Stephen gave the Bearcat another workout this afternoon, sounded and looked great.
Blog
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Saturday Duxford update
No photo today but a quick note that TFC Bearcat went up earlier on Saturday. Tomorrow will be spent with volunteers doing a bit of spit and polish to complement the engineers work in preparing the TFC fleet for next week end.
A quick mention for a few of long term volunteers. We don’t normally do names as the whole thing is a team effort which we are quite but proud of. However Henry , who is a little over retirement age spent the early part of last week driving around East Anglia collecting equipment and bits urgently required for aircraft and Jim, who next week will be in every day and is scheduled to do a good number of miles ensuring a lot of the paperwork is in the right place at the right time. Nigel will also be travelling from the West Country early in the week to ensure a lot of the fabrication jobs are sorted – the bits you don’t see at the display but without which Legends wouldn’t work!
We hope to increase the photo / video coverage from early next week of the build up and arrivals. We can’t pre-announce aircraft arrivals due to the weather and operational issues but we will endeavour to keep you fully updated on events at Duxford.
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Sikorsky Flying boat – what it looks like!
From our Friend Fred in France who follows us on the TFC Facebook page comes this photograph taken earlier this year at La Ferte Alais
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19th June – 10 days to go
Spitfire Mk XIV up and about to day along with the Hawk
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Fighter Log No 60 Spring 2012 Available to download for members now
Postal versions despatched today.
Can’t wait for your postal copy or an online member of Friends?
The latest edition is available to download via the Friends of TFC members pages:
http://fighter-collection.com/friends/welcome.php
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Update for 17th June
With our P-47 sneaking all the publicity at the moment it is worth mentioning that the Staggerwing is now back in the hangar after it’s holiday in France.
Fighter Log is back from the printers today, mailing will take place from early next week. Friends of TFC will be able to access the download link on Monday by logging in to the Members pages.
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Message for TFC Volunteers, preparation ( that is another word for cleaning) of aircraft starts in earnest tomorrow (Sunday).Quite important: sustenance available, not only will there be the usual Sunday cake but fresh strawberries and rasberries from our friends at Sunclose Farm, Milton. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Two weeks to go then………………….
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On board with the Nieuport
With Rob GG getting airborne again with his Nieuport 17 replica today it seemed appropriate to post this video of Rob and John locked in combat over La Ferte last year. Amazing to think they took these planes over the channel, we could hardly see the coast from our ferry!!
Another hats off to everyone; who manages to get up and running with their aircraft for Flying Legends It is this time of year with the clock ticking away that everyone needs a bit of a boost while they are getting aeroplanes ready for the big week end, both at Duxford and across Europe – all those mechanical issues and paperwork mountains to sort out so that we can sit back and enjoy a great weekend. I saw one of the logistical spreadsheets today which just makes you realise how complex an event this is with its largely international cast!
Anyway, La Ferte last year and a bit of fun:
(Facebook viewers, you know by now, click back to the diary to watch the video)
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Sunday and the baby Spit flies
Sunday morning and Alan Wade takes EP120 for a flight, still in the air as we post this:
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Another Busy Saturday
TFC P-40F up for a couple of Test flights
and Stephen rattled the cobwebs out of the Mk XIV with a power on display in the afternoon.
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Flying Legends 2012 starts here:
Oops, many apologies, the diary editor had a day off so we are a bit late with all the official stuff about Flying Legends 2012.
As you might have guessed the P-47G will be making it’s official airshow debut
(See our P-47 page for more on this aircraft HERE). As only one of two examples of the Curtiss built variant it is something of a rare (and impressive) beast.
As if that wasn’t enough we have something very different making another UK display debut – The Sikorsky S-38 – if you haven’t already seen or heard about this aircraft it really is something different and not just it’s colour scheme! It is Sikorsky first widely produced amphibious flying boat with twin-engines and eight-seats – The lineage of owners runs through operators such as Pan-American and the US Army through to american aviators such as Howard Hughes and Charles Lindbergh.
We are also pleased to announce that the Flying Bulls’ will be making a welcome return with their Lockheed P-38 Lighting and the Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair. Those of you who bought the 2011 Flying Legends DVD will remember the stunning aerial experience of these aircraft.
Overall we plan to have over 50 aircraft participating including:
2 Hispano Buchon;
8 Spitfires, including two Mark One variants;
3 Hawker Sea Furies;
3 Hawk variants including the Hawk 75, the P40B and the P40F;
3 marques of YAK fighters;
Fiesler Storch
Lysander.
3 First World War aircraft – the Nieuport 17, Fokker DR1 and Sopwith Triplane – will fly together for the first time.
The Breitling Wingwalkers
B-17 Flying Fortress, Sally B
PBY Catalina Miss Pick Up.
BBMF, Spitfire, Avro Lancaster and Hawker Hurricane will display on Saturday 30 June only,
Yak Aerostars stunning aerobatic display, Sunday 1st July only.As ever we hope to display these aircraft in the usual stunning displays and unique combinations.
We’ll bring you more breaking news over the coming weeks so stay tuned.
