Vintage Warbirds

[Rupert]

Apologies for the self moment here, but its coming anyway :

When Dad died, there was talk there might be a Spitfire flyover. There wasn't of course, it was just old boy talk  
Also, there is a poppy field near (1/4 mile from the church) us that I  spells out WW1 from the air, so they do pop over that time of year.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2685056/In-BELPER-fields-poppies-blow-Stunning-aerial-shots-poppies-spelling-WW1-25-million-seeds-planted-Derbyshire-one-man-horse-killed-conflict.html

But he worked for Rolls Royce for 35 years, and so the sound of that Merlin engine runs through my blood too.

We also have the Dam Busters practice dam up the road, so get the Lancasters flying over.

Other special moments..

Being in the Station masters house at RAF Kinloss when the last Nimrod took off. Engines facing us...  Shook the whole house.
Watching Dad fly in a Tiger moth at Duxford when he was 75... he flew them in an earlier life.

Funny how these magnificent Machines touch us... thanks for starting this thread. Its a happy moment

[Travoli]

We've got this in our backyard, RC:  http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org/ww2-aircraft.html
Almost all are airworthy and flown. You can walk right up to all the planes in the hangars. The owner flies his P-51 over the beach often.
It's a great event venue, and I'm sure he writes the whole "hobby" off.

[Rupert]

cool!

[JasonD]

>Duxford

I used to live at the other end of the M11 to Duxford. It was a glorious place to go and see these amazing aircraft. It's been quite a few years since I was last there but this has reinvigorated me to go and visit - thanks.

[jetboy]

We live fairly close to Shuttleworth where they have regular air shows. On a drive home a few weeks ago, it was a lovely sight to see the last flying Avro Vulcan banking over our house.

[Rupert]

Vulcan... I know an ex pilot.... he has some stories!

That was an amazing plane.

[Brad]

>>Vulcan

One of the neatest looking planes ever.

Looks like they have added on to Duxford tremendously in the last 35 years.  When I was there it was pretty much just the original buildings. Makes it a much more all season/weather destination.

[littleman]

My wife took this snapshot of the A-12 on display at the California Science Center in LA.  The A-12 is basically the same plane as the SR-71 Blackbird, but it was made first and flown by the CIA.  This plane was the trainer version, the only one with dual cockpit.  That's one thing they changes, with the A-12s there was only one person being the pilot and also running the spy equipment, but the SR-71 had two people and split the duty.  The SR-71s had more equipment on them as well.  Apparently that made the A-12s a bit faster and able to fly higher, but made the SR-71s more practical.  These things are just awesome in person, if you are ever in LA go check it out.  You could walk right underneath the thing and see the titanium metal work -- unlike the SR-71s the A-12s were mostly left unpainted.

[rcjordan]

I like the WW2 art the best

http://i.imgur.com/Hm8LXKD.jpg