niknak are you sure it wasn't a Blenheim rather than a Wellington?

I don't think a Wellington has flown in the UK since the 1960's when the RAF Museum's T10 was pensioned off.

L & S thanks, yes it was the Blenhiem, early signs of senility setting in I'm afraid:D .

Pulse1... Ahhh Boscombe '92! Go to http://www.paulnann.com/images/pn_w1388.jpg

For me the best ever was my first BoB Air Day at St Mawgan in '72. I was responsible for the comms in the commentary box and spent a glorious day watching the show from the tower - and getting paid for it.:cool:

niknak shame, I was hoping I was wrong and there was a secret Wellington out there somewhere :D

I'm sure the Pprune airshow, sorry, fly-in at Popham (see thread in Private Flying) tomorrow (1st June) will be a memorable event. Wish I could make it. :(
Hope they get the weather for it.

wub,

Thanks a lot for posting that photo. As I said, because of the sloping runway and crowd, I never got to see how low he actually got. Awesome!

Pulse1

Sure is awsome. The TU-134 in the background is 9 metres high and Anatoly Kvochur (crashed Mig 29 in Paris) in his Sukhoi doesn't come more that half way up the fin! I have a video of this somewhere.

The Tu-134 may be 9m high but I always bang my head on the door when I get in one.........

You get in one?? Are you mad?

:D

Finningley early 1980s - anyone remember a scramble of about 6 Vulcans from the end of Finningleys runway - crews on standby to all 6 airborne in less than 5 minutes - in a stream take-off.
Don't think my ears have recovered yet.

Can't forget the Nav banging out of the #2 of a pair of F4s at Bournemouth one Sunday morning as they set off for a display somewhere else - probably August 84. Pilot stuck with it and ended up getting airbourne from the grass on the south side of 26 with full reheat - just missed the Army Air Corps (parked) display team if I remember correctly.

Wet Power, yes, I remember if it was the same day, and I think it was, that the Navy showed off a Vixen including several of the most elegant, low-level Derry turns it has ever been my pleasure to witness.:cool:

We used to have a show every year at Woodford and one at Barton. None in the area at all now :~((

But what memories - Lighnings and Phantoms doing transonic flybys, Vulcans shaking the earth, Sukois doing what only they seem able to do. And I remember some pre-show events at Barton - they used to have a 'press day' the Friday before, where many participants turned up (especially the services) and flew somewhat more 'adventurously' than they might on show day! I remebr standing near a Sea King when a Harrier called up for a fly by. "just aim for the Sea King", said the controller. A tiny dot, trailing smoke, rapidly grew bigger as if flashed silently across the field towards me (must have been very close to supersonic). It flew over the Sea King so low that the (stationary) rotors bounced up and down, and very car alarm in the car park went off as well.

In contrast, Brian Lecomber arrived in the Stampe and went straight into the best low level Stampe display I've ever seen. All activity on the airfield stopped - the fencers, tent putter-uppers, line painters, everyone stopped to watch - then burst into sponatneous applause at the finish.

Lovely!!

SSD

.....to expand the thread a little, a couple of favourite airshow moments -

Alconbury (about 1984) when the SR-71 made one of it's all too-few flying displays; I was there with a bunch of mates and Mrs. Nopax, and us guys were quite excited by the prospect of the Blackbird doing its' stuff.

At the appointed time, the beast appears over the threshold, loads of cameras are pointed at the sky and we get treated to a low, very fast and slightly banked flyby - absolutely stunning! Lovely day, too, so perfect photos all round.

Of course, that was it, as it was heading back to Mildenhall after a mission. Now, we all looked at each other in the usual way after you've seen something stupendous and deeply satisfying to watch - just a few grins and nods; Mrs. Nopax then announces to the world...

"Nasty 'orrible noisy ugly thing - can't understand what you were all so excited about!"

- women, eh?!?!

