Well, to be fair the mist had lifted and there aren’t any mountains at Duxford but we liked the title.
Just after eight o’clock on a beautiful sunny September morning the Fighter Collections Spitfire MkVb and P-40F were prepared and ready to take off for a display at Church Fenton(Yorkshire) in the afternoon. Alan Wade and Dave Southwood the pilots, this is what it looked and sounded like.
We are always amazed by the kind offers and ways our Friends of TFC support us. At Flying Legends this year we were presented with this amazing artwork gift from German artist Peter Steininger which Pete Rushen accepted on behalf of TFC.
The Indian head logo has been ‘painted’ using crushed stonework and presented as a fantastic full colour representation of TFC’s famous Indian head. This will be on show in our sales marquee just opposite from the Control Tower on both days of the September Airshow.
For more information on this technique and other works by Peter, please visit his web site www.peter-steininger.de
With just a couple of days to the Duxford 2015 September Airshow arrangements for Friends of TFC are being finalised. We will have a stand in the same place as the Spring airshow, that is just opposite the control tower. It should be easy to find as we plan to have one of our aeroplanes parked adjacent (weather permitting). As well as our usual Poloshirts/Caps and Badges we will have a special edition Spitfire T-shirt available. We also enjoy having a chat about old aeroplanes with our Friends so do pop in if you have time.
Notes: For Friends who wish to renew or New Friends of TFC: If you have received a email reminder that your subscription is due and you don’t want to renew online please bring the reminder with you. We cannot deal with renewals that are not yet due, it confuses our membership system on the computer.
If you joined at Flying Legends but haven’t had an email to confirm your membership please call in at the stand. We had a number of applications where email addresses /phone numbers or post codes were missing or difficult to read. Without these bits of information we cannot complete your enrolement.
If you haven’t joined yet but are thinking of joining Friends of TFC, now is the time to join as the annual subscription is going up to £15 from Monday 21st September! – Grab that £10 bargain now! We also have a family subscription which is for families who wish to support us. Click here for details: …more info
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Friends of the Fighter Collection membership provides access to a Viewing area and Flightline Walk only at Flying Legends. We DO NOT have a Viewing area nor access to the Flightline Walk at the other airshows at Duxford including the September Airshow.
TFC aeroplanes all arrived safely at Goodwood:
Three Spitfires positioning to Goodwood today for Revival weekend. Spitfire Mk I, MkIA and XIV. Brian Smith, Pete Kynsey and Carl Schofild.
Pete Ford providing the taxi service to get everybody back to Duxford ready for a 10:20 departure tomorrow with the Spitfire V, Hawk 75 and P-40F.
Clocks ticking….
Just a reminder for volunteers, the hangar is open this Sunday (6th Sept)
With all our efforts for the last few months focused on a certain weekend in July (Flying Legends) the morning after is somewhat of an anticlimax and leaves one thinking what on earth do we do now …..?
Well the first thing to do is to thank everybody for their time and contribution (our volunteers not only give up their free time to help us with producing Flying Legends but also the myriad of tasks that all contribute to keeping the aircraft collection in fine ‘fettle’).
Also to the engineers who alongside the volunteers have worked long hours making sure each of the aeroplanes has completed the various calendar, hours based and out of phase checks and inspections;
The second thing is to reflect on our successes and tease out the bits that for us didn’t go quite as planned ! Despite the best efforts of our display pilots the fleet remained servicable to the end with the only the P-40C falling foul of the electric propeller ‘rain demons’ and as some of you may have seen taxied back to the flight line at the start of the Sunday balbo sequence with a propeller that according to pilot Steve Hinton flatly refused to play ball in automatic mode.
Of the visiting display aircraft both Sea Furys developed tech issues one of which necessitated an early landing off the balbo; the second Fury had an electrical snag which we were able to help diagnose and resolve with the operators engineers but the aircraft wasn’t able to complete the scheduled demonstration due to the onset of rain which brought the show to a temporary halt for 25 minutes or so though It flew later on Sunday afternoon in the balbo.
Personal highlights, well, the four Curtiss aircraft Hawk 75, P-36C, P-40C and the P-40F;
loved the Nimrod’s and Fury, (the patina on the Nimrod’s new exhaust pipes looks just right now following the display on Saturday) regrettably the crosswind put paid to a repeat performance on Sunday; and finally of course the Gladiator in the joker slot between balbo passes.
Remember to put Flying Legends 2016 in your diary (dates to be released) and we hope to see our ‘friends’ again very soon…
Hi Everyone. It is nearly Flying Legends 2015, but I guess you know that?
Friends of TFC are looking forward to meeting all our supporters over the weekend. We have two locations this year. We have a shop adjacent to the Flying Legends clothing store in front of the Bremont Enclosure, There is a Flying Legends sign on the front. Look out for the Friends of TFC flag.
We also have our traditional marquee at the other end of the airfield in the same location as last year. We have increased the seating in this area.
If you cannot find your Friends of TFC email or certificate we can check your membership status for you at the marquee.
Have a great week end.
Previously we have brought you how to build a Carbon Cub in 60 seconds and how to build a P-40C in 60 seconds. This time we bring you “How to build and fly a P-36 in 2 minutes”. With thanks to Matt Nightingale,Steve Hinton, the guy in the blue overalls and team.
And here is a quick photo of Steve Hinton putting it through it’s paces on Tuesday!
