up until now, and last year was better still. They seem to have decided at Shoreham that ‘the show must go on’ and they are probably right.

I would REALLY like a copy!

Some of the flying in this is horribly scary, and the title about IMC (instrument meteorlogical conditions) is well chosen. As I recall, just one of the aircraft was equipped for blind flying, but weather conditions forced the flight from low level over the sea, up through cloud into clearer air.

They formed a close line astern formation (four a/c) and followed the leader into the murk, each hanging onto to the vaque misty shape ahead. To lose visual contact in those conditions could well be fatal, since you simply cannot fly a VMC aircraft in IMC conditions- usually you will end in a spiral dive and quite probably overstress the airframe.

One of the flight of five was an FAA inspector, who gave short shrift to Hawke’s press-on bucaneering style of aviating. He elected to take the northern route, with shorter hops. In a way, you can’t blame him!

I remember that flypast. It came roaring over Chesham at about 800 feet, routing from Radlett (place of birth) to High Wycombe ( Strike Command) I think. Quite a sight, and rare to see a military aircraft low down, so close to the Heathrow zone.