Place your Classic Fighters 2011 Photos Here

I was there for the Saturday. Really enjoyed it, and even took a few snaps myself.







These are only hand held point and shoot quality, but if you'd like to see more, the rest can be viewed on my blog at ardmorepilot.blogspot.com/2011/04/classic-fighters-airshow-part-1.html and ardmorepilot.blogspot.com/2011/04/classic-fighters-airshow-part-2.html

Love the shots from other members in this thread who camera equipment! ;D

Video of Al's Bristol Hercules engine running is now in his Bristol Freighter thread! Go my friends! Go! watch the awesomeness that is Al's engine running!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

If you feel like a change of pace, or some world class Aviation Heritage Centre action, here are a selection of pics as a taster.

It's a shame it was cloudy on your first visit, but nonetheless the best show I've seen so far. As for the centre, I can't wait to fly over again with the aero club.

That is Kermit Weeks DVa built here I believe .

Heres a few more

Don’t be surprised if I vanish suddenly but, luckily, it won’t be permanent.

Photobucket just sent me a nice email telling me that I am about to exceed my bandwidth. So there is a possibility that all my images will disappear shortly and be replaced with the Photobucket emblem until the third of May.

I assume that this has something to do with the photos I posted of the recent Airshow in New Zealand. They seem to be getting quite a few views.

Hopefully, service will be back to normal as interest in the photos wanes.

Of course, I can still post annoying sarcasm. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on that.

Wow, there are some awesome photos up here already - I'll add my few horrible pointandshoot's and a couple of stories, of which I have a few as I was there all three days. I didn't really get to put any more names to faces, but I did get to say Hi to Gavin, and I'm almost certain I got to see our fearless leader at some point during the weekend. I did see the engine-fire-up at the aeroclub on Sat... not sure who was there at that point...

Anyway, I got to Blenheim mid-Friday after a long bus trip, and arrived in time for most of the twilight show, which was just fantastic to see. Certainly something different!! I thought the Iroquois display looked really fantastic, with the pink! smoke lingering against the hills. I was a bit miffed that the Checkers display was a no-go, but one of the guys got grounded for a week on the Thursday, and Dad wasn't too keen to fly anyway, having caught the same bug.

Saturday was pretty sweet - arrived bright and early, and hoped that the weather would improve, because it was pretty cold - and stayed cold over the whole weekend! In fact, the weather gods were probably laughing, because while it was at best, overcast, and at worst, showery, it only rained after the show finished on Saturday, and before it started on Sunday - clearing just in time for the flying to begin!! Certainly would have been nicer if it had been blue skies, but, hey (better than Masterton!).

I sat in on the pilots briefings both days, and here's a photo.



And another:



Also, for parts of all the three days, I was lucky enough to sit out by the control tower, which was certainly a good place to watch the displays, with the notable exception of the WWI's, which had to be watched from the crowdline, right under the action, with the sound of the re-enactors. Those guys and gals certainly got that right! I've heard that the full WWI display takes between half-an-hour and 45 mins - and worth every single second!!

The WWII's and other displays were also for the most part, pretty good to watch. Richard Hood's Giles routine was pretty damned brilliant, especially the snap roll after takeoff, and I'm sure more than one person in that crowd was looking around for a guy with a remote control, because surely nobody is flying that thing! The Spitty displays were very nice - but I must say that I do prefer the Deere spit... Sean Perrett just lets the aircraft show itself off (same too, for Harvard 15) - very smooth and controlled, and that magical sound!! AL is now a 'proper' warbird with battlescars - takeoff requires a lot of right rudder, and a stone put a few nicks in the fabric. I didn't get a before-shot, but there! All fixed!






On the other hand some of the WWII's seemed to be an "I dare you to get lower than I can!" show - and no, I'm not going to name names, but one of the displays on Saturday was downright bloody scary with how low it got... actually lost sight of the aircraft at one point... yuk.

On Sunday, a certain Corsair pilot decided that, why not, let's make a point and buzz the tower. Thank you, Keith Skilling, for breaking my brain. Not once, but TWICE, he went overhead the tower at not-quite-legal-but-who-cares, wings streaming ectoplasm. There is nothing quite like being on the wrong end of a Corsair, which is diving right at you, and thinking 'dammit, he's got to pull up, or turn away or something', only to have a few ton of metal scream overhead so close you can see the rivets. I didn't get a photo, and am cursing that fact, but one of the fire-eys got a real cracker shot and I'm hoping to get a copy.

The Yaks and Harvards both put on good displays (but the checkers would have put them to shame [can you tell where my loyalties lie?]) and the Harvards low display was probably better than the normal one - much tighter and cleaner. I found the mock battle at the end of the show (which the Harvard guys were in) a bit confusing, but I liked the explosions! (who doesn't!)

The two DC-3's in formation was something truly special, and I really do hope to see that again. I got a couple of photos:





^ This one probably shows what the weather was like for most of the weekend!!

The ground stuff was also pretty neat, but not as good as some shows. The re-enactors were fantastic, please tell me there's a photo of the Churchill impersonator and his goggle-wearing dog somewhere!

One of the re-enactors on Sunday, just before the demise of the V-2 bravely ran away from the fighting, and came and hid near me. The kids nearby were fascinated by the gun, of course, and wanted to know if they were real bullets! He was quite happy to answer repeated questions until his side had almost lost - and then he had to run back into the fray and attack the admiral's car as he surveyed the battlefield. Our brave hero was then shot and clubbed by the nasty bad-guys. They helped him up later, so I suppose it's all good. :)

Seeing the V-2 go boom was fun - Camera had run out of juice by that point, but got one photo:




I hope everyone else there had a good time, and that those of you who weren't there aren't too jealous have enough photos to tide you over until next time!

Woah - long post is long!

I know its a bit off topic for an aviation based forum, but does anyone know anything or have a useful link to anything about the pzkfpw IV german tank that was trundling about the place? It looks & sounds very real for what I'm guessing is a replica. It sure looks better than the now rather tired looking Panther. I'd be keen to find out more about it.
Steve.