North Weald Diary 2014

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Member for

17 years 10 months

Posts: 3,778

Thank you YR. I love the NW updates, I expect a Sea Fury will be arriving soon.

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 2,248

Hello,
Any sightings of SX336 getting ready to fly?
Thanks.

Profile picture for user 1batfastard

Member for

11 years 1 month

Posts: 3,650

Hi All,
Many thanks again to all you snappers excellent photographs as always and I repeat what I put in the Duxford thread if we had to pay for your work we would owe you a lot of money (Or words to that effect :D):eagerness:

Geoff.

Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

Great to come back to all the terrific pictures here and in the Duxford thread!! A big thank you to all, as Geoff says above. Greatly appreciated!;)

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 933

Saturday 16 August

Sorry for the recent lack of updates, the weather and my roster has taken its toll. Nevertheless we had an interesting time on Saturday.

Two of the Gnats went off to display at Eastbourne. We also had a special guest to see them off – Squadron Leader Henry Prince, who was the original Red 7 with Ray Hanna as lead. On their return the Gnats performed low level missed approaches and go arounds with smoke on to replicate Ray Hanna's famous low pass in a Gnat. He was really interesting to talk to and had lots of great stories to tell. It was an honour to have one of the pilots on the Airfield who helped to lay the foundations for one of the world's greatest aerobatic teams.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/GnatTakeOff1-1000_zps617d58d3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/GnatTakeOff2-1000_zpsd4105230.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/GnatTakeOff3-1000_zps4d2ab8e2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/GnatPass1-1000_zps347fdbac.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/GnatPass2-1000_zps870afb69.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/SLdrHenryPrince-1000_zps9af8f0eb.jpg

As icing on the cake, the two Lancaster gave us a fly-by on their way to display at the Old Warden Flying Proms. What an amazing sight and sound!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/Lancasters1-1000_zps869a62ce.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/Lancasters2-1000_zps359a32a3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/LancastersDramaticLight1-1000_zps54e95431.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/LancastersDramaticLight2-1000_zpse12796b6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/LancastersDramaticLight3-1000_zps986e1b3a.jpg

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 933

Sunday 17 August

On Sunday the Gnats were out again at Eastbourne, with a second singleton sortie to Sywell later. The ground crew has a busy weekend and did a great job.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/WaitingtoStart-1000_zpsd029f20b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/Start-1000_zpsd5dd08ba.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/Taxi-1000_zpsad768f97.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/GnatTakeOff-1000_zps6c468772.jpg

The Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron's Vampire FB52 arrived later, and will be staying with us for a while. The Norwegians are always very welcome at North Weald, and a single seat Vampire especially so!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/VampireLand1-1000_zps29b30134.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/VampireLand2-1000_zps55484f12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/VampireTaxi1-1000_zps5941c4cd.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/VampireTaxi2-1000_zpsad0abfd4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/VampireandGnat-1000_zps66bb1a8a.jpg

Member for

16 years 5 months

Posts: 5,998

Nice update and piccies. Good to see the Norwegian Vampire back again, I still remember the brave but highly professional display it and it's T.55 stablemate put on in absolutely atrocious weather at Duxford a year or two ago.

Rob

Member for

20 years 6 months

Posts: 7,017

Superb update and me jealous :D blooming absolutely ,thank you.

Member for

12 years

Posts: 151

Very nice photos and thanks for the update. It is great to see the activity at North Weald and those Gnats look fantastic. Will the Vampire be displaying during its stay?

Lobster

Member for

12 years 3 months

Posts: 299

1st class photos YakRider, keep them coming. Great to see the Gnats so active and I just love the one of the Lancs heading into the clouds.

Member for

14 years 10 months

Posts: 556

In the first pic in post #207, in the background are those "spare" Gnat wings/parts or a future project??

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 933

They have wings and a couple of fuselages as spares.

Member for

14 years 10 months

Posts: 556

Thanks for the clarification,,, spares are a good thing to have.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,208

Do they still have the airframe that made an off-airport wheels-up landing a few years back?

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 933

They had it for a while, but has been sold on a while ago.

Member for

14 years

Posts: 4,996

Great photos. Nice to see close -ups of aircraft we saw at Eastbourne on Saturday.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 933

Saturday 30 August

The Hunter T7 was out on Saturday, displaying at Shoreham. Andy Hill was flying it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterTaxi1-1000_zps37715f72.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterTaxi2-1000_zps3daceecb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterTakeOff1-1000_zpsb156c593.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterTakeOff2-1000_zps7f660afb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterPass-1000_zps5fb91a29.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterLand-1000_zps48b0beea.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterParachute1-1000_zpsd8fa4e5d.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterParachute2-1000_zps77bd7e92.jpg

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 933

Sunday 31 August

The Hunter was displayed at Shoreham on Sunday by Chris Heames.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterTakeOff1-1000_zpseece9807.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterTakeOff2-1000_zpsc8611574.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterTakeOff3-1000_zpscea3b215.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/HunterLand-1000_zpsa5dc0c92.jpg

The C-47 'Drag-em-Oot' gave us a nice low pass on its way back from Shoreham too. This was appropriate, as Band of Brothers was partly filmed at North Weald. This coming Sunday is our Community Day, and we will be having a special display about Band of Brothers with the Transport Command Memorial Dajkota restoration project as a backdrop.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/DakotaPass1-1000_zps2fb772cb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/DakotaPass2-1000_zpsb18df3d4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/DakotaPass3-1000_zpsa3189d52.jpg

The Hangar 11 Spitfire PRXI also returned after a weekend at Shoreham. I helped to put it away along with a couple of enthusiasts from Belgium who were visiting the Airfield. They were fascinated that it had served operationally in Belgium in 1945.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/SpitfireTaxi-1000_zps4422662d.jpg

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

Nice pics - particularly the "clean" Hunter shot.

Member for

20 years

Posts: 1,628

Crikey, the Hunter gets off quicker than my Airtourer. I always worry about the trees at the end of 20. Excellent pictures though.