call me a big softy, but that was emotional!

Nick, those photos were at Fairford last year

Got about a bazzion of the jets and stuff here...

just a tid bit of info, there are only 2 Lancs' left flying in the world at the moment, the RAF Battle of Britain flight has one, the other is in Canada...

I think there are one, maybe two being restored to flying condition at the mo..

As for Mosquitos, there are no flying examples left.. think the last one crashed a few years ago, and as they are mostly made of wood... (yeah! 3000+ HP with something that weighs bugger all!) I think they will have trouble getting them certified for flying anyway...

[Biker Biggles]

The last Mosquito crashed about eight years ago killing both crew following engine failure.Apparently both engines failed together following an aerobatic display and fuel starvation was said to be the cause.Used to see it regularly around here as it always flew past Salisbury hall at South Mymms when out and about.

El Boc wrote:

remains buried at Scampton

Only it's remains? Did it meet with some kind of ghastly accident then? To be hoped it is still buried and not roaming the dark hallways at the dead(oops) of night!

Well, considering the dogs name, if it were out and about, ghost or not.. it would get done for not being politically correct! :P

[Biker Biggles]

If they show the film on telly these days the dogs name is clumsily edited out as is the code word for the dam being breached-----again the dogs name.I just think how sad that we can't even watch history as it happened in case it upsets some vocal group or other.A society that can't live with it's past has no future.

Talking of Merlins, anyone remember this nutjob of a bike??

[/url]

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

The last Mosquito crashed about eight years ago killing both crew following engine failure.Apparently both engines failed together following an aerobatic display and fuel starvation was said to be the cause.Used to see it regularly around here as it always flew past Salisbury hall at South Mymms when out and about.

I've got a feeling that there is still one flying example left in Australia.

In the meantime this is the 'Grace' spitfire gredited with the first kill on D-day
Taken at Duxford last year. The Grace Spitfire

Originally Posted by Vfr400

I've got a feeling that there is still one flying example left in Australia.

http://www.mossie.org/windsor/buffs_mourn.htm

[Ratty]

I must be one of the few people around to have seen two Spitfire crashes. The first at Duxford when I was just a kid down there for a display. The undercarriage collapsed during the landing as the aircraft slowed. Pilot was ok if somewhat gutted. The airframe looked barely damaged but the engine would have suffered from being over torqued when the prop hit the floor.

The second crash was horrific. It was at an airshow at the airfield where I work during the late eighties. The pilot was doing a loop in the Griffin powered aircraft. The Griffin was more powerful than the Merlin making it faster, but they didn’t sound like a Spitfire should. At the top of the loop the a/c was directly over my head and I remember thinking that he didn’t look high enough. As the plane dived he never gave up trying to pull the nose up the the it hit the runway almost level, rupturing the fuel tanks and exploded. I couldn’t have been any closer from where I was watching the display and the heat took my breath away. The vivid thing I remember was the detached engine bouncing end over end down the grass for a couple of hundred yards. The pilot, David Moore who was a Rolls Royce test pilot was killed and the scene around me was un-believable as the ghouls fought to get to the front and the families tried to get themselves away from the rope line. Not nice.

Working in the factory where many iconic aircraft were produced has given me many opportunities to see classic aircraft close up like the farewell fly by’s done by 5 Shackletons and the last flying Vulcan.

Famous A/C built here include: AVRO Anson, Lancaster (about 3500) Shackleton, Vulcan, Nimrod HS748 and BAe146 / RJ to name a few.

Ratty

i've loaded the pics from my mobile/camera/phone type thing and they're as rubbish as i thought. looks like two crows flying away in the distance

i'll have to make do with my memories then.....sniff