20 September 2008 - a calm late summers day on the West Coast of Scotland. At approximately 12:45 four Gipsy Major engines rattled into life and not long after that the radio crackled: 'Chipmunk Formation' - '2' - '3' - '4'. Was it really going to happen? After quite a long time chatting about it, all four Chipmunks calling Prestwick International Airport their home had planned for a 4-ship training sortie over South Ayrshire. Pre-flights checks went okay, power checks complete and lined up at Runway 21. 'Chipmunk formation - cleared for take-off'. Not to long after that, the world below was treated to the what must have been the first 'box-4' of Chipmunks in Scotland for at least 10 years. Quite possibly even longer.
I was privileged to be able to tag along in the back seat of No.2 to take some snaps to mark this event. Not a dedicated photo sortie as such, I'm still happy with the results. A huge thank you to the Caledonian Chipmunks and Skylark Aviation for inviting me.
Anyway, enough talk, on with some pictures!
First 'Box' of the day:
Part of the formation visible over Prestwick:
With positions slightly adapted, the second formation looks neat:
Skylark in a right-hand turn:
And a few individual aircraft shot during the two flights:
First up, G-AORW (ex WB682) over land:
And over water:
WP808 (G-BDEU):
And last but not least, WD305 (G-ARGG):
Cheers, Berry
Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
Very nice, I like shots nos 4 and 5. Glad you got some sunshine too.
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
Cracking set of shots, rather partial to the Chippy over water with the full prop disk.
My website...
http://cumbrian-aviation.weebly.com/
http://cumbrian-aviation.weebly.com/
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
Hi, brilliant set, a bit further north and you might have got our house in your photo
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
WOW! What a loverly formation!
The last picture is my favourite, but all of them are great!
The last picture is my favourite, but all of them are great!
- centaurus18
- Posts: 1334
- Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 8:59 am
- Location: Ex-Yeovil, now Southampton, UK
- Contact:
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
The sea really compliments the scheme on AORW. Very impressive all round.
Mark
'We’re in the stickiest situation, since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun.'
'We’re in the stickiest situation, since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun.'
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
Nice shots there thanks for posting yeah the shot of AORW over the sea is pretty good
JAmes
JAmes
Supporting WZ507.
The Americans claim victory right at the end.
As ever.
The Americans claim victory right at the end.
As ever.
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
Cracking shots indeed!
WD305 is my favourite FS9 aircraft (Rick Piper's Chippie + Photo Paint = Gorgeous!)
WD305 is my favourite FS9 aircraft (Rick Piper's Chippie + Photo Paint = Gorgeous!)
Re: Chipmunk 4-ship in Scotland
Hi MortiUK
You can see more photos of WD305 at http://www.caledonianchipmunks.co.uk and on the forum there!
You can see more photos of WD305 at http://www.caledonianchipmunks.co.uk and on the forum there!