Some shots from Old Warden yesterday.

Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:47 pm

And much to the delight of a visiting Sea Fury pilot from the US, who just happened to be passing Shuttleworth whilst holidaying in the UK with his family...

Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:55 pm

A very, very shiny Chipmunk, flown in tribute to the late Steve Young, Chippy fanatic and all-round good bloke.

The Lysander carrying out what I was reliably informed was something called a 'pylon turn', whatever that might be. Steve promised to educate me at Reno next month!

Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:45 pm

Great stuff Mike! You take some of the nicest dang photos...

Really like the Lizzie...

Fade to Black...

Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:05 pm

BlackWolf3945 wrote:Really like the Lizzie...

'cept next time you ought to remind them to remove the boading ladder prior to takeoff!

Tue Aug 09, 2005 12:02 pm

Excellent pictures!!

somewhat totally unrelated - why do British fighters have the "circle" stick rather than just a plain old "stick" grip. Also, opinion time for those who know - which is more comfortable to fly with?

Thanks,

Tom P.

Tue Aug 09, 2005 12:22 pm

Mike,

Excellent photo's. I especially like the Lysander photo's and the "Dirty" F-86. Outstanding, you certainly have access to some quality birds in the UK Sir !

Thank you for posting them.

Paul

Tue Aug 09, 2005 1:05 pm

wendovertom wrote:Excellent pictures!!

somewhat totally unrelated - why do British fighters have the "circle" stick rather than just a plain old "stick" grip. Also, opinion time for those who know - which is more comfortable to fly with?

Thanks,

Tom P.

I don't have a definitive answer to this, but it may be due to the fact that many British aircraft of the period had pneumatically-operatred wheel brakes controlled by a lever on the control column.

Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:02 pm

bdk wrote:
BlackWolf3945 wrote:Really like the Lizzie...
'cept next time you ought to remind them to remove the boading ladder prior to takeoff!

Actually, I believe the Special Duties Lysanders had this ladder installed as a permanent fixture for relatively quick and easy ingress/egress of the rear cockpit. Handy for those night-time clandestine ops behind enemy lines...

Fade to Black...

Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:37 pm

BlackWolf3945 wrote:Actually, I believe the Special Duties Lysanders had this ladder installed as a permanent fixture for relatively quick and easy ingress/egress of the rear cockpit. Handy for those night-time clandestine ops behind enemy lines...

Indeed that was the case BlackWolf.

If you look at the rungs, you will see that they are wrapped in luminous tape. This was to aid the agents being picked up to climb in during night-time without the aid of torches when the Lysanders were flying clandestine operations.