Thanks Bob.

Wasn't there a Halifax nose section in Hangar 5 at Duxford or was I dreaming (not unknown). If there was then perhaps it might shed some light (no pun intended).

"Stoochie"?

I remember going to an air display at Aschaffenburg in the early 80s when Doug Arnold's (?) Ju52 arrived with the swastika in place. I did notice a certain stiffening of the right arms of the older members of the crowd.

Some lovely shots there, many thanks. I bet the chaps in the Quiks were cold and the "moonshot" was a good capture.

It was on the General Aviation forum on the Flyer Forums. The thread was entitled "End of an era". It also gives a list of the "Flying Days" which I think are the "Showcase" days re-branded and there are a lot more of them. Only two big airshows though, the other one being the B of B show in Septemb...

Looks like the Duxford Festival will be on 24/25 July next year. I wonder what the format will be.

Thanks AD. I met him when he was flying the 2-seat Spitfire for us at Duxford. He's a really pleasant chap and full of interesting flying stories. Sell some more kits and complete the set by flying the Spitfire perhaps?

Good stuff. Who was your pilot in the Hurricane?

Apologies,already posted.

The late news on BBC East said there would be an announcement "today" Friday.

I'm pleased you enjoyed it Ralph and those are excellent shots of the Mark One. I'll pass on your thoughts to my colleagues at Classic Wings who I'm sure will appreciate them (Just out of interest I was the bloke doing the Rapide "briefing" before your flight.)

That's good news Mike. Is it airworthy?

Thanks for the replies so far. So to summarise there are possibly 2 in Canada, one in France (?) and others in Ethiopia. Any updates on the one at Duxford?

I was doing some "lockdown" reading of old magazines and came across a reference in a May 1999 edition referring to a cache of aircraft discovered and retrieved to South Africa from Ethiopia. Among the rarer finds were 2 Saab B17s and 2 Fireflies along with a clutch of Saab Safirs and Globe Swifts. ...

Thanks for the updates chaps. Guess I'll just have to be patient here in Herts.

It does say this thread is for stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere so I just wondered if anybody has seen swifts/swallows or martins yet this year. Our house martins have usually arrived by now but the only avian activity to date was half a dozen swifts in transit elsewhere. In the absence of actual ai...

Thanks Mike,that's good to know.

Is it still airworthy for when the lockdown finishes (if ever?)

In the case of light aircraft with Lycoming engines, their recommendation is a minimum of a 30 minute flight every 30 days to prevent corrosion developing. No chance at the moment with the lockdown going on.

I didn't have you down as a car enthusiast DCW?

More please Duxman! (And indeed all of you)

Not unreasonably, the folk I spoke to were being a bit cagey about their comments but one did say he "thought the council were on board". We shall see.

I called in at Wellesbourne on Friday last week and the people I spoke to were all fairly hopeful that flying would continue. The return of Aeros with plans for expansion, as mentioned in the newspaper article, was seen as a positive step in the right direction. (And the cafe was still open and good...

I know what you mean "wallace". The only reason I felt it worthy of mention was that I was never sure why the RAF Museum had it in the first place. It struck me that it should be airworthy in a civilian scheme at somewhere like Old Warden as it's a significant 1930s type.