CONNIE EDWARDS at OSHKOSH

I've just got back from Oshkosh and I have to say the hi-light of my week at OSHKOSH was the opportunity to meet and talk to Mr. Connie Edwards of the Battle of Britain Movie and warbird fame.

As  you many know Mr. Edwards was hired to fly the Buchon 109's and other warbirds in the Battle of Britain movie. The assignment was expected to take 9 weeks turned into a 9 month excercise buy that time the movie was low on funds to pay Connie so he took a unch of the 109's and Spitfires in lieu of payment. Connie said it cost him $49,000 in shipping costs.

More on Connie Edwards to come, enjoy your summer!  cheers - ken

Connie Edwards at the Battle of Britain filming

The Red Knight

The RCAF Red Knight is one of my favorite jet displays, I plan to do a full story later this year but I happen to find some old issues of the RCAF "Roundel" a magazine published by the RCAF from 1948 to 1965. This September 1961 issues features an article on the Red Knight that I must share. cheers -ken

A colour photo of the Red Knight.

Vintage Wings Canada Roundel Newsletter

VWC "The Roundel"

the old and new roundels

Today Vintage Wings Canada published their inaugural newsletter "The Roundel" as an effort to provide members, fans and the general public with regular and up to date information on their organisation and activities.



The first issue of  the Vintage Wings Roundel is in PDF format and can be downloaded or read on line. The newsletter gives a first Quarter activity update and provides details on upcoming events and flight operations.



The Roundel newsletter also updates the goals of Vintage Wings and in all is a wonderful update from this solid warbird organization. Older readers may recall the RCAF magazine from the 1960's was called the Roundel.

P-51 First Love .... Last Visit

USAF Lt. Huie Lamb returned to Duxford a few months ago to be reunited with his first love, a P-51 Mustang fighter named "Etta Jeanne II". At 90 years old this could be his last visit.

photo courtesy of American Airpower Museum


Arriving at Duxford on August of 1944 with the 78th Fighter Group, Huie Lamb was assigned a P-51D which named after his sister. Last week this 90 year old veteran returned to his old WWII base Duxford for the unveiling of his newly restored P-51 at the American Air Power Museum at Duxford.
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Huie Lamb 1944, photo courtesy of American Airpower Museum


This P-51D Mustang "Etta Jeanne II" is believed to be the world's oldest P-51 in existence.

Historic Me109 Up For Sale

Platinum Fighter Sales listed a very special Messerschmitt Me109 this week.

Adolf Galland during the 1940 Battle of Britain

This Hispano model of the famous German fighter is the last 109 from the Battle of Britain movie collection of Connie Edwards to be sold off, and what makes this 109 extra special is that former German fighter ace and commander Adolf Galland flew this 109 while consulting during the movie's filming.

Adolf Gallnd with RAF ace Robert Stanford Tuck and BOB film actors

Ex BoB movie 109's at Connie Edwards Hangar in Texas

Gerald Martin, Lefty Gardner, Connie Edwards & Lloyd Nolan during the BoB filming

Flying Legends Duxford - Viewing Pt 4.

Viewing  - Part 4 of 4 - The question most of us have at any big airshow is where to sit, airfields are big spaces and finding a good spot is hit and miss and you've spent a lot of cash to get here, maybe paid extra to sit in one of the special enclosures and you end up with this....

can't see a darn thing when every one stands up.

We were fortunate that we had been to the Duxford airfield from Tuesday to Friday and had a pretty good lay of the land. For Saturday's Flying Legends Air Show we sat in the Friends of The Fighter Collection or the Friends of Duxford enclosures, more on the enclosures later. On the way back from Saturday's show, we decided that we would go directly to get a spot on the fence line, which we did and a nice couple, Frances and George volunteered to look after our chairs so we could check out the vendors.  The photo below shows our great viewing spot, and the X on the map shows where we sat on Sunday.

George and Frances at Duxford Flying Legends

We saw that a lot of people had loosely tied their chairs to the fence to "reserve" their spot however with Frances & George's offer to look after our chairs we did not have to tie our chairs but we would have. As you can see from the photos it was a very good spot.

There is also one area that is quite popular with the photo guys, it's called the "berm" or the "Tank Bank", marked as berm on the earlier map. Pre-airshow days this spot is virtually empty - Dan is all by his lonesome, on airshow days the berm or tank bank is packed with fans with camers, the sound of automatic camera shutters drown out the Merlins.

Dan at the berm - tank bank Duford

Oshkosh Airventure - Camping Guide

Oshkosh Airventure - just go, camp at the airport if you can, it's the best. In 2007 I put together these short guides, hope they help. I'll have more posts on Oshkosh later on.

KPK Guide to Camping at Airventure Oshkosh
and
KPK Guide to Oshkosh Airventure

 

Flying Legends Air Show - just GO!

