Sopwith Camel

An old Revell kit with decals from the spares box so probably not 100% accurate but they will do!

Tragic loss

My thoughts and condolences are with friends and family of the two pilots lost at the Reno air races on Sunday when two T-6 Texans collided as they were coming in to land. Press release: The Reno Air Racing Association is heartbroken to announce that around 2:15 p.m. this afternoon, two members of our racing family, Nick Macy and Chris Rushing, passed away in a landing accident. Both expertly skilled pilots and Gold winners in the T-6 Class, Macy piloted Six-Cat and Rushing flew Baron’s Revenge. Families of both pilots have been notified and support services are onsite as they deal with this tragedy. There were no civilian casualties and RARA is doing everything we can to support the families and friends of the involved pilots.

Four engined heavies

Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show

This annual show was held last weekend and we went on the Saturday which turned out to be a warm and sunny day. The down side to Duxford at this time of year especially is that the sun is in front of the flightline. It is also starting to get lower in the sky and whilst the weather was essentially quite pleasant it was also a bit hazy so not great for photography. However there was a good line up of aircraft and as seen in posts below the show featured the Red Arrows and Sally B and the BBMF Lancaster displaying together. There were around 15 Spitfires, including a Seafire, two Gladiators, two Lysanders two Buchon 109s, three Hurricanes, three Mustangs and a number of other aircraft which treated us to over four hours of flying.

Reds at Duxford

Its not so long since we last saw the Red Arrows as they were at the Bray airshow at the end of July but at least there was some sunshine this time. However, some one apparently cocked up the request for air space clearance at Duxford as their slot was put back to 5 rather than the scheduled 4.30 to give a safe display slot although height clearances over duxford still meant they only performed their flat display. Still pretty impressive though.

Lancaster and B-17 at Duxford

It came as something of a surprise on Saturday to hear over the tannoy system that B-17 Sally B was going to be doing a flypast with the BBMF Lancaster. The last time this was seen in the UK was 28 years ago and I never saw that one. So, whilst the light conditions were not great it was a treat to see these two four engined bombers share the sky together. Both also did their own solo routines.

Duxford Flight line

Had my usual wander along the flight line at Duxford yesterday prior to the Batle of Britain airshow flying display.