We are very fond of the Duxford October show because although it usually signifies the end of our display flying season, it is a gathering of some of our greatest friends and always features some of the exciting warbird action that Duxford is famed for. Historically, the weather is either brilliant or absolutely freezing. Continue reading ›
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Lunch in Lincolnshire, dinner in Belgium. That was the plan and the forecast was looking perfect for a change.
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This was another weekend which was planned meticulously by Richard and on paper should run like clockwork; however, like all busy weekends we always pray that gremlins don’t rear their ugly heads, attempting to throw a spanner in the works. Five or ten minutes lost due to poor weather, problems refuelling or other unforeseen circumstances can be the difference between a fun day out and a slightly stressful day out.
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The Light Aircraft Association (LAA), is an organisation entrusted by the Civil Aviation Authority to oversee the design, building and continued airworthiness of aircraft from plans or kits, many light ex-military types and latterly a selection of factory-built vintage aeroplanes. The vast majority of vintage or aerobatic aeroplanes flown for fun, rather than for commercial passenger carrying purposes, fit into the ‘LAA Permit’ category. With conviction and enthusiasm, you can even design, build and fly your own aeroplane with their guidance. We have restored and maintained many home-built aeroplanes over the years, under the auspices of the LAA (formerly Popular Flying Association), and have nothing but praise for the knowledgeable, enthusiastic staff who are always at hand with advice or a pragmatic solution to a problem. Despite there no longer being a flying display at the annual LAA Rally, we always like to visit to catch up with old friends and see what is new in the world of home-built aircraft.
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Another action-packed show, which seems to get more spectacular every year, is Little Gransden Charity Air and Car Show in Bedfordshire. Proceeds from the event are donated to Children in Need, which is a very worthy cause and one which we are delighted to support. This year it boasted appearances from a trio of heavy bombers – the Vulcan, B-17 and Lancaster – along with an eclectic mix of other types. There was something to please everyone, from the casual visitor with their dog, to the most hardcore enthusiast. We displayed early and would really have liked to stay and soak up the atmosphere, but had to make our way to our next show at Kemble, which necessitated a rapid refuel and re-smoke.
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Refreshingly, this show did not involve any complicated logistics or long transit flights, being only a short distance from our base at Bentwaters. This was our first visit to Clacton Air Show and we were very really looking forward to it.
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Beads of perspiration formed as we pushed out our aeroplanes for the flight to Old Hay. Even under the weak early morning sun, it felt like summer had really arrived. The weather man was promising a real scorcher, so we packed hats and sun screen to try and avoid ending up looking like a beetroot, whilst faithfully maintaining ‘corporate dacorum’ in our black winter-weight flight suits. I am sure that someone must make fireproof Hawaiian shirts for such an occasion.
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Following a relatively quiet July on the display flying front, owing to airspace restrictions imposed to ‘protect’ the London Olympic Games, we were looking forward to getting back in the saddle. As an aside, the sport of aerobatics was introduced as an Olympic sport at Berlin in 1936 but was never perpetuated, allegedly because the outcome was dependant on the aeroplane as well as the ‘athlete’. Similarly, gliding was to be introduced for the 1940 Olympic Games, and a class of aircraft was produced specifically for the purpose; however, that never came to anything either, as a bloke called Adolf decided to go on a bit of a rampage. In our opinion, the Olympics haven’t been quite the same since, so we decided to spend most of July in the pub – the home of true athletes – planning subtle changes to our sequence.
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After a largely damp and windy start to the British summer, we were really looking forward to decamping to Oshkosh, to be hosted by our friends from Trig, for a week of wall-to-wall aviation action. This was our first visit to AirVenture and it exceeded all our expectations.
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We had a brilliant Sunday at Tibenham, despite the weather doing its best to stop us again!
Foul early morning weather at Bentwaters cleared a little and teased us into thinking that the evil low pressure system was moving out of the way sooner than anticipated. Sadly, this was not the case and after a short flight to Tibenham – home of the Norfolk Gliding Club – the ‘British Summer’ continued in a similar fashion to what we have become accustomed to, with low cloud and persistent drizzle.
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