BluBear

Unfortunately not. Well I saw unfortunately... but to me the Red Lion isn't all that appealing now. With that bloody great monstrosity of a hotel in the back garden and now they are extending the pub itself, it's lost it's charm IMHO. We did however find a good curry house and order some tasty fish and chips to eat in the beer garden of a student pub! Commute to the show was simples, straight in both days after about 20-30 mins drive.

From the horses mouth! The video in the first link may only be available to UK viewers. This video from Meridian news Rob Davies said: "As I broke to land, the no2 a/c broke too early and turned in tight so he couldn't see me any more. He hit me with his wing damaging my a/c and his own." He added: "My a/c was crippled in pitch...it had no pitch control" Also from the BBC:

Here's my take on things chaps... Fenrir and I grew up with this aircraft practically on our doorstep, and it really was gut-wrenching seeing it all unfold in front of our very eyes. Can I just add at this point that the pilot and former owner of this Mustang is a chap called Rob Davies, who is considered one of the most experienced '51 drivers in the world. He had nearly 15 years of safe flying in that very aircraft, frequently flying to and from work in it (he worked in the aerospace industry) and a regular at airshows across Europe. Now, with that in mind I'm guessing Rob would've needed a pretty big reason to part company with his steed and join the caterpillar club... It is clear in the videos that the Skyraider's wing impacts the rear underside of the Mustang fuselage, just behind the radiator doghouse and if you look at the attatched cutaway drawing you will notice this is exactly where the control cables run for the tail surfaces. My bet is that after impact he very soon realises, when his stick isn't doing what it's supposed to, that the aircraft is irrecoverable and performs the following actions to initiate 'Operation self-preservation!' Firstly, by popping the canopy irregardless, then if you look at some of the close ups it appears there is maybe 15degrees of flap applied, this could be to try and maintain/gain (if possible) some altitute whilst steering a course away from the airfield. Then, without a minute to spare, he climbs out and hits the silk, to our absolute relief. It was a sickening thing to watch, but glad that the outcome was positive with no loss of life. The AAIB will of course release the findings in their investigation in due course, but from what I saw, and have since seen, to me it looks as the though unfortunately the number 2 in the flight has lost sight of his leader and the unthinkable has happened. It is also worth mentioning that Mr Davies is noted to be an authority in correct bail out procedures from a warbird, in particular the P-51. Big B, i'm gonna miss you!

Great pics and vids chaps! And what a bloody marvellous weekend it was!!! Really great to finally put faces to voices/names, feels like i've known you all for years. You're all mad, it's brilliant! The airshow in fact seemed like a bonus, here's to the DangerDogz!

Maturity?!! Oh, Don't forget a !!!!

Currently in a pub called the Empress, first things first- 12 pints of Spitfire please mr barman! Next... Time for pizza. ) Cracking day at DX, too much to mention in one post, expect thousands of pictures from Swep, Jabo, Crash... And everyone else!

So far we've had a trio of 109s (buchons), a gaggle of spitfires, a trio of skyraiders, the horsemen and other assorted mustangs, bearcat, corsair, b17, Lancaster... Plenty more to come! Oh, and a Dr1 at the moment for all the RofF fans We all wish the rest of the Dogz were here!

After a curry and alcohol fuelled night, the Dogz awaken to the sound of Merlins and Pratt and Whitneys and the sweet smell of burning oil. Hold on... We're not at Duxford yet... The sounds... They're in my head... In anticipation! The smells? Hmmm.... Well, Time for breakfast, to kickstart the day!!

The Flying Bulls have arrived! Check out the link to the blog in the first post. That is one stunning looking Lightning.

@ FT Sorry to be a pedant but that is the Nimrod II not the Fury along with the Hind and Demon. Three Kestrels all the same though @ Jabo That is the reason I don't post there anymore. Over the past few years it's got worse and worse! However, there are still a good few members who have a lot of interesting things to share, and for that reason I still 'lurk'.

Let me just get my anorak on... Ahem... There are two Nimrods at DX, a mk1 and a mk2. Now there is a Fury also. Just down the road at Old Warden you will find a Hind and a Demon. Hawker bi-planes FTW!

Hi guys, For those interested in seeing the build up to Flying Legends here are some places to start: This thread on the keypublishing forum The official TFC blog As of today (4th July) these are the notable happenings: Fighter Collection P-40F - Arrived today and is awaiting assembly, can't wait to see it! The Horsemen, arrival and assembly - Both Mustangs are now mostly assembled and looking sweeeet. Buchon (Spanish 109) and Night Fighter F4U-5 Corsair arrival from Germany. Hawker Fury (The ultra rare biplane!) assembled for the first time after 18 year restoration - unsure if it's going to be flying, but it'll be there all the same. :D :D :D I'm excited, can you tell??!!

That's the one mate. Hopefully with a bit of TLC (and a wad of cash!) she'll be up in no time.

First reported on the keypublishing forum: "A report in this morning from Ben Gilbert that SX336 made a wheels up landing at Bondues near Lille, France, yesteday 2nd July. Pilot is unhurt. Damage minimal and about as light as it can get in these circumstances. - Mark" Original Post Here This is a real shame, but glad to hear the pilot (believed to be Anna Walker) was unhurt. By the looks of the photos, the landing was absolutely text book and hopefully the