IWM Duxford VE Day Anniversary Airshow Saturday 23rd May 2015
Well that was an enjoyable weekend! As reported in my Newsletter last week I planned to go to Duxford and Bruntingthorpe at the weekend, and I kept my fingers crossed that the weather would be kind.
Well Duxford, whilst the weather was a little dull in the morning, was at least dry… and the flying was far from dull !
We were treated to some of our old favourites on the Flightline and also in the air , and as usual Boeing B- 17 G Flying Fortress Sally B was a magnificent sight to see in her 40th year on the airshow circuit.
I particularly wanted to get some pictures of the recently restored Bristol Blenheim, and to see her fly again in her first airshow of the season. I am sure you will agree that she looks splendid and a tribute to all those who worked so hard to get this wonderful aircraft back in the skies again. I hope Corgi bring us more Blenheim models in the near future, and I am looking forward to receiving my model of the current tooling, which many of you have Pre-ordered with me. If you haven’t ordered yours then please don’t delay, you can go straight to the Blenheim by clicking this link.
The airfield was very busy as usual in the morning with pleasure flights taking off what seemed to be every 5 minutes. I must say that whilst I am more of a Warbird Fan I have started to take a keener interest in the older civilian types, particularly the Tiger Moth and Dragon Rapide. I know through visits from some of you to Flying Tigers at Sywell over the last few weeks, that the Oxford Range of these aircraft is hugely popular. I had not collected these myself, but am starting to get a personal collection of these together. I plan to have these on display at Sywell over the coming months. As an example,the featured Tiger Moth in this article is on the website and can be ordered by clicking this Tiger Moth link. Please also visit the Oxford History of Flight Section for more examples in the range.
Cold War Jets Open day Bruntingthorpe Proving Grounds Sunday 24th May 2015
It was my first visit to Bruntingthorpe and I really enjoyed it! Despite the weather (rain), it didn’t dampen my spirits. It is a tribute to all the volunteers that these wonderful jets are kept in taxiable condition and can still be shown in such a dramatic way to the general public and to aviation enthusiasts.I had particularly gone to see the BAC Lightning F6 power down the runway in full re-heat but there was a lot more besides.
The first down the runway was Nimrod MR2 XV226 , followed by H.S.Bucanneer S.2C XW544 , three Provosts XM365, XW290,and XP672, Canberra WT333, Victor “Teasin Tina” XM715 and then the BAC Lightning F6 XR728 ! I took loads of photos and have chosen a handful to post here on this Newsletter.
Whilst there has been a Bucanneer in the Corgi range recently AA34111 ( and has sold out), I would love Corgi to release another English Electric Lightning and you never know perhaps in the future a Handley Page Victor in 1/72 scale ! Let’s hope.
The Jet Provosts were well received when produced by Skymax in 1/72 scale.They are no longer produced now, but luckily I do have one or two in my collection. There are a few left on the website and are reduced in price to sell quickly, so if you want to fill any gaps in your collection, don’t hesitate and click on the Provost link here to go straight to the offer. First come…first served.
To finish, Corgi will be unveiling their 2015 second half of the year catalogue early next week.Let’s hope there are some great models to add to our collections.
I will send you details as soon as I have them. I will be adding these aircraft onto the site and will be found under Future Releases and in Future Corgi Models. Please click on these links to see the latest additions next week.
Once again thank you for reading this Newsletter.
Richard.
Flying Tigers.