It looked a bit like this except for Buckingham palace in the background of course.I wish I had my camera with me but I didn't. Mind you it wouldn't have mattered because in the time it takes for my camera to turn on, start working and actually focus on anything the Lancaster would have either of been out of shot or too small to make out. Or I would have taken a photo of the floor like the last time I tried to take a photograph in a hurry with my digital.
The instant feedback that I get with my camera is wonderful the not so instantaneous response to the shutter button being pressed is not so good. I suppose it is because the camera is relatively cheap what I got in mega pixels when I bought it last September I lost in speed of response.
I like aircraft as you may be able to tell, I suppose it is partly in the blood my Grandfather worked on the team that designed the lights for Concorde. He had a chance to fly on Concorde on a test flight but he turned it down. Such as shame it would have made a wonderful story. I know aircraft are noisy create lots of pollution but they are beautiful machines when it flight, more lumbering when on the ground, all except Concorde I've seen it taxi-ing it always looked beautiful.
Edited 18/3/07 because the RAF changed their links
A few years ago I was minding my own business when I heard "the drone". I looked up to see a B-17 "Flying Fortress" escorted by 4 P-51 Mustangs. The planes were at a regional airport as part of a mobile history display. I wanted to see the planes on the gorund, but was unable to do so.
ReplyDeleteThe Lancaster, Spitfires, B-17, and P-51 won the air war in Europe.
Along with the Lancaster, the flight is comprised of one Spitfire and one Hurricane.
ReplyDeleteIf you take a closer look at the picture you can see that the two fighters are different - but I'll be damned if I can remember which is which.
I remeber when I was young (in the 80's in the U.S.) I lived underneath the flight path to a naval air station. I grew up watching all the sub hunters and navy jets landing. I used to see the craziest things landing sometimes. Once saw an old catalina see plane landing (I believe it was landing for an airshow) I used to love hearing the DC-3's flying over all the time too.
ReplyDeleteI once got to see the concorde fly over my house as it had to make an emergency landing in Boston. It was such an incredible looking jet. I was sad when the retired it.
Heath
pardon my misspellings in the above post. I know it's a sea plane and not a see plane!
ReplyDeleteI was up too early this morning!
Hi L I I too have seen a B-17 fly also a fantastic looking aircraft.
ReplyDeleteClarissa - Thanks for identifying the escorting aircraft. I had a quick look for what they were when I nabbed the pic but it didn't say, or I couldn't easily find it which is strange considering it's the RAF website.
Heath - Wow Sea Planes cool. Double Wow Concorde.
Not sure how much use "I'll be damned if I can remember which is which" is in identifying the escorting aircraft. :)
ReplyDeleteI got to see the flight when they passed over our home ground during the Southend Airshow earlier this year - along with a whole host of other planes from the years gone by.
My grandad was in bomber command during the war - a navigator on Halifax's (of which I sadly believe there to be no flying specimens left) - before moving to transport command after the war, being assigned to the second flight into Singapore when the war was over.