DX 12.VII.17 - catch up

Couple of photos from today and from Saturday…
Clipped wing Spitfire 

"Casualties" from the weekend...

A very nice Morris Minor van all the way from Oz...

Good to see SimplySpitfire's MK805 back on duty...

Miss Velma forced landing

Reports of Mustang TF-51D Miss Velma suffering engine failure and having to make an emergency landing in the field on the opposite side of the M11 while displaying at FL17. Pilot okay. Aircraft damaged and reports are her landing gear was down - image on Twitter shows her on her belly so not sounding good for levels of damage.

UPDATE: MV recovered back to H2 at Duxford via low loader and the A505 - photo online of her on her 'legs' outside the hangar - damaged wings, prop, airscoop, broken canopy - hopefully the landing gear got tucked up before impact. Wonder if the relatively flat field full of wheat acted as a 'cushion' reducing damage?

Sad news to hear on the 10th anniversary year of her arriving at Duxford after her trans Atlantic crossing. 
Not a good weekend for Mustangs that have flown over the "Pond"…

Hopefully the damage can be repaired soon and she can return to flight…

Credit: Paul Tolliday: Blue Sky Aerial Services

Hopes shattered...

I had been looking forward to seeing The Horsemen routine with the P-51B Berlin Express but sadly they cancelled their slot on Saturday due to the canopy on the P-51B shattering as Nick Grey flew her on a fast pass along the airfield.
Thankfully Nick landed and some damage resulted to the tail surfaces - the Malcolm Hood sadly ended up in a thousand pieces over the airfield.
After a journey of nearly 5000 nm across half of the US and large expanses of ocean without missing a beat, BE was due to be a highpoint for myself at FL17.
Hopefully I will be able to catch her in the air before she returns to Texas.

Flying Legends 2017 - Saturday

Some photos from todays air show…

Starting with the 357th Fighter Group 'pair' - Frenesi and Berlin Express

Couple more from today...

BE @ DX

On my way in today I stopped for a quick photo of Berlin Express on the ground - bumped into Rob Brindley (former Airshowbuzz member and one of the Virtual Horsemen) and had a catch up...

Later in the afternoon managed a look "behind the rope" at Frenesi…

Thanks Rob! 

Berlin Express passes by - nearly there...

On the 10th anniversary of the flight of Miss Velma over the "Pond", P-51B Berlin Express +1 passed by close enough to get some shots…

10 years of Warbirdskies

Ten years ago my first post was the arrival overhead of TF-51 Mustang "Miss Velma", flown by Ed Shipley after a Trans Atlantic crossing, as he covered the final miles to Duxford - Miss Velma - nearly there

Heading home...

Just managed to catch PA474 as she headed north, returning to base?

Apparently just an air test, as Flightradar24 showed her doing several circuits north of Cambridge before returning to Duxford…

Pt II

Rumbled overhead again this evening at about 1700hrs heading home...

Almost here...

A nice little video from the King Air support aircraft…

BIG CHILL: The Berlin Express is pressing forward across vast and wild distance... bound for a 4th of July touchdown on the hallowed grounds of Duxford. Keep following the journey. We've got more of this big globe to cover.

A post shared by Pursuit Aviation (@pursuit.aviation) on Jul 2, 2017 at 4:36pm PDT