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Just had a little fly past by the local council estate night light!!! I was getting a few withdrawal symptoms , as I hadn't took a picture of a plane since Duxford !!!!

Poor light, but they came out alright!!

Britten Norman "Islander"

One to wet the whistle, the rest in my Flickr account (Just payed for another year, doesn't seem 5 minutes since I joined 'Pro' this time last year !!)

20091113_3214_edited-2.jpg

http://www.flickr.co...57622670517161/

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If you're interested in the aviation side of things there are loads of topics on here Thomlinson. We have odd trips out to 'Bomber County' (Lincolnshire) We have the next one on this coming Wednesday (18th) where all sorts of interesting things crop up, by no means the least being the Typhoons at Coningsby, and the BBMF there too!!

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Talking of aircraft, anyone remember the great air displays at RAF Newton in the fifties?

Can't remember the 50's events...but attended their last ever display, prior to closure - mid 90's?.

Recall a USAF Phantom paired with an F16 from Bentwaters doing one basic pass, then going back home!

Funny, but potentially tragic, event the previous year was when another Bentwaters USAF Phantom - bound for Newton - did his full display (vertical climbs, reheat, the lot) over Langar airfield, in error. Their regular collection of week-end parachutists got a major additional fright to go with making their jump...

The F4 pilot later said "Thought it strange that I couldn't see spectators, or a display line..." imsorry

Cheers

Bockscar

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LOL..thumbsup.gif" />

I heard a similar one recently where the pilot did his opening run in and roll out over the nearby A road thinking it was the runway , I shall have to find it and copy / Paste it here

ps Mick if you read this how come sometimes i can post an emoticon and other times I can'tthumbsdown.gif

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Talking of aircraft, anyone remember the great air displays at RAF Newton in the fifties?

Yes I can, 1956, the ground attack on a large army group assembled by the the TA by RAF Vampires, I recall all the thunderflashes going off with flares going all over the place, huge magnesium things that hung in the air while the Vampires flew at low level through the middle of them, I can still smell the cordite smoke from that day, a childhood memory.

The Spitfire displayed, still a serving RAF member of the THUM flight and drew his display to a nice conclusion by diving over the cliff at the end of the runway, we all held our breath waiting for the puff of black smoke, which obviously never came.

Highlight of the day was a supersonic flypast by Canadian Airforce Cannadair Sabres, admitted to be superior to USAF Sabres by none other than Chuck Yeger, they detonated every greenhouse in the area and caused a lot of questions to be asked as to airshow proceedures in the future.

Airshows were really cutting edge in those days, they were supposed to inspire and they certainly did, such a wealth of different types of aircraft, these days, what do we have to look forward to, endless Typhoons with a set H & S flight envelope, and helicopters, if availiable, the glory days have gone I'm afraid.

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Talking of aircraft, anyone remember the great air displays at RAF Newton in the fifties?

I served 23 years in the RAF and now live in Norfolk, just over an hour from Duxford, and less from Mildenhall and Lakenheath. There is also an airfield at Old Buckenham, about twenty minutes down the road where the occasional Boeing Steerman is flown. Good to see aircraft designed with a sharp pencil and not by a computer.

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...these days, what do we have to look forward to, endless Typhoons with a set H & S flight envelope, and helicopters, if availiable, the glory days have gone I'm afraid.

Then you need to go to a different type of airshow - over here both Sun n'Fun in Florida and Oshkosh (Wisconsin) are worth going to. Lots of piston engine aerobatics, teams, WWII aircraft - all flying, and proving that skill is much more impressive than an excess of horsepower. Watching a Kitfox do aerobatics is amazing - never more than 500ft AGL it is like watching in slow-motion! You sometimes get a glider aerobatic team too - again, amazing stuff. Unfortunately, Bob Hoover no longer does his Shrike Commander show - which he ended by making a flawless "dead-stick" landing!

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We do get a lot more variety normally , I have been to 4 'big' displays this year (Waddington , Cosford , Fairford, and Duxford, plus Southport seafront,) and have seen 10 different teams, Red arrows etc, and at least 40 other types of aircraft displaying , from Gliders to 'Fast jets'.

