I visited the Advanced Landing Ground at Newchurch a couple of years ago but recently the memorial area there has seen the addition of a couple of glass panels placed in front of the former airfield to give an idea of what you would have seen back in 1944. It's quite a clever idea and as it was a nice day today we took a little drive over. There is also a new bench in the shape of a Hawker Tempest, courtesy of the National Lottery Fund.
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Last weekend was a pleasant start to the season at Duxford although the flying content was basically some of the 'usual suspects'. Nothing wrong with that and I was happy to see the displays but the stand out was probably the Staggerwing that was not included on the listed flying schedule. I noticed it on the flight line when we arrived but had no expectation of seeing it in the air. However it eventually taxied out and performed and was a welcome addition to the display.
I believe that it is 40 years since it was last at Duxford and, as far as I can gather, has recently been in the Netherlands for some restoration work. It would be nice to think it might display with the TFC Staggerwing at some point. For now here are a few more pictures.
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Today was the first flying event at Duxford this year and as members entry is free so I reserved tickets a little while back. I like these events as there is some flying - about a dozen aircraft today - and the museum is open as normal for a wander around. The crowds are smaller than a full blown airshow and they don't have all the extra commercialised side of things so all together more relaxed. Todays event was sold out so the car parks were full but as there is no mass exodus getting out was easy.
Today we were lucky with the weather and although the flying tends to be from aircraft resident at Duxford this time we had a Staggerwing that I had not seen before.
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The BBMF Lancaster has been on a memorial tour over Belgium and the Netherlands today overflying around a dozen memorials to Lancasters that crashed in WWII as part of a tour of 19 sites. This has been quite an undertaking with around 7 hours flying time before the Lanc returned to Coningsby this evening.
Unfortunately I was nowhere near any of the action so here are a few pictures from last October.
As freedom of movement in the UK seems less restricted this year plans have been made and tickets booked. So, pending any dreadful weather or unforeseen cancellations it will be off to Duxford next month for their VE Day Flying Day event. Early June will see us heading off to Ragley Hall for the Midlands Air Festival, which will be a first, and then in July its over to Shuttleworth for the return of their Fly Navy show.
August will see me on holiday but I hope to get to the heritage centre at Montrose Air Station which was the location of Great Britain's first military airfield back in 1913.Nothing confirmed for September as yet but I will keep tabs on the Battle of Britain air show at Duxford. And of course I will keep my eyes peeled through the year for anything else of interest.
Watch this space!
Over by the Imperial War Museum yesterday I had some time to kill on my own so headed over to the Bomber Command Memorial on the edge of The Green Park. It was about 2.5 miles away but there's no parking nearby so I walked.
The memorial was unveiled almost 10 years ago and is an impressive tribute to the 55,573 bomber crew who lost their lives in WWII. The roof replicates the geodetic structure of the Wellington bomber and incorporates sections of aluminium from a Halifax bomber that crashed in 1944.
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