Duxford April Bimbles ~ *UPDATE 08-29Apr17*

[Pen Pusher]

I was expecting a quiet Sunday at Duxford and it was apart from the Avro 19 flying in first thing from Old Warden for a spot of pilot training off the grass and hard runways and landing for a crew change over. It came back again in the afternoon for some more circuits. The Catalina was extracted from hangar 2, after winter maintenance, and was taken out onto the airfield for an engine run. In the order taken.













Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens + Sony Alpha A6000 CSC & Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC.

Brian

[Airwolfhound]

Nice to see the Avro 19 out and about, I was at Shuttleworth yesterday to see the classic car show and the Avro did quite a few circuits and low passes, very nice to see (and photograph).

[AlexC]

I saw that AT-6D at Oshkosh in 2011 when she was N7231C, and again last year at Old Warden after she had become G-TDJN.

[Pen Pusher]

Once the mist lifted it turned into a very nice warm day at Duxford but with very little wind a horrible haze hung around. A very busy day at Duxford not only with visitors but visiting GA types for the Duxford Safety Bonus Day with 50+ booked in. The only flying visitor that drew my attention was a red US Navy Stearman. Classic Wings have started their Fly in a Spitfire flights with Duxford based PV202 instead of a Biggin Hill based Spitfire. Many thanks to Howard and the Historic Aircraft Collection for air side access for a close up of the Sopwith Pup which had a 45 minute handling flight above the airfield.













Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens + Sony Alpha A6000 CSC & Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC.

Brian

[LN Strike Eagle]

Very nice colour scheme on the Stearman.

[Elliott Marsh]

Lovely stuff of the Pup, delighted to have caught it flying today!

[GeorgeP]

I have never seen this colour scheme on a Stearman, so thanks for posting. Is the Pup a replica?

[Pen Pusher]

These remaining original N6161 parts have been incorporated, alongside other original Sopwith factory and period Sopwith Pup components, in the re-construction of N6161 back to flight today by Retrotec, the restoration 'arm' of the Historic Aircraft Collection (HAC) Ltd. The aircraft will be initially flown in the British markings and later may be overpainted with the German markings.

http://www.historicaircraftcollection.l ... _rest.html

Brian

[broadstairs]

The Stearman looks like it could be the one from here in Thanet, if it is its owned by the Girdler family who have a flying school which used to be at Manston. Their Stearman is based at Pent Farm here in Kent. Bryan Girdler runs The Ted Girdler Arrows Scholarship which funds young people to fly solo at 16. It is in memory of Bryan's late father Ted Girdler an ex-Red Arrows pilot.

Stuart

[GeorgeP]

These remaining original N6161 parts have been incorporated, alongside other original Sopwith factory and period Sopwith Pup components, in the re-construction of N6161 back to flight today by Retrotec, the restoration 'arm' of the Historic Aircraft Collection (HAC) Ltd. The aircraft will be initially flown in the British markings and later may be overpainted with the German markings.

http://www.historicaircraftcollection.l ... _rest.html

Brian

Ta.

[Pen Pusher]

Despite the wall to wall blue sky and sunshine, Sunday wasn't as warm as the forecasters predicted although a southerly breeze did take the edge off the temperature and Duxford was a lot quieter than Saturday with less members of the public and GA visitors. A King Air had night stopped and during the morning an Extra 400 arrived, a type I don't remember seeing before. Classic Wings were busy all day with their Rapide and Tiger Moth flights along with Harvard 'Wacky Wabbit' and Fly in a Spitfire flights.













Sony Alpha A6000 CSC & Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC.

Brian

[Pen Pusher]

You can tell Easter is only a couple of days away as winter appears to have returned as there was a significant wind chill blowing across the airfield all day. I even had my gloves on. Anyhoo, TFC had their P-40C out on engine runs and down at ARCo the ex Boscombe Down Harvard/KF183 was also having engine runs and it taxied out onto the grass and parked up next to nice line up of war birds to continue its engine runs. Although it has been flying most of the week, this was the first time I had seen Spitfire T9/NH341 in the air as it was up again for more handling/check flights before it's signed off. In the order taken.













Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens + Sony Alpha A6000 CSC & Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC.
Brian

[AlexC]

The Stearman is a new one on me. Anyone know the registration?

[Pen Pusher]

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-BTFG

Brian

[broadstairs]

Then it is definitely the one from here in Kent owned by the Girdlers.....

Stuart

[AlexC]

Many thanks Brian!

[Pen Pusher]

A quiet day at Duxford, the only flying while I was there was from Classic Wings and a few GA visitors. On the hangar base, the long time resident Bloodhound missile was being moved to temporary storage outside the Land Warfare Hall. Cessna Citation/M-ICRO touched down, offloaded a passenger and then departed and TFC had the Hawk 75 and the both P-40's out on the airfield for engine runs. Photos in order taken.













Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens + Sony Alpha A6000 CSC & Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC.

Brian

[Pen Pusher]

Weather wise Friday at Duxford was rubbish with wall to wall clouds, dark and with a significant wind chill blowing. Flying wise it was great. TFC had their P-40C, Wildcat and Harvard flying. P-51/Miss Helen went up for an air test and a yellow Gnat did a couple of circuits. Classic wings were flying their Tiger Moths along with Harvard/Wacky Wabbit and Flying in a Spitfire flights. The Catalina came out onto the airfield for some low rev runs on the engines and there were a lot of GA visitors with a 1956 built Piper PA-22-150 Caribbean/G-APXT and a 1950 built Cessna 170A/G-EEVY being two that stood out and there were three Chipmunks visiting two of which were silver in colour so the red & white visitor stood out.





































Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-400mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens + Sony Alpha A6000 CSC & Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di-III VC.

Brian

[Ledhead27]

Did the Miss Helen airtest end with the aircraft puthering engine smoke on its arrival? Seen a photo of it not looking particularly healthy upon its return.

[Pen Pusher]

It did but was flying again later in the afternoon.

Brian

[Pen Pusher]

With the weather forecasters saying winter had returned with a cold icy blast coming down from the Arctic, I may have overdressed with the thermals as it was quite warm when the sun was shining but when the clouds rolled in, which they did frequently, the wind chill factor went up. Looking south during the afternoon you could see blue sky and fluffy clouds but look north and there were dark and threatening clouds and you could see the rain fronts passing by. A bit of a training theme at Duxford today when an AgustaWestland 139/M-SHRM flew in for Stansted for about 30 minutes of circuits. The ARCo T9 Spitfire/PV202 was on pilot training duty and the Catalina/G-PBYA was up and down most of the afternoon as the different flight crews did circuits and practice display routines. Just to add to the variety, a Canadian registered Short Skyvan/C-FARA did a low pass on its way to Brize Norton. In the order taken.













Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens

Brian

[GeorgeP]

Nice. I hope the Cat will make an appearance at FL. I don't see it listed yet.

[Pen Pusher]

Another training day at Duxford. The Catalina was up first thing with lots of circuits but no display. An Apache helicopter flew in from Wattisham for about 30 minutes of circuits and liked it so much, the same crew returned during the afternoon for more. Two two-seat Spitfires PV202/NH341 were up and down pilot training and Harvard/Wacky Wabbit was flying circuits and practice displays. The IWM Mk.1 Spitfire/N3200 spent a couple of hours parked outside the tower as it's being flown some time over the Bank Holiday weekend with Classic Wings as part of their Fly With A Spitfire experience. Photos in the order taken.













Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens

Brian

[Pen Pusher]

A very busy Saturday at Duxford not only with visitors but with flying as well. Classic Wings were using Spitfire Mk.1/N3200 for their Wing to Wings flights along with a pair of Dragon Rapides and Harvard/Taz. TFC were out to play with their P-40F and Hawk 75 which flew off to the north for air tests and handling checks before returning for 5 minutes of aerobatics over the airfield. Spitfire Mk.1/X4650 ventured out onto the airfield for an engine run producing its own smoke screen on start up for the first time this year. In hangar 2 there was a nice little line up of American trainers consisting of the Yale which was replaced by the Harvard which in turn was replaced by the T-28.













Sony Alpha A6300 CSC & 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens

Brian

[tankbuster81]

Was the Catalina on the move yesterday Brian? As i'm sure i saw it around midday in Kent.