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Limey

I was referring to the rubbish that are classed as so called RAF airshows, not that there are many of them these days, full of commercial aerobatic acts with very little participation from our allied airforces. Once nearly every RAF airfield had a Battle of Britain Airshow but now it's restricted to Leuchars in Northern Scotland, about as far from the actual battle as you can get, I've never worked out what that's all about.

There used to be many alternatives but now it's really all down to 'Flying Legends' at Duxford, an awsome spectacle of Warbirds, so slickly presented that even the Oshkosh and Sun and Fun diehards would probably prefer to be there, yes, probably not so many Mustangs, B-25's and 17's but where in the world can you see Hawker Nimrods, Hinds, Demons Gloster Gladiators and multiple Spitfire and Hurricane formations and aerobatics, amazing place to be, screw the one off modern jets, it's sometimes like being back at Hendon in 1936, even better if you go to Old Warden, home of the Shuttleworth collection, that really is something else, you can see original Bleriots flying there, amazing, thats real airshows these days, not mass media rubbish viewed from a beach.

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Incidentally, the aircraft instigator of this thread is registered to 'Specialist Aviation Services', sounds dodgy to me, it had an accident in North Wales in 2003, it's based in Staverton near Gloucester:

G-CHEZ.jpg

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I have had some "right seat" time in an Islander - from Negril to Kingston, Jamaica (all of a 10 minute flight)! The actual pilot knew I was a Private Pilot so, after takeoff, asked if I would like to fly it? I did, and he proceeded to regale the remaining passengers with his "Jamaica from the air" tourist chat! I flew it all the way to short final at Kingston!

Very stable airplane that is VERY heavy on the elevator and ailerons - but trims out straight-and-level almost as if it is on auto-pilot!

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islander.jpg

We get them as well, buzzing the area most of the night, apparently they do a fair bit of flying over the Leeds and south Yorks area listening in on mobile phones????

Rog

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Limey

I was referring to the rubbish that are classed as so called RAF airshows, not that there are many of them these days, full of commercial aerobatic acts with very little participation from our allied airforces. Once nearly every RAF airfield had a Battle of Britain Airshow but now it's restricted to Leuchars in Northern Scotland, about as far from the actual battle as you can get, I've never worked out what that's all about.

There used to be many alternatives but now it's really all down to 'Flying Legends' at Duxford, an awsome spectacle of Warbirds, so slickly presented that even the Oshkosh and Sun and Fun diehards would probably prefer to be there, yes, probably not so many Mustangs, B-25's and 17's but where in the world can you see Hawker Nimrods, Hinds, Demons Gloster Gladiators and multiple Spitfire and Hurricane formations and aerobatics, amazing place to be, screw the one off modern jets, it's sometimes like being back at Hendon in 1936, even better if you go to Old Warden, home of the Shuttleworth collection, that really is something else, you can see original Bleriots flying there, amazing, thats real airshows these days, not mass media rubbish viewed from a beach.

Went to the last Farnborough and apart from the Airbus 380 and the Bruntingthorpe Vulcan, it wasn't worth the effort. For some rare jet research aircraft and wartime aircraft, try RAF Cosford.

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Our Spotter plane is actually based at Hawarden nr Chester now.

The shortfall of RAF shows is 2 fold, one of which, daft as it sounds, is down to accommodation for visiting aircrews and their relevant mechanics etc. Another reason is it nearly costs more to put one on, than they tend to make on the gate !!They make up the shortfall through concession stands etc and any profit is then passed on to charities.

The foreign contingent has been conspicuous by it's absence this year for no other reason than "Lack of Funds" although we did get flying representations at RIAT from Switzerland, Spain, Hungary , Holland, France , Italy, Czechoslovakia, and a few more that I can't remember off of the top of my head.

I could never get a proper and satisfactory answer to my queries regarding the lack of foreigners elsewhere, no matter who I asked.

Back to the Islander Eric , I have had an even shorter flight on one , Flying from The mainland of Ireland (Nr Galway) over to Innish Muir in the Arran islands, 7 minutes!!! makes a change bragging that I've done less than somebody !!!

