Merlins over Malta

[Mike]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. Airnutz, yes, it was a Dutch F-16, and put on an excellent display. It was also good to see the B-1 being put through its paces - the final high-speed pass followed by a sharp pull-up and half-roll off the top must have rattled a few Maltese windows!



A few more of the 'Merlins'









And to finish, just for fun, taking the dogs for a walk Maltese style!

[DamienB]

...Note the black diamond with white outline on the tail - is it a unit marking or a disguised swastika?

We disguised it because of sensitivities to the swastika in France and Italy, through which we had to fly to get to Malta. We asked the show organiser in Malta if we could remove it but he voted for keeping it blacked out for the show as well, so blacked out it stayed. Minutes after that decision was made a local turned up in a Kubelwagen complete with swastika on the pennant!

I was one of the three 'bastards' who flew the 108 down to Malta for the show (the other two being the owners, one of whom - James Pittock - being also the display pilot) - we all had a cracking time and had a fabulously warm welcome from the locals despite turning up with black crosses on the aeroplane!

Enemy coast ahead!


Rolling in on our first target - Grand Harbour. A day after the Spit & Hurri did the same - no ack ack and no fighters - we caught the defenders napping!


Our bad-taste-Boche 'Messerschmitt over Malta' t-shirts went down a storm, so much so that we'll probably be making a few available to buy in the very near future. We were lucky enough to have a few veterans come and speak to us about the 108 (cue remarks along the lines of "last time I saw an aeroplane like this it was bombing me"), and it was really gratifying to see how much interest the 'bad guys' got.



The trip down took 2 and a half days - the trip back took 2 days due to some better luck with the weather once airborne, though we had to put back our departure a day because of thunderstorms over Malta and Southern Italy. That gave us a chance to visit the Malta Aviation Museum, which is a superb place - quite an eye opener. On the site of the former RAF Ta Kali, and many old buildings survive (in current use too for shops etc.) along with the main postwar runway (now a local road and car park).

Naturally we came back later on that day to beat the place up... the museum is top right, with an appreciative audience waving at us from the car park (darn fools, should have been in the shelter...)!