Duxford Flying Legends June 30/July 1st

[Mutley]

pb63 said:

Plane of the day for me was the p38 lightning. Fantastic.

Agree, and it looks great in the polished metal.


Sikorsky S-38

Bouchons

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

Mutley said:

In which case, you should know the difference between unrehearsed and un-briefed.

Please explain to me what your thinking is behind this post.

Unless, of course, you are trying to have a 'pop'.

In which case I would ask you just how experienced you are as a pilot, let alone how experienced as an Authoriser or, Gods forbid, a Flying Supervisor?

[toppstuff]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

Mutley said:

is only a loose formation

No st Sherlock!


So you don't believe that loose formation can be well flown?

Mutley said:

It's not rehearsed

Having sat on the RAF's Airshow Committee as a Group rep I can tell you that unrehearsed displays do not get approval for RAF/FAA/AAC airshows nor for RIAT. This being the case, I find it astounding (and bordering on the criminal) that IWM Duxford thinks that this is acceptable, especially in light of the total fk up that resulted in the P51/Skyraider collision last year.

I must confess that I thought the formation was pretty shonky to. I don't really understand it, the pilots are all very experienced and in many cases are ex RAF, so they know the score.

I sensed that Flying Legends was a LOT more cautious this year. The displays were nice but much less aggressive. When groups of aircraft were airborne the display often dispatched a pair of planes to the far side of the display area where they seemed to be flying in a box a long way away, while the forward flight line seemed a good distance further back then I remember.

To be honest, compared to the last Legends I went to ( 2008 or 2009 I think - they had 2 fortresses and an A26 and a B25 I recall ) the 2012 display was a bit of a let down. There were gaps in-between displays and little of the choreographed wonder of planes coming in from all direction, that made the last display I saw such an awe inspiring spectacle.

Having said that, I can't really grumble. You don't see a brace of Mk1 Spits in the air chasing their tails every day!

Did anyone spot the problem on Saturday with the three P51's? One of them ( ferocious franky I think ) was on the back of the tail chase and seemed to stall sideways in a climb behind the other aircraft. He disengaged and landed early. The pilots were in a huddle on the flight line right after landing..

One of the Spits also peeled off and landed early when his landing gear didn't retract cleanly on take off. The Skyraider was also grounded on Saturday and ultimately wheeled away for some reason.

I guess we don't know what happens behind the scenes.

[Apache]

I saw the Skyraider take off with the Sea Fury on Sunday and promptly land again leaving the Sea Fury to continue on its own

[Mutley]

Skyraider was pumping out some awful black smoke and didn't sound right as it taxied.

[Eric Mc]

I think that's normal.

[pb63]

dr_gn said:

Who is the French commentator? I always thought he was good.

I believe it's Bernard Chabbert: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Chabbert

Made the commentary seem like romantic poetry at times. Jolly nice fellow.

[dr_gn]

pb63 said:

dr_gn said:

Who is the French commentator? I always thought he was good.

I believe it's Bernard Chabbert: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Chabbert

Made the commentary seem like romantic poetry at times. Jolly nice fellow.

I remember one year (or is it every year?) he said that the Free French air force had destroyed a significant percentage of the Luftwaffe before the Battle of Britian, making it much easier for the RAF to defeat them.

Didn't go down too well!

[pb63]

I'm sure he would have meant that to be taken with tongue in cheek...

He's certainly a passionate aviator and held my attention all afternoon.