Another was one of the last Air Tattoos at Greenham Common; I was just walking in, along with the family again, and the first static display was a line-up of Army aircraft. As we were admiring the hardware, past come a bunch of "spotters" from London (cockney accents) - not enthusiasts, just number collectors....one of 'em, a young lad, was scribbling furiously in his notebook and reading the tail numbers out loud, obviously not having any idea of what each aircraft type was, and not caring either - it went a bit like this.....

"XP***/XW***/XX***" then he reaches the Sioux (Bell 47/OH-13, call it what you will) - looks at the skeletal tailboom, where he thinks the number will be...

"f*** that, it ain't got a number!"

It still makes me chuckle now!!!

most memorable airshow?
 

i have a couple. my first prestwick airshow in85. pair of german navy f104s did a superb display. one did a slow flypast with all gear down, his mate did a max reheat flypast at same time, i reckon matey was doing .95 mach. the prestwick displays were very good, the last one in 89 had the famous sea fury with stuck port landing gear pilot bailed out. and also a ba 747 diverted in with smoke in the cargo bay. my second one is a shuttleworth display(the only one ive ever been to) blazing hot day and a small crowd, well i say small probably 6000. shuttleworth is definately how airshows should be!

Prestwick 89
 

Canberra,

I did have some copied amateur video footage showing the 747 coming in on finals into Prestwick, and having the emergency services scream after it upon touchdown. Thankfully nothing transpired with the fire warning.

Sadly I think the tape got chewed up a few years ago.

Mark

Agree with Shaggy Sheep Driver that Brian Lecomber's Stampe displays were fantastic - absolutely lyrical. His Extra 230 dsiplays were great as well.

And what about Xavier de Lapperant at North Welad this May? I had a fair idea of what to expect, and was utterly gob-macked - it was so good, to hell with it, I'm going to stump up the cash and go to Farnborough to watch him again.

Used to love the Tiger Club displays at Redhill as well (and once at Croydon! Honest!) which were chuckles from start to finish. Always remember Brendan O'Brien's crazy flying in a Stampe putting the wind up everyone and culminated in a handkerchief pickup with a wingtip that was also a skirt-rip...

Memory fading......either Mildenhall or Lakenheath air show, around 1968, Vulcan (again;)) - took off, as soon as it was 50 feet off the runway stood it on its tail and gave it everything......result? About 400 yards of tarmac vapourised and flying up in huge sheets - and one u/s runway:D

runway chewing
 

i was in the runway caravan at cranwell on a very wet day when a harrier lifted large portions of the short runway. in fact after he went back to wittering we knocked flying on the head, i quite liked that harrier pilot!!

1973 Battle of Britain @ Leuchars
 

I was at AST in Perth Scotland doing my CPL and I went along to the 1973 Battle of Britain air show at Leuchars. I was a young lad then, just out from Australia and it left me "gobb smacked":)
All those lovely noisy aircraft that went like the clappers, my favorite was the E.E. Lightning. Pure sleek grunt!
I stood only 30ft away from them as they taxied out. What a sight, but unfortunately I doubt with rules these days you would get the same excitement.

For me it would have to be Middle Wallop about 1988(ish).

Everything including a low centre line fly past by Concorde, 9 Spitfires all in the air together, a Vulcan with bomb bays open to the mandatory Red Arrows.

The highlight had to be the "sudden" appearrance in the distance of a massed flight of different Army Helicopters that advanced in line to the music of the March of the Valkeries. :eek: .:eek:

And Gary Numan was also there in his whatever.:rolleyes:

NBF9

Mildenhall 1984/5?
3 F111s "scrambled" From crews sitting outside, to formation take off. Took 7 minutes.
Next up F6 Lightning. Commentry was "this is how a scramble should be!"
Sitting outside, in, start up,taxi, rotate, gear up, hold height, far threshold, stand on tail, go.
2 minutes later comentarry from jockey "I'm now at FL*** and your F111s are bimbling around somewhere below me"
RAF 1: USAF 0 :eek: :D :eek: :D

RIAT 1994. British Airways hosties "looking after us". To Mary and the girls, thankyou! Wish I had "that" type of service on all aircraft I fly !!!!

:D :D