Duxford 30.6.23

With the usual excuse of a little spare time I popped in to Duxford on Friday as I was passing by just to see what was happening. Not too much had changed in the hangars since I was there in March. The newest airworthy Wildcat had been moved but was tucked away even more than previously. The CR42 is still showing no signs of progress although the Catalina had been reunited with its props. I was lucky to catch a little live action with one Hurricane running up, another air testing, the Gladiator returning from and air test and more flight action from a Stearman, Rapide, Harvard, B17 Sally B and a practice display from the P40C. So a pretty enjoyable couple of hours or so. Here are some general shots to start and there will be a couple of specific posts to follow

Almost there

As part of an off season maintenance programme the propellors of airworthy Catalina 'Miss Pick Up' were sent away for refurb as I saw at Duxford back in March. The work has taken longer than expected but within the last few days the props have been put back where they belong. Engine tests are expected this week with flight testing shortly after

Martin Baltimore

This is a 1/72 scale Novo kit which was a re-release of an old Frog kit that originally dates back to the early 1960s. This kit itself was probably 40 or so years old was missing instructions, had loads of flash, plenty of ejector marks and poor transparencies. The interior detail was a short section of floor and a couple of grotty seats so I fabricated something a little better and cleaned up the perspex sections. It needed a bit of filler here and there and some sanding down but didn't come out too bad. The decals were mainly from the spares box although I salvaged the squadron markings.

Spitfire 1a G-IADX

Currently on display in the Spitfire museum at Manston is Spitfire 1a P9337. This aircraft first flew in February 1940, shot down a Me110 over Dunkirk and operated out of Duxford and Hornchurch during the Battle of Britain. On 30th August 1940 it was shot down over Ashford by a Me109. The pilot bailed out and the aircraft crashed at Romney Marsh. Significant remains have been used for a partial rebuild and the Spitfire has now been acquired by Matthew Weston of Ramsgate and the aim is to return it to flight.

Manston History Museum charity event

Manston history museum staged a special event in aid of charity today. There were old military vehicles, some re-enactors, stalls, entrance to the museum itself and, for the first time in several years, a number of light aircraft flew in to support the event. Although they were parked up the other side of the road to the museum and not readily accessible it was great to see live aircraft on the airfield once again. The future of flight seems to be down to a judicial review in July and a change in the council recently means that they are no longer in favour of the airport re-opening but the owners are still pushing ahead at present. Polar Helicopters who are based at Manston dealt with air traffic today. With a spot of lunch taken at the Spitfire museum this was a pleasant diversion in the spring sunshine. Pictures from my last visit to the museum can be seen here but this is from today:

Piper Cherokee

1984 Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II over the garden today

80 years on

The night of 16/17 May 1943 was the night of the famous Dambuster raid during which a low level mission by Avro Lancaster bombers of the RAF destroyed the Mohne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley. None of the original aircraft have survived and the last crew member George 'Johnny' Johnson passed away six months ago. However, the memories of the bravery of the mission and the lives lost live on and so, to mark the 80th anniversary, here are a few Lancaster related images from my travels.

V Bombers

The 'V bombers' were nuclear armed jet bombers of the 1950s and 60s. The three were Avro Vulcan, Handley Page Victor and Vickers Valaint. The latter proved to be the least successful following the discovery of fatigue issues with the wing spars. The government of the day decided that the expense of carrying out repairs could not be justified and Valiants were withdrawn from service in 1965 whilst the Vulcan carried on until 1984 and the Victor, in tanker form, until 1993. The Vulcan has survived in the greatest numbers with 19 airframes extant. With the recent scrapping of the RAF Marham gate guard only 4 Victors remain but the Valiant only has one complete survivor and this can be found at Cosford. Also at Cosford are a Victor and Vulcan so all three airframes can be seen at just one location. There are also a handful of Valiant nose sections in existence one of which has recently been acquired by the IWM at Duxford. Since Duxford also has a complete Victor and Vulcan on display this is the only other place where it is possible to get a flavour of the three aircraft in one location. The Valiant is a bit weather beaten and will be restored in due course.

De Havilland Mosquito B.XVI

Not the real thing of course but an Airfix 1/72 scale kit. Just completed and a world away in quality to the Airfix kits I made as a youngster. The parts fit and the detail are now pretty impressive.