Duxford :: 14/4/14

A sneak peek at the new livery for the IWMs latest rafter rat?

44-63620, P-51D, 83 FS 78FG, HL-C, Lt. John A Kirk 3rd.
"Small Boy Here"?

Or are the Hangar Humourista playing around with the local snaparazzi?…

And a couple of snaps from around the site…

Buchon G-AWHE/C-4K-31

TFC Bearcat

TFC Wildcat

TFC Harvard

Auster 5 in desert scheme...

Rumour has it Miss Velma has lost it's US registration...

Duxford :: 9/4/14 :: A short movie...

Caught Spitfire MkI P9374 as she taxied out for a late afternoon 'sortie'…

HD version

Duxford :: 9/4/14 :: Last minute snaps...

Trundled over to the South Side for a quick post work sortie and caught a bit of aircraft movement as a result…

 North American T-6 Texan SNJ-5 3072 taxis in...

Mk Ia  N3200 

Me 108/Nord 1002 taxis out...

Spitfires Mk I/a N3200 & P9374

Spitfire Mk I P9374

Now, have I got everything?...

My Garden :: 1/4/14

The regular visit of AAC Apaches to Duxford is often reported on by others, but this crew obviously felt sorry for me today and spent a few minutes circling my 'base' - cheers lads!

Duxford :: 19/3/14

Took the opportunity, on the way in today, to grab a couple of photos of the P-40 before it was finally boxed up and sent on its way, back the good 'ol US of A!!!

With her wings adrift, and a crane to lift...

...Old P-40 "284", lies helpless on the floor,
Back into the box, soon she'll go,
Ne'er more to display at a Duxford air show...

And at long last….

Duxford :: 12/3/14 (Soon be Christmas…)

Popped in to renew my DAS membership and managed a quick photo tour of the hangar on the way out…

BBD looking a damn sight less beautiful - must be a bit hard to slap paint stripper onto a perfectly good paint scheme…

The F-15 was getting the "pink treatment" too….

Meanwhile the "Shacklefax" is coming on nicely…

…or is it a "Halifleton"?

Trying out the 9-18mm lens in The Bacofoil Building Airspace…

Lancaster, TSR2 and Vulcan...

Duxford :: 5/3/14

As I missed out on the "local flypast" by SM845, thought I'd double up on the silverware!

Airspace - VN485

"Area 51" - SM845

Meanwhile, repairs to the roof of Airspace continue...

What was that? :: 4/3/14

So I'm sat in my living room, just after noon, and hear the sound of an aircraft approaching overhead. Not the usual signature roar of a Merlin or other recognisable warbirdy piston, so no rush out the door to catch a glimpse.
So imagine my disappointment when I did finally get off my arse and look outside, to catch a sight of what I assume was a silver Spitfire at a fairly low level.

The dog and neighbours were probably wondering why I was shouting about oar fixings…

Was it SM845?...

Duxford :: 26/2/14

First real chance I have had to have a wander around post storm closures, and self imposed exile from "The Mess" (also known as taking in my own nosebag!), due to the current serving system of order then wait 10 to 15 minutes for your meal to be made...
Site now back open again since the second bout of Airspace roof peeling - I didn't venture into AS but stuck my head into H3 & H5 for a quick look.

(Images shot on Olympus OM-D EM-5 with Olympus Zuiko 9-18 f4.0 lens)

H5 - BBD being stripped back to bare metal. Seems a shame after the work done previously...

H5 - A Cold War warrior in from the cold?

H5 - engine seized? Chop the props then...

H5 - parts of the Shack are spread around the site like the 'foil' from the roof of Airspace...

VC10

Bldg 66 - tail of AB910 progressing slowly - soon to be mated to the rest of the fuselage. See 15/11/13 post re this aircraft.

H3 - "Ferocious Frankie"

H3 - Good 'ol Buccaneer...

H3 - Once proud bird of the Royal Navy, Hunting subs in the deep blue sea....

H3 - lots of pics of this when it was 'revealed' - sadly I was busy in Bldg 4...

H3 - trying out low angle with the wide angle...

A rather sad sight - slowly being stripped down for "storage" in H5, but exiled to the jet pan to make room for the quilt show... Ah hem....

2014 :: DX Lockdown....

Seeing as IWM Duxford is in "Damage/Litigation Control Mode" after a section of the roof of Airspace got peeled back like the top of a tin of Spam, here are a few (hopefully) unpublished photos, in no particular order,  from my perambulations around during 2013...

Salamander...

Must to due a relief soon...

Bit spooky seeing the smoke rising from the pipe.

Someone "famous/wealthy" getting a jolly...
...again.

Post icon

25/12/13

Duxford :: 11/12/13

Tucked away at the back of H2 - soon to be broken down and packed for shipping?...

The other P-40...

Meanwhile outside...

Crate for #284....

Yet another shipping container looks likely to be parked outside Hangar 2 at Duxford...

"Robert Collings, executive director of the Stow, Mass.-based Collings Foundation, said that the purchase of the Curtiss P-40B Warhawk from an aviation museum in England was completed this week. The plane will be disassembled and shipped to the United States, where it eventually will fly over Buffalo and other cities, with plans to participate in the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack in 2016, he said."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/12/06/rare-pearl-harbor-warplane-returning/qhgv60p7HIOSfRIRDDrVVM/story.html


Maybe a rebranding to "The Container Collection" is imminent?...

Duxford :: 4/12/13

Quiet day on the airfield as I pottered around after a bite to eat.

A brief look at the exposed girders in H2(N)...