The Sunderland looks particularly forlorn…..

Don’t understand the reasoning behind that? Surely if a Sikorsky S-58 can be operated privately in Germany, it can’t be much different than operating a Wessex. What ‘design authority’? British Airways operated Sikorsky S-58Ts and Bristows operated several Wessex Mk.60s. Some were flown in USMC colours during the film “Full Metal Jacket”.

They only had one flyable during the filming of Full Metal Jacket, the other 2 were static only.
They filmed the Training and Vietnam scenes at bassingbourn Barracks, and the urban bits at Isle of Dogs.
I was in 2484 Bassingbourn Air Cadet Squadron, our hut was the old dispersal hut (as seen in the original Memphis belle), we used to go for a tour of the sets each night after cadets, dotted around the peri-track including palm trees planted in Skips!

My Claim to fame is that I have been shouted at by Stanley Kubrick, when I accidentaly rode my motorbike into the middle of a parade scene, we then watched for 2 hours and they never got it right again before nightfall….

The French Trainer is a Fouga Magister, as used by the national aerobatic team the ‘Patrouille de France’ a regular visitor to UK airshows in the ’70s & ’80s

The main reason I believe that a Wessex won’t go on the civil register is because of a lack of a design authority for the type. Operating a Whirlwind was problematical in itself and going the extra mile to operate a Wessex would be especially difficult and prohibitive from the point of view of paying for it.

IMHO There are at least 3 reasons why a Wessex would be difficult to fly privately;
Firstly when I was training on the beasts in ’88 they were the most expensive aircraft per hour in the RAF (£2,500 so I was told!)
Secondly, Every aircraft had a nice mixture of Green, Amber and Red lines in it’s 700, and tended to break something on each flight! (great for practicing emergencies)
Lastly, I have spoken to Tim Manna about adding one to his fleet (and volunteering to crew it!), but the RR Gnomes are in very short supply. I believe this to be due to our Dutch Friends strapping them to Tractors 4 at a time and dragging 10 ton weights on a sled up 100m of Sand! 😮

I couldn’t help remembering the four-ship displays I’ve seen in the past. 🙁

Moggy

I always remember the finale was a slow pass by 3, which held your attention, and then the fourth would come over as fast as he was allowed which would make everyone jump somewhat!
I am sure that at St Athen in the late ’70s the fourth actually did his run over the crowd line, as well as a Hercules taking off across the runway towards the crowd.
Those Halcyon days before airshow safety…….

I am an Avid Wings Watcher, but find the repeats tedious, the Seawings Profile of the Grumman Panther must be the most oft’ repeated…..

I would like to see:

1. Look at the work of Private restorers & Operators
2. More programmes like ‘Project Cancelled’ on the History Channel about aircraft and ideas that almost made it
3. I like the Bruce Dickinson approach to ‘Heavy Metal’: can you get a 707 into San Diego? Can you go low-level over the everglades in a 727?lets try….!
4. It probably needs less cheese than the Brendan/Celia approach, although they have covered some interesting subjects
5. More In Depth profiles of post war subjects, the show on the Starfighter the other night was great.
6. More in depth Profiles of the Pionneers and their contribution, some of the unsung heros; e.g. Kelly Johnson?
7. an automatic switch to hard-core porn just after the wife has gone to sleep….er sorry wrong forum!

I would pay a reasonable amount to subscribe, as long as I could get Senior Management Budget approval!