Great stuff Paul , made my second trip to Berlin this year to see the Berlin air show & will go again for the 2010 show uksubs, I treated myself to a day out alone at the airshow and really enjoyed the experience. (Have to say, not as good as my day's out at Duxford!) I spoke to the crew of the Chinook and was surprised to hear that the cost of the trip and accommodation was all paid for by Boeing and not by the MOD! Regards Tom
Me too, as I have been reading about it since its inception and it was nice to see it eventually materialise. Regards Tom
I used to love going to the Farnborough Airshow every two years. But the best one was at Biggin Hill. Before all the health and safety stuff they used to have a dogfight over the airfield with BoB music playing out of the PA system. There's a valley off to the left at Biggin Hill and the Spitfire used to dive into the valley and for about 5 seconds dropped out of view and then it would shoot out of the valley across the runway and do a V roll at the other end. Nothing like the sight and sound of a Spitfire to stir the cockles Cheers
If anyone has access to the book, Me 262 Stormbird Rising, by Hugh Morgan, chapter 12 has a great write up on the German Aircraft Engineer Herbert Tischler, who after the war emigrated to the USA and became involved in renovation of old aircraft and even back-construction of old planes. He was chosen, by Stephen Snyder, an extremely wealthy man, to build the planes that you see flying now. It all started from the Me 262 twin seat conversion White 35, taken to the USA after the war and ending up decaying at Willow Grove Airstation in Pennsylvania. The plane was striped down and used as a template to build the new parts. The engines were going to represent a problem as the originals were underpowered and only lasted a few hours before overhaul or replacement. It was therefore felt prudent to use a jet engine proven over the years and it was the General Electric J85 that was chosen to power the new 262's with a casting of the original motor around the J85 and fitting exactly in the engine nacels, exactly as the original when the access doors are opened. Lots of problems over the years and a relocation after the job was handed to others to complete. The happy end is that there are now several 262's available for people to see at airshows. Whats more the plane really looks great even today. Regards Tom
For those who are interested in the Me 262 Project the Stormbirds website is a must. The whole story from start to finish. Nice to see how the Plane was built. Superb workmanship. STORMBIRDS.COM - Luftwaffe Resources Lots to read up on and other projects too. Regards Tom
Its a beautiful plane, good job the Germans were not able to put it into mass production earlier our lads would have had a problem......that bugger had 4 cannon i the nose nicely grouped and easy to aim............ On the downside the ME109 G10 had a leg fold on it on landing.....luckily the pilot was ok Thats the Blenheim Mosquito several spits and hurricane and Black6 & now this further 109 lost or grounded......... YouTube - Raw Video: Crash Landing at German Air Show