Queen's Birthday Flypast

[ffutures]

The weather was crap and only the WW2 vintage planes came towards my house at an angle that gave me more than a second to take the picture. I missed all the jets completely, since they were below the treeline and I only saw glimpses, but I think that these make up for it. I haven't done anything to sharpen them up etc., but given the conditions (raining and me balanced on a chair at an attic window) I don't think they're too bad.





According to the site for this display that formation from front to back is:

Spitfire, Lancaster, Spitfire
Hurricane, Spitfire, Hurricane

There should have been a Dakota too, don't know what happened to that.



No aeronefs though...

Tomorrow the Falklands anniversary flypast and hopefully better weather. No restored Vulcan bomber, unfortunately, it hasn't passed its airworthiness tests as I understand it.

Later My guess as to the routes taken by today's planes - not very sure of the jets, may have been a bit further North:







This was presumably done to get the slow stuff out of the way of the jets ASAP. If they do this for the Falklands flypast too I might get some helicopters overhead, maybe a Hercules or something. I think that the planes may have been banking for a more westerly heading as they passed over my house.

Comments

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Those are pretty impressive!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's just a shame it was raining - started about a minute before the first planes appeared.

[w00hoo.livejournal.com]

Hmm, judging by that map we'll be under the flight path and just round the corner from you tomorrow. We have to go to a hotel next to Bayswater tube for a final kilt fitting...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Keep your eyes open around 4.45 onwards

Formation (16:45hrs local):

3 x Royal Navy Sea King Mk6
4 x Royal Navy Sea King Mk4
1 x RAF Sea King (Yellow)
5 x Royal Navy Lynx
3 x Royal Navy Merlin
5 x AAC? (Lynx/apache)
1 x Chinook

At 1650 local - the fixed wing
5 x Dominies
2 x Hercules
5 x Typhoons
2x Hawks VC10 2x Hawks (2 RN and 2 RAF)
Nimrod
Red Arrows in a normal V formation

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Those are quite spiffy!

[sharikkamur.livejournal.com]

That's a shame about the Vulcan - I've always had a soft spot for them.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I just wish they were clearer - between their speed, the rain and the lighting (the sun was pretty much above them although you couldn't see it through the clouds) it was difficult to get a good picture. Today things will hopefully be a little more favourable - assuming that they come as far North as they did yesterday, of course.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's not a permanent thing, it's just taken longer than expected to put the funding together and actually rebuild it. It ought to be flying in a year or two.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

but the rain and lighting gives them a certain atmosphere, almost like a real war photo.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

The last one, incidentally, isn't really dark cloud - it's the window frame getting in the way, but you probably sussed that one.