First job was pulling what was needed out of the hangar, before getting fuel for what needed it. Patrice arrived in something that the Wildcat would probably want a word with, and Brian Smith had a quick blast in the Mustang just in case the Wildcat didn’t have a firm enough word with the Zero.
Wishing all our Friends and followers seasons greetings. Click on any image below to view the gallery
This would usually be part of the Online Fighter Log update available to Friends of TFC- it answers a lot of “which aircraft was where and when this week end” type questions so here you go:
A busy weekend in May…. The Hawk75 and Gladiator made our first European outing of the 2015 season with Stephen and Patrice at the controls for the trip to La Ferte Alais. The transit necessitated a brief stop-over at Abbeville for fuel before flying on to LFA were TFC engineers Roy and Paul were waiting for their arrival having departed Duxford at 5am Thursday morning via Folkestone. With some quite complicated logistics Nick who was due to fly the Gladiator in the show made the transit to LFA from Geneva on Thursday evening. Operating away from base is always a challenge particularly when your tools and spares provision needs to fit into a modern family saloon!
The VE Anniversary show at Duxford was combined with the departure of three TFC aircraft Spitfire V, P-51D, Corsair) to the Oostwold Airshow , Groningen, Holland. EP120 was able to make the dash across the channel on Friday (beating the weather) at the hands of Alan Wade as it was not required for the Duxford show; regrettably the MkXIV wasn’t able to depart for the show due to an as yet undiagnosed over-fuelling issue with the carburettor. With the weather closing in on us the P-51D and Corsair weren’t able to make their planned slot to leave Duxford on the afternoon of the Sunday show and finally left at 08:20 local time Monday morning (another lay-in missed !).
All aircraft made the recovery back to Duxford on Monday, with the Hawk75 and Gladiator first to arrive in the late afternoon and our Dutch contingent finally returning 18:45 local time. All in all a very successful weekend both here at Duxford and across our European commitments. Many thanks to those of you who visited us in the Friends area and had a close up look at the Bearcat.
And finally…. ‘A little knowledge is dangerous’…..on occasion we have to respond to inaccurate information placed on public forums and disseminated as factual. We were recently made aware of a thread running on one such forum suggesting the Sea Fury FB11 needs a new centre section! You might imagine that as Chief Engineer these are things I would normally know a little about, particularly if one were actually needed (which it isn’t).
To be absolutely clear; the Sea Fury hasn’t fallen off jacks; it isn’t on jacks simply because it doesn’t need to be on jacks. However, there is a small area of damage to the lower spar boom port side were a bolt was incorrectly orientated in the landing gear retraction mechanism and which on retraction test (some years ago) caught the underside of the boom flange. The damage is repairable and a scheme has already been identified in accordance with the aircraft repair manual and our resident design organisation, therefore no one need worry that the aircraft is not being currently progressed for the absence of a replacement centre section. Our priorities are set by the Principals and Chief Engineer dependent upon our developing workloads, Inspection Programs and ultimate goals; suffice to say we have not forgotten about G-BUCM and its time will come….shortly…..
Today was partly spent playing Hangar Drafts where Martin decides we need the aircraft at the back of the hangar moved to the front. In over 20 years of moving aircraft at TFC no one has yet devised a simple solution. Anyway having moved some of the aircraft outside we thought it might be a good idea to fly a couple of them. By coincidence Al Wade was wandering around so we strapped him in the Spitfire Mk Vb and Wildcat and told him he couldn’t go home until he had flown them both.
EP120 out and about:
And the Wildcat:
With the winter drawing ever closer, the flying season is has drawn to a close and so the engineers set about servicing the aircraft. Currently the Gladiator is in in a rather revealing mode with a chance to catch some interesting internal detail, elswhere the Hellcat and Wildcat now carry engine inhibited warnings.
Among other happenings this week one of our long standing engineers (and previously a volunteer) , Fred, has left for pastures new. TFC wish him all the best for the future.
Here he is in characteristically cheerful mood after a backseat experience in Miss Velma:
Talking of Miss V, today she was the subject of attention from the TFC volunteer team:
We also had a quick hangar shuffle with the Staggerwing:
A
This morning, the clouds broke in time for a stunning display. Below are some of the highlights with more photos to follow next week. It was also good to meet old and new FoTFC!
And Finally how much can you fit in a Mustang?
Hope to see you tomorrow!
In the 7 days leading up to the IWM air display at the end of May TFC were “busy”.
Despite this they managed to grab a few clips of video. We were also lucky enough to catch the TFC Hellcat (thanks to Pete C from veao who were setting up the Flight Sim stuff in the hangar at the time (as you do )) and just prior to its first flight in a number of years.
A big thanks to Martin and his team for supplying a number of these clips from a variety of cameras! Enjoy:
Great Weather today ! A few pictures of TFC aircraft and some of the crew participating in the week end Great to see and chat to everyone who stopped by the Friends of TFC stall:
First the Flight Simulation department who were busy both days
EP120 who had great fun in the tail chase with the Buchons and assorted Spitfires
The Hawk understated as ever
Martyn performing checks after the Wildcat displayed
and last the Wildcat
The Fighter Collection are delighted to announce additional Participants for Flying Legends 2014
We hope you are pleased to hear that the following aircraft will be joining other confirmed participants over the weekend of 12th and 13th July
More will be added to this exciting list in the next few weeks……..
….and Jamie Pluck sent us this great picture from yesterday of the Wildcat getting ready for a flight test in between the showers:
The Wildcat blew out a few cobwebs today with Dave Southwood at the controls.
TFC Grumman Wildcat