Manchester Air Show - Barton

[India Four Two]

And here's G-FIRE at Palm Springs:





I was there on Christmas Eve and very surprised to see a Spitfire XIV in the museum. I didn't realize it was G-FIRE.

treaders,
You are right about the camouflage - it's definitely blue rather than grey and the green is the wrong shade as well. Also the fin flash doesn't match the roundel style.

BTW, it's a great museum. A must see if you are in the area.

[philbky]

Was at the Palm Springs Museum in April last year. Everything about the colours is wrong, including the high gloss. The owner wasn't around so I couldn't find out just why the aircraft is presented as it is.

[India Four Two]

After doing some further research, I have discovered that W2-P was the code for a Hong Kong Mk. 24.

A very bizarre choice of paint scheme made by the owner, but if you own a Spitfire, I suppose you can paint it any way you want to!

[VictorGolf]

Pity they didn't leave it in the red colour scheme. I think Spitfires take a single main colour very well. It brings out the lovely curvy shape (Ooh err vicar)

[zetec2]

G-Fire

Didn't Mike Searle (ex Ambrion - Leavesden)take it with him when he went Stateside some many years ago, I remember it when it lived at Kidlington mid 80,s and Mike used to come down & give it an airing, PH.

[Above The Clouds]

Why on earth do they use that high gloss finish

[treadigraph]

G-FIRE seems to have passed straight from Classic Air Displays (Spencer Flack?) to Bob Pond and the Palm Springs museum via The Fighter Collection/Stephen Grey who probably brokered the deal. If I remember aright, the Palm Springs collection also includes the first TFC Wildcat, and a P-47 which Bob Pond acquired from Doug Arnold via TFC.

'Tis a great collection, visited about 15 years ago, and also David Price's collection at Santa Monica.

Sorry, thread drift!

[India Four Two]

'Tis a great collection

Yes! The highlights for me were seeing an F7F Tigercat, an F-105 (the biggest single-seater I've ever seen) and a tour through a B-17G.

[philbky]

I've visited many aviation museums around the world, including a large number in North America. Palm Springs is among the best. It benefits from being on an active airport and at weekends is alive with its own flying aircraft and and a host of well informed volunteers looking after the static machines.

Back to Barton. Can anyone remind me when the Beech Staggerwing was at Barton undergoing restoration. Sometime in the 1980s?

[John Farley]

Post 54

This accident convinced me that when doing a low level barrel roll along the display axis one should start the roll towards the crowd. If a barrel roll goes wrong then it is in the second half. By that time your vector is away from the crowd which ensures any debris goes away from the crowd.

[treadigraph]

John, there is a video of a Harvard crash in the US which illustrates that point - the aeroplane is passing left to right along the crowd line and begins a slow roll (axial roll?) to the right with insufficient pitch up, ending with a desperate pull during the fourth quarter to avoid the ground; the wreckage went off at a tangent to the runway, fortunately away from the spectators. If he'd rolled left...

[John Farley]

Thanks Treaders

J

[Fishaman]

Proplinerman - DC6 @ Woodford

Saw the above pic on your link, mad as I would have been @ Woodford on that day working as a Bae apprentice, that aircraft now lies around 2 miles away from my current location and is a restaurant - DC6 diner -
Coventry Airport Restaurant | Aeroplane Restaurant Coventry | DC6 Diner


Small world eh

[eileenm]

Hi

I knew Leo and Alan very well for a couple of years before their deaths. A few months before I left England to go to Australia I received a call to say Leo and Alan had died in an accident. I wanted to contact Leo and Alan's family but unfortunately did not have their family details. Even after 30 years I have very fond memories of Leo and Alan, an era not forgotten. Leo's brother was in Australia for some time, and I never got to meet him. If his mother and brother are still around I would like to contact them. So if you could help I would be very grateful.
I found Alan the flat in Westhoughton and he helped me with my mechanics on my car so it was a double tragedy.

[exmanman]

It's back! Sun 5th July 2015

Manchester Airshow - 5th July 2015

Excellent!

[OPS QUEEN]

Hi

There was no control stick in the rear seat at the time of this flight which is where Allan was sitting. The stick had been removed during the PFA flight in the afternoon and placed on the back shelf.

OPS QUEEN (Allan's widow)

[OPS QUEEN]

Hi Eileen

Thank you for your comments re Allan. I am his widow (we had only been married 3 weeks at the time of the crash).
I have found comments made above quite interesting as to what they thought happened compared to what actually happened.

Take care.

[wub]

Just found this thread. Here's a pic of G-FIRE at Yeovilton in the early 80s

[stundies]

I can remember my Dad (Peter Underhill - Jodel G-BHEG and Piper Cub G-BGPD) having a lot to do with Barton as he used to be the commentator for the Airshows in the early eighties.

I also remeber as a young lad the fatalities there, the Mustang and i'm sure there was another one, I got Mosquito in my head, I was only just out of nappies back then lol

[DundeeDave]

Poster

One of my work colleagues sent me a link to this thread, as he thought you might be interested to see this poster I have.


My sister used to be a member at Barton and helped with the airshows a couple of times. I have loads of photos from there. Including one of a Jag buzzing the tower, with (I seem to remember) only about 2/3rds of the plane filling the whole of the picture (and I think I only had a 70-150mm lens on the camera at the time).


One time my sister had to pick up the Red Arrows commentator from Manchester Airport, where we got to go on the apron, and have a nosey around their aircraft and a couple of Jaguars (possibly the same weekend as the photo mentioned).