A special day, and not just one !

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12 years 11 months

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For those on this forum who, like myself and at least one other, so I understand; James May, like to dwell in the 1940s, yesterday was a good day.

I had to drive over to the Eastern side of Chichester harbour to a place called Itchenor. Itchenor is a small harbor packed full of a history primarily connected with ship and boat building from the age of sail. It is also home to many rather beautiful houses built in the Sussex farmhouse style.

Getting to Itchenor is straightforward. Drive South down the Wittering road from Chichester and turn off to the right where indicated. Along this mile long stretch of country lane, you will see on the right, a large cottage complete with a front garden full of every variety of hollyhocks that looks as if it has been planted there by a Disney/Mrs. Miniver combo !

We stopped and got out of the car the better to take it all in. The weather was perfect. Medium blue sky untainted by cloud. As if on cue there was a distant snarl below the tree line to the East and seconds later the almost obligatory Spitfire came into view, sauntering along, unhurried,

Everything that we could see and hear came together like a fragment of a novelists timeslip. The shimmering day, the Spitfire and the location, coalesced into almost an overload on the senses.

There were two further Spitfire sorties that day. Both flown at around 1500ft. and describing generously sized orbits over Langstone and Chichester harbors. No aerobatics, although one Spitfire coming head on to my vantage point, banked first right then left and repeated this as tho' giving the passenger more of a view of what was underneath the aircraft.

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12 years 11 months

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No Spitfire activity to report apart from one aircraft passing quite briefly from West to East on the afternoon of Thurs. last. I've made reference once before to the lack of GA traffic over this once very busy aerial crossroads on the South coast adjacent to the Isle of Wight.

We've had unrestricted sunshine and an absence of cloud for about the last four weeks. Flying conditions have been ideal and normally we'd see many aircraft passing along the usual routes. Not now. I'm wondering why. Last weekend, apart from the odd one here and there, few were to be seen. Thru' the week was quiet. with, I would guess, no more than about a dozen or so aircraft seen to be passing thru. Perhaps it was the lure of Wimbledon !

Is this I wonder just a continuation of the slow decline of GA ? To-day Sat. 14th is different. We've had what look like a pair of TIger Moths flying over in formation of right echelon accompanied by what looked like a Jodel. Then it dawned, Goodwood is in full spate. When these a/c had finished circling over Chichester harbour, they headed off in the direction of Chichester and Goodwood airfield. It is now five o'clock. This afternoon I watched a bit of cricket on our local green and thru the day saw no more than four, perhaps five fixed wing and two rotary pass in the overhead.

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12 years 11 months

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Not much Spitfire activity to report. Not much of anything in fact. The Goodwood Harvard - if it is that one - has been over on most days. Why does it remind me of that unloved relic of WW2 the Brewster Buffalo ? Hopefully, the repairs to the Mk9 are underway and it won't be long before we see once more her elegant silhouette cutting a swathe thru' the overhead.

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Unhappily, nothing of anything Supermarine to report. A day of excellent weather supported several sorties of the Harvard presumably from Goodwood. One sortie flown about 12.0 mid-day involved an intricate display of aerobatics with loops, rolls and Immelman turns in profusion. A sparkling display.

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A very pleasant day here at Langstone. High cirrus and not much of it coupled with a gentle breeze. At about 3.15pm heard the thrilling musical note of a powerful engine that around these parts usually means Spitfire. In the near distance at about 2000ft that familiar shape was briefly outlined against a cobalt blue sky.

Whether it was the Boultbee two seater at this distance I couldn't see. The aircraft disappeared towards the Wight .

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Another gorgeous day here on the South Coast. At about mid-day (12.0) There appeared a solitary Spitfire over Chichester Harbour. Appearing in the North East, the pilot put on a spirited and lively display of loops, rolls and turns off the top - all displayed at about 2,000ft and with gusto !

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Sharp clear day here on the coast. Gentle breeze, cloud few. scattered. At 1.40pm there came the euphonic rasp of a Merlin. Overhead where I live, at about 1200ft, came the unmistakeable silhouette of a Supermarine Spitfire travelling from East to West.

I was able to follow its flightpath over Portsmouth and finally lost it as it turned South over the Solent and disappeared. This the first Spitfire I've seen for about a month.

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Glory be ! Almost as I write. A rare sighting of a Spitfire on a very pleasant day weather wise. At around 1500ft. travelling at a leisurely pace, from the North East to the South West across Langstone Harbour.

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Flawless sky with negligible cloud over Chichester harbour to-day. At approximately 2.45pm. a single Spitfire hove into view travelling from West to East at a height of about 1500ft. It didn't hang around. One pass and it was gone.