Many hours of boredom, minutes of sheer terror...

Seeing the 'new' old wooden dispersal hut now in place at Headcorn, had me looking through the batch of photos kindly sent to me by the family of S/L John Niven DFC* of 602/322/485 Squadrons. 
One in particular features a very similar wooden hut with some members of the 602 (City Of Glasgow) RAuxAF taking it easy at Kenley in June 1942. 
S/L Paddy Finucane was CO at this point, sitting 4th from right, and a month after this photo was taken, he was lost over the Channel returning from sorties against German shipping off Ostend...

When the Aero Legends building is finished, it would be quite an evocative sight to have some well worn armchairs sat out in the sun, a brass/bronze "Scramble" bell hanging from the wall and Spitfires TD314 and NH341 sat within dashing distance...

21.X.17 :: Headcorn Aerodrome - Aero Legends

Took a trip down to Headcorn Aerodrome (formerly RAF Lashenden) to the "Sit-In" event, jointly arranged by "The Two Seat Spitfire Page" and Aero Legends, operators of Spitfire T9 NH341 "Elizabeth" and MkIX TD314 "St. George".
Interesting talk from Nick Oram about the history of NH341 and TD314 and some of the pilots who flew NH341 while she was with 411 Sqn RCAF. Flt Lt Anthony "Parky" Parkinson MBE was also on hand (having flown "St. George" down to Headcorn today) to do a Q&A session and share his experiences flying with the BBMF and The Red Arrows. 
The base for the event was Aero Legends newly acquired WW2 era wooden "dispersal/scramble" hut, obtained from the former RAF Bridgnorth station, and now in situ at Headcorn. Apart from a few finishing touches, once completed, the hut will provide a place for participants and visitors in the various flying packages to be briefed and relax. It certainly came in handy with the heavy downpours that were blowing through!
Unfortunately NH341 developed an oil leak due to a cracked sump and the engine has been removed a few days previously, so the winner of the "Fly-In-NH341" draw will have to wait until the 2018 season. It wasn't me... :o(
The event was well attended and even though the weather gods were doing their best with "Brian" heading towards Kent, the sun did shine for a good part of the day and for the Merlin engine run. 

16.IX.17 : Spitfire T9 PT462 H2N DX

Going to be an even more regular sight now...

Will be sad to see this space empty before long...

Fury squatting in MH434's usual spot...

Carolyn Grace retires/ML407 Supporters Group ends...

Having just returned from a few days away, I was saddened to open a letter from Carolyn Grace announcing that she has taken the hard decision to bring to an end the "Grace Spitfire Supporters Group", due partly to diminishing membership.
She has also decided to end her flying career - ML407 will of course continue to operate with Richard Grace at the 'stick'.
I've been glad to help support, in the little way I have, the operation of ML407 and hope she continues to grace the skies for many more years.
Enjoy your retirement Carolyn.

Another T9 for Duxford

Spitfire PT462 / G-CTIX has been sold to the Aircraft Restoration Company and is joining their fleet at Duxford.