Battle of Britain 50th Flypast 1990

[TealRidge]

The 100th Flypast - marvellous to watch, and so well executed - put me in mind of the 50th Commemoration of the Battle of Britain, when 168 aircraft flew over London and Buckingham Palace. The event was made into a programme [narrated by Raymond Baxter] and broadcast the very next day, with interviews with some of those remaining Spitfire and Hurricane pilots from September 1940. At the time, I was on 234 Sqn [No. 1 Tactical Weapons Unit, RAF Brawdy] - and we formed part of the sixteen ship Hawk formation. The BBC were doing filming on the airfield at RAF Waddington, to which we had been deployed, and I suggested to their cameraman that I could get some air-to-air video clips during the practices .... and it happened!
Afterwards the BBC very kindly sent me a complimentary VHS copy of the programme. I have just split the programme into four sections and uploaded them onto YouTube for anyone to watch.
The YouTube titles, in chronological order:-
Battle of Britain 50th Flypast, Part 1 of 4
Battle of Britain 50th Flypast, Part 2 of 4
Battle of Britain 50th Flypast, Part 3 of 4
Battle of Britain 50th Flypast, Part 4 of 4
Hope you enjoy watching. Brought back many happy memories for me - 234 Squadron was a wonderful group of people!
** Sorry - discovered that I am not allowed to put up URL links! **

[spekesoftly]

I've taken the liberty of posting the links on your behalf



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m6qk-ITYuA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BhBCoVb5hE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fUWqcDmPzg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGykMDyR8Xs

[radar101]

Wow! Thank you so much TealRidge - and also spekesoftly for publishing them here. The most poignant section was the BofB aircrew marchpast. We Will Remember Them.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

Thanks for uploading and linking to that. In the run-up to the flypast I was all prepared to head off to east London to find a place to see the whole flypast when I received a phone-call telling me to go to Wattisham to see the launch and recovery of the Phantom elements of the flypast.

There were quite a few of us there, and we almost had a free run of the airfield. We had plenty of time to photograph the aircraft on the ramp prior to departure, and we were then escorted out to the edge of the runway where we saw them all depart. Amazing; and loud!

I've only got prints for all these photos, and no way to scan them, so I can't offer any sample pics here.

Of note, in the flypast, the inclusion of Harriers and Sea Harriers ... I am reasonably certain that this was the first time they had ever been seen in a flypast over London.

[airsound]

What a surprise to see TealRidge’s Youtube stuff! (Thanks also to spekesoftly). I had the enormous privilege of being the guy talking to the great Ray Baxter from the Lanc (at 2’02” in part 1) - complete with cloth biggles hat, and my old grobag with 53 Sqn crest. It was one of the greatest days of my life - and the weather was perfect, 999 vis, and you could see forever.

I was also doing it live for Radio 4, and had the wonderful payoff line - “This is SM in the second world war Lancaster bomber at 700ft over Buckingham Palace, handing you back to the ground…”

The other thing I noticed from the film clip (at 5’04” in part 1) was a reminder of the slight imperfection of the BBC connection from the Lanc. The download tv and sound links were perfect, but the upload stuff (which I needed so I could keep up with what was happening) relied on a small handheld uhf radio, and I could only make it work by holding it in the astrodome - and you can see my hand holding it as the camera pans back.

Wonderful day…

Sean
airsound

[roving]

Wonderful. As relevant and as poignant as any videos ever posted on this site commemorating the bravery of those who guarded the skies of Britain in 1940.

[hoodie]

Of note, in the flypast, the inclusion of Harriers and Sea Harriers ... I am reasonably certain that this was the first time they had ever been seen in a flypast over London.

I'm sure I remember them in the post-Falklands flypast in 1982.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

Thanks Hoodie; I stand corrected ... 1982 Falklands flypast included two Harrier GR3s and two Sea Harrier FRS1s.