East Kirkby air show, Aug 6th 2016.

[Airframes]

Thanks Hugh !

A few more, with the Calidus autogyro, and some of the first 'antics' of Captain Neville's Flying Circus'.

PICS 1 to 3. The 'state of the art' Calidus autogyro gave an impressive display again - an interesting machine that must be fun to fly and tour in.
PICS 4 and 5. The first part of Captain Neville's Flying Circus performance involved an 'aerial cricket match', with the large wicket stumps shown here, and Captain Neville pacing out the 'crease'. The 'game' involved aircraft from the 'Circus' flying to the 'wicket' and dropping balls, ranging in size from soccer balls to tennis balls, in an attempt to 'bowl out' Neville. For those unfamiliar with the rules of cricket, spend a day trying to understand them !
PIC 6. The first 'bowler' sends a back spinner to the wicket - if my memory is correct, this Tiger Moth is actually the only airworthy example of what had been a 'Queen Bee' remote-controlled drone.
PIC 7. The Thruxton Jackaroo approaches the wicket, ball at the ready.
PIC 8. The Chipmunk sneaks in low for an under arm swing !
PIC 9. The Emmeraude dives in to deliver a 'yorker' ! This aircraft was once owned by a friend at my local aero club, in the 1980s.
PIC 10. 'Bowled out !'.

A nice bit of fun, with Captain Neville delivering a good batting average, although I think the bowlers had the upper edge !
More pics of the 'Flying Circus', and other displays, to follow over the weekend.

 

[Micdrow]

Sweet stuff there Terry

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Thanks, Paul and Wojtek.
I'm still sorting the rest, from two cameras, but I have to go out to meet up with a friend for his Birthday tonight, so I'll post more pics tomorrow.

 

[Crimea_River]

 

[Gnomey]

Great shots Terry!

 

[Airframes]

Back with more antics from Captain Neville's Flying Circus, and 'under the wire' flying.
After popping free-flying balloons with their props, the 'Circus' aircraft then proceeded to hunt down and chop-up streamers, dropped from a Cessna flying above the loose circle of biplanes and monoplanes, before diving down to fly under two wire 'goal posts', set out roughly like a football (soccer) field, about two hundred yards apart, maybe a little bit less.
All in all, the 'Circus' provided some light-hearted, and at times very amusing entertainment at various stages throughout the day.

Next post will feature one of the P-51D Mustangs from Hardwick Warbirds, with a couple of sample shots below, as an introduction.

 

[Old Wizard]

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Lovely!

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Good stuff.

Jeff

 

[Micdrow]

Great shots Terry

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much chaps. I'm not that happy with the remaining shots of the P-51, shown below, as it was at this time of the day that the sun decided to hide behind a large cloud for a while, causing a bright back-drop of blue sky and / or white cloud with lots of UV reflection, but with a diffused, flat light from behind the camera. It wasn't too bad when the Mustang took off, or by the time it landed, but between take-off, in the hold pattern beyond the air field, and then during the display, that's when the light changed, and it caused quite a few focusing problems, and a number of exposure 'failures', which could only be improved slightly in the photo-editing programmes.
That said, when viewed and adjusted in a larger format than usable here on the forum, they're not too bad overall.

This is one of two P-51Ds owned and operated by Maurice Hammond, of Hardwick Warbirds, based on the former 8th USAAF airfield of the same name, the other being 'Marinell', in it's original 1944 colours from when it served with the 339th FG at Fowlmere.
The aircraft shown here, left the USA in 1945, arriving in New Zealand in August of that year, to serve on 3 Sqn, RNZAF, before being retired and passing through a number of private owners. It was acquired by Maurice Hammond in 1997, and is currently painted to represent 'Janie', of the 353rd FG, 8th USAAF, based at Raydon, Essex, and flown by Maj. Bill Price.
Apart from the two Mustangs, Hardwick Warbirds also operate a Harvard (T-6), a Stearman, and an Auster and, apart from air show work, they also stage special open days and photo shoots - for details of this and the aircraft, see their web site.

More to come soon, with the resident C-47, a genuine BoB Hurricane and a neat Heliopolis (what the ****'s that? I hear you say - stay tuned, when all will be revealed !!)

 

[Airframes]

Another genuine warbird followed the Mustang's display, with the resident C-47 'Drag em oot!' making an impressive, short take-off, followed by a very spirited display.
This actual aircraft is configured for glider recovery and, on 'D-Day', it towed a glider to Normandy, carrying troops of the US 82nd Airborne. In the following days, it recovered 'Waco' gliders from the fields of Normandy, using the 'snatch-hook' and pulley equipment on board.

Hurricane and Heliopolis coming soon, before the final 'act' of the day, the Duxford-based Catalina operated by Plane Sailing.

 

[Capt. Vick]

A picture perfect time no doubt

 

[Micdrow]

Keep them coming Terry

 

[fubar57]

Great shots of a favorite.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Jim, Paul and Geo.

The following shots of Hurricane Mk1, R1148 are certainly not my best work - a lot of the display was at high level and / or relatively far from the display line, making for a small subject in a big sky, and I have taken better pics of this particular airframe.
However, this is possibly the most important restored WW2 aircraft in the UK at the moment, so I had to get more shots of her.
This Hurricane was delivered new to 605 Sqn, RAF, in April 1940, and flew on 49 operational sorties during the Battle of Britain, shooting down five enemy aircraft, before itself being shot down later in the Battle.
Repaired and assigned to training roles, it eventually ended up in India.
In 1995, Peter Vacher was travelling around India, searching out vinatge Rolls Royce cars to bring back to the UK for restoration, when he came across this aircraft, in a sorry but almost complete state, outside a college, where it had stood for 54 years.
After prolonged negotiations, Mr. Vacher was able to acquire the Hurricane, and brought it back to the UK where it underwent a long and comprehensive restoration back to flying condition, fitted out with genuine, 1940 period equipment, radios etc etc, and painted in the same colours it wore during the BoB.
It was recently put up for sale, and there were fears that this important BoB survivor would leave the country, probably going to the USA.
However, it was purchased by IT entrepreneur James Brown, who has announced that it will remain in the UK, and it is now based with, and operated from, The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, Bedfordshire.

Back soon with the Heliopilis mentioned earlier, and the Catalina.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Micdrow]

Glad to hear its staying home but wish there where a few more Hurricanes in the states. I've only ever seen one and it flew in from Canada.

Great shots again Terry.