Off to Belgium

After a few final checks, at the end of May a sale was agreed for Spitfire IX MH415 which is now under the ownership of Belgian outfit Flying Legends GmbH and, ultimately, the aircraft will be stationed at Siererland. It is expected to display at European airshows from next year so I guess I may well see it again but here it was at Sywell yesterday.

Saved!

The future of the last Blackburn Beverley, languishing at the former Fort Paull attraction, has been in doubt for some while. However, the Solway Aviation museum stepped in a while back with an offer to take the aircraft on but the caveat was that £60k needed to be raised to facilitate the move. However, it has been announced that the target has been reached and so the Beverley, that I last saw nearly 10 years ago, can now be moved.

Spitfire 'PS890'

I've seen this Spitfire only a handful of times over the years and it was badly damaged in a taxiing incident a few years ago but it is now in full health again and up for sale if you have deep pockets.

Spitfire SM845

Seen here at Flying Legends 10 years ago, this griffon engined Spitfire XVIII crashed whilst landing in Germany in May last year. Fortunately the pilot suffered only minor injuries but there was significant damage to the aircraft particularly in the port wing fuselage join area. However, the aircraft has subsequently been returned to the UK and is registered to ARCO at Duxford presumably for restoration to flight.

Liberty Belle update

B17 Liberty Belle visited Europe back in 2008 and we were lucky enough to see it at Flying Legends that year. Unfortunately it was largely destroyed by a fire in 2011 after making an emergency landing in a field. However, the remains along with other parts and new build items are gradually being put together with the ambition that Liberty Belle will fly again. Great progress has been made and can be read about here

80 years on

Today is the 80th anniversary of D-day and we remember especially those that gave their lives in a fight for freedom but also everyone else that contributed to the succes of the campaign that helped give us the lives that we have today.

These images are from the Duxford D-Day show in 2014.

Journey complete

The Mosquito that I was chuffed to see in New Zealand over Easter was dismantled soon after and shipped to America. I'm pleased to see that has now arrived safely at Chino, its new home.

Capel Spitfire

The Spitfire at Capel Le Ferne suffered some winter storm damage several weeks ago which resulted in bent undercarriage. The aircraft which is a fibregass replica has now been dismantled so the repairs and restoration can be undertaken. A funding campaign is in place to try and raise £20,000 to meet costs beyond those covered by insurance.

Portuguese Air Show crash

Very sorry to hear of the crash at a Portuguese air ahow yesterday when two aircraft of a six ship formation team collided resulting in the death of a pilot. My thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy. The team were flying Yak 52s similar to this:

Manston light aircraft event

Manston held a charity event last year which resulted in aircraft returning for the first time in many years and I reported on it here. Although there were aircraft attending they were all parked away from the public but a further event yesterday allowed better access to the taxi ways. The aircraft attending were largely light/kit aircraft icluding a replica Hawker Fury, 6/10 scale Spitfire, Pipers etc, but it was an interesting diversion made better by the unexpected, to me at least, arrival of the Aerolegends Dakota Pegasus.

Phantom ZE360

I have mentioned this F4-J Phantom previously. It spent many years on the Manston fire dump but has now been rescued by the British Aviation Phantom Group as it is a rare survivor. It has been relocated on to the main airfiled site where it is being stripped down ready for a move. Today I was able to see it at close quarters.

Blue Skies

Extremely saddened today to hear of the loss of this BBMF Spitfire in a crash at Coningsby, tragically taking the life of the pilot David Long. My thoughts are with family and friends.

Manston wins again

The latest appeal against the DCO that granted the owners of Manston permission to reopen the site as an airport has been dismissed. The Court of Appeal heard the case last month and today released their judgement which was that the application to appeal was dismissed. This should be the end of the legal wranglings and the project can now move forward. https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2024/05/21/judicial-review-appeal-application-over-manston-airport-scheme-denied/

Mosquito formation flypast at Wanaka

Coastguard helo

Caught in the grey overhead this evening.