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Yes I can, 1956, the ground attack on a large army group assembled by the the TA by RAF Vampires, I recall all the thunderflashes going off with flares going all over the place, huge magnesium things that hung in the air while the Vampires flew at low level through the middle of them, I can still smell the cordite smoke from that day, a childhood memory.

The Spitfire displayed, still a serving RAF member of the THUM flight and drew his display to a nice conclusion by diving over the cliff at the end of the runway, we all held our breath waiting for the puff of black smoke, which obviously never came.

Highlight of the day was a supersonic flypast by Canadian Airforce Cannadair Sabres, admitted to be superior to USAF Sabres by none other than Chuck Yeger, they detonated every greenhouse in the area and caused a lot of questions to be asked as to airshow proceedures in the future.

Airshows were really cutting edge in those days, they were supposed to inspire and they certainly did, such a wealth of different types of aircraft, these days, what do we have to look forward to, endless Typhoons with a set H & S flight envelope, and helicopters, if availiable, the glory days have gone I'm afraid.

Happy days! I seem to remember one year when Supermarine Attackers featured in the show, taking off from the grass runway.

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Back to the Islander Eric , I have had an even shorter flight on one , Flying from The mainland of Ireland (Nr Galway) over to Innish Muir in the Arran islands, 7 minutes!!! makes a change bragging that I've done less than somebody !!!

A little off-topic, but this reminded me - a number of years ago, United offered a "double miles" (frequent flier miles, that is) promotion on any flight, and they had a minimum of 1,000 miles, no matter the flight distance. Their shortest flight was from San Francisco to Oakland - about 5 miles! The flight was really only there because they needed to relocate the aircraft, so the fare was VERY cheap (something like $25) - and I think the equipment was a 747! Anyhow, it nearly sent them bankrupt - folks would book several trips/week just to get the miles (2,000 per flight) which they then cashed in for almost any flight United offered (I think you needed 10,000 miles in those days). So - a flight to Hawaii (considered domestic) for $125 was a bargain!

Up in northern Michigan there is an operator called Island Air - they have two BN Islanders that fly from Charlevoix to Beaver Island - about a 12 mile trip - and the strip at Beaver Island is grass! Cool bit about that airfield - if you fly your own plane there, you can camp right next to the plane and walk to a really good "English" pub! Downside is the Islanders start their service at about 7:00am!

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Don't get your hopes up! These days it is very popular with the "back to nature" crowd, but it is best known for the size and aggressiveness of its mosquitoes! However, it does have a strange and fascinating history - the remnants of which are still noticeable if you visit!

Beaver Island

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Happy days! I seem to remember one year when Supermarine Attackers featured in the show, taking off from the grass runway.

By the time I got to Newton they had probably been superceded by Seahawks. With their tail dragging undercarriage, Attackers must have made a few scorch marks on the grass. I gather that none of these aircraft have survived, though there are rumours that as the only major export customer, something may be lurking at the back of a hangar in Pakistan. The Attacker was the jet equivalent of the Spiteful, Supermarines proposed Spitfire replacement. Unfortunately, having been the cutting edge of fighter development with the Spitfire, Vickers Supermarine couldn't deliver afterwards, the Attacker was out of date before it came into service, Hawkers Seahawk saw that one off, then they tried to produce the ultimate fighter in the Swift, but it was dangerous to fly and once again Hawker saw them off with the stunning Hunter, no doubt had that genius R J Mitchell not died young, he would have had something to say about that.

Where abouts do you live in Norfolk, I know the area well, and where did you serve and what was your role in the RAF, I don't mean to be nosey, it's interesting to have someone on this forum who remembers and was involved with some of the glory days, though perhaps you don't see it that way.

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Beaver Island, sounds like a nice place. slywink

Ayup Den

Nice to see you back from your jaunt into the sunnier climes.

Did you manage to spend part of your recent good fortune on the local Spanish lasses? yowza.gif

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Glad you enjoyed it den, only wish I had gone too but I have to behave myself now, on a tight rain if you no wot i mean? hope you didn't come back with more than you went with buddy, but you wouldn't now that until later will you?

Bip.

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