Sywell air show - in the air

A selection of shots from the flying display last Saturday

Sywell Airshow - on the ground

This was a new event to the air show scene effectively put together by Richard Grace of Air Leasing and it filled a gap created by the latest demise of Flying Legends. The line up looked quite promising and from what I had seen of the airfield in the past the venue looked OK as well. My main concern was the relatively minor roads around the airfield that needed to be used for access and, for this reason, I elected to travel up the day before and stop over in Wellingborough. Traffic on the day actually seemed to be well handled but as it had taken over 4 hours to do the journey the night before I was glad for a leisurely start. As an added bonus my good mate Gaz was at the show as well.

So, the show itself: The flight line was open to enable closer views of the aircraft and at £5 was reasonable. My only gripe here was what potentially seemed like a good idea of allowing access around both sides  of the aircraft meant that photo opportunities were limited unless you wanted hordes of people wandering around in the back of your shot. In many instances it was actually better to get some distant shots later in the day after the flying had finished.

The flying was very professional and the content good although not up to the level of Flying Legends in days gone by. There were a couple of no shows as is often the way and the 727 creeping up unannounced for its only pass was a shame but, after a grey start, the weather was grand and it turned in to an enjoyable day.

It remains to be seen if the event will happen again. Would I go if it does? Maybe! Having to stop over, and really this needs to be for a couple of nights, makes it expensive and whilst that is not strictly an issue I would need to consider the content and what other shows might be on elsewhere.

Anyway, to start off the visual side here are some shots of participants on the ground. Many of them flew of course and I will post up some of the flying action as well.

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.