Everyone remembers their first time, as I write this post it's all I can think off. The past three posts were on getting to Duxford and the Flying Legends Airshow so if you are hedging about going to Flying Legends - JUST DO IT. 

Do a  google Flying Legends search and you will get a 100 posts saying how wonderful Flying Legends is, it's all true and more, so let's talk about on our 1st time at Flying Legends 2015.

Flying Legends Duxford - Shuttle Bus Pt. 3

Flying Legends Airshow Shuttle Bus - Part 3 of 4  - The Flying Legends Airshow is on Saturday and Sunday, and an airshow shuttle bus is provided from the Cambridge train station. We caught the first bus out at  8:30am, we were at the pickup location at 8:15am and there was a small lineup but we got on the 1st bus out to Flying Legends Duxford.

This the info on the shuttle bus via the Flying Legends web page.  "There is a free shuttle bus to IWM Duxford from Cambridge Rail Station via Trumpington Road - Park & Ride on Air Show Days only. A member of staff wearing IWM uniform will be able to direct you from the front of the station. The first bus is at 8.30am and there is a bus every 20-30 minutes until 1.30pm. There is a return service which starts at 3.00pm every 20 minutes up until 6.30pm although please check this information on the day."

Note that the pick up location may change as show on this from the Aviation Forum web site : "in many previous years I have used the shuttle bus from Cambridge Railway Station straight to Duxford for "Flying Legends" - always lots of punters queueing up. LAST year, I turned up at the usual place and time (8 am), only to find NO bus, and NO queue. Ended up having to share a taxi with a Dutch gentleman, who was also looking for the bus (the local plod having no clue).

Can anyone offer any idea as to a). Was there a change of arrangements last year, which I missed? and b). Will the shuttle bus run this year?  .... You are aware that the place that buses from the station leave from has moved around the corner and down the road some distance, since the redevelopment of the area? You might have been waiting in the wrong place last year. If in doubt, go to the Crown Plaza hotel ( a short walk), which is another stop the shuttle bus makes. Matt (Cambridge resident) ".

The airshow shuttle bus drops you off and pick you up at the front door of the IWM (Imperial War Museum). After the airshow ended we promptly walked to the pickup point. By the time we had got to that spot, there had to be over a hundred people in the queue with shuttle buses already loading. Expect a wait and have an alternate plan (like the train) should you miss the last shuttle bus to Cambridge.

We've made it, next few posts will talk on the FLying Legends Airshow and the IWM museum.

Jeff, Dan, Marc, Ken 

Flying Legends Duxford - UK Travel Pt. 2

Flying Legends Duxford - Part 2 of 4 - Getting to Cambridge & Duxford

There are many options to get to the Cambridge - Duxford area, bus, train, or taxi. We chose a taxi, since there were the four of us to share the fare, 

After existing UK LHR Customs, we easily found the Panther Taxi driver holding up a sign with our name. A short walk out to the airport parkade and in a few minutes we were on our way to Cambridge.

The bus or train to Cambridge would be fine too, there are buses direct from the airport to Cambridge. Taking the train would involve getting to the train station, probably via the tube ( subway), and we were discouraged to go on the tube as our luggage would have been extremely cumbersome on the subway and train. If I was lightly loaded, I'd try the train.

So after a  pleasant hour and a half cab ride with Panther Taxi  we were at the Earl of Derby Inn at Cambridge.

We did not rent a car, we are all glad we did not rent, the traffic is heavy and every one drives on the wrong side of the road............maybe next time.

Getting to Duxford Airfield - UK warbird mecca!

Duxford airport is 7 miles SSW of Cambridge, Duxford village is 1.5 miles from Duxford Airport, Whittlesford Parkway train station is 1.5 miles from the airfield. These distances are helpful if you are not getting drop off at the door and walking from the bus or train stop.

We planned to go to Duxford airfield - Imperial War Museum  - Flying Legends for four days and we ended up going there for six days and since the airshow shuttle buses only run on airshow days (Saturday and Sunday), we needed transportation to Duxford for the week days.

We decided on a weekly "Megarider" bus pass on Stagecoach Bus in Cambridge. 

We purchased the bus pass from the bus driver using cash though one should be able to buy the bus pass online.

There are Stagecoach buses that run to Duxford Airfield and  / or to Duxford village. The bus stop to Duxford was near the train station, if in doubt ask a bus drive at one of the stops - don't get on the wrong bus.

Bright and early on Tuesday morning we headed off to Duxford via the Stagecoach bus to scout things out at the airfield, we are so pumped for this big day. We asked the bus driver on getting to the Duxford airfield, he said we needed to transfer at Sawston village. We got off at Swaston and waited and waited and waited for the next bus, finally after a hour that Duxford airfield bus came, that bus took us to the airfield alright, but the stop was a fair distance away from the IWM front door, almost a km, oh well!

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bus transfer wait at Sawston

Our previous web searches had mentioned posts on walking from the Duxford village bus stop to the airfield, and that's what we did on subsequent days. We asked the bus driver to let us out on the last stop before turning into Duxford village and we walked to the air field.

The bus ride from Cambridge to Duxford village bus stop took ~ forty minutes, the ride is fun and winds through the country side, very senic.







The walk from the bus stop to the airfield is ~ brisk 30 minutes long, there is a foot path and the scenery beautiful, It was a great way to get our morning exercise in  If your bus driver is agreeable see if the bus will drop you off on the highway before the turn into Duxford village

On Friday, we got braver and decided to explore the train option. The closest train station to Duxford airfield is Whittlesford Parkway station. Here we are queued up to buy a round trip ticket, no problem, the ticket agent is very helpful. The Cambridge train station is a very busy place at rush hour, lots of travellers and commuters, be early and attentive.

train ticket

The route map seemed simple enough!  

Of course we almost missed our train by being on the wrong platform - if not sure on where to go ask someone, there are lots of "agents" to help on the platforms.

The train was great! In 10 minutes we were at the Whittlesford train station. We paid attention and got off at our stop.

waiting for the return train at Whittleford Parkway train station

Marc

An advantage to taking the trains is that walk is straight in to Duxford Airport.

Flying Legends Duxford Guide - Pt. 1

Initial Planning - Part 1 of 4 -  it's spring, the dates for the Flying Legends Airshow at Duxford have been posted on the web, it's usually the second  Saturday and Sunday of July, LETS GO!!!

Our Flying Legends Duxford guide is in four parts (1 to 4), initial planning, UK travel, airshow shuttle, and seeing the show.

Last year (2015) we attended Flying legends for our first time, it was memorable thus one must attend this magnificent event as often as possible!

These posts on the Flying legends Duxford are from personal experience and we also used other tips off the web that we have incorporated in our trip and are included. Our planning paid off and we had no travel snags. 

Feel free to post your questions, comments or other tips on this blog.



Flying Legends Web Site

The Plan - we decided on a 10 day trip, and lodging was first item to be taken care off. One always needs a comfortable place to bunk down for the evening after walking miles on the airfield. The summer is tourist season in the UK and places fill up fast so surf the web for hotels around Duxford and Cambridge.

We decided to base ourselves out of Cambridge and we booked our rooms the day after the Flying Legends dates were announced. We also decided we would go direct to Cambridge and not do any of standard tourist tromps in London. Our focus would be on the Flying Legends Airshow, the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, the Duxford Airport, the Eagle Pub  RAF bar in Cambridge and the John Barelycorn Pub in Duxford village.

The Earl of Derby Pub & Inn

Marc, the CSI in the group searched the web for the ideal hotel four us and settled on the Earl of Derby in Cambridge.

We also wanted a vintage hotel rather than an "Super 8" type of motel and the Earl looked the part, Marc made a very good choice. A 50% deposit at the time of the booking took care of the two rooms reservation.

The Earl of Derby staff treated us very well, the food and beer were great, the rooms were good, a/c did not work nor was the a/c required. The inn location is close to the train station and bus stops. If you decided on the Earl of Derby, be sure to ask for rooms in the attached annex, the annex is newer and away from the pub area.



The Earl of Derby with the annex to the right.

Second task was air tickets, as we all wanted to be on the same flight to London, we used a local travel agent to book our flights to ensure this, however one could probably do this on the web. We travelled on Delta, YWG to MSP, then MSP to LHR, flying into Gatwick (LGW) would be another option. A small perk to make up for the high summer air fares is that overseas flights offer free meals, beer and wine. I would advise to use the same airline for all flights if you have connections, if you book your connecting flight with an another airline which causes you to miss your overseas flight then airline problems arise.

The Delta crew was great, we flew economy with the optional leg room, the flight was long and noisy. Bring good earphones or ear plugs, a book on tape helped me sleep. We left at 10pm from MSP.
Third task was to order the Airshow Tickets, this was done online on the Flying Legends ticket page and the tickets arrived by mail in due time. We got the standard tickets and we this was fine for us.

Last pre-trip task was to book transportation from LHR to Cambridge. Since there were four of use we decided to book a taxi, a web search turned up recommendations for Panther Taxi.  The taxi booking for a mini-van was done on-line on the Panther Taxi web site and worked out great. Panther Taxi was good.

So here we are at the Winnipeg airport, raring to go, part 2 of our Flying Legends Duxford trip is on the next post.

ps: We'd be amiss if we did not not thank Thor Idor Laren at his website SpitfirePilots for providing us with very useful information of travelling to Duxford, it gave a us a planning start.



On to Part II  - Getting to Cambridge & Duxford

side note  - as we circled on our approach to London Heathrow, I had an "ah ha"moment, though I always known that the RAF aircraft camouflage was sand and spinach, I just accepted that it was that way, then seeing the English country side from the air for the first time,  I got it, this pic may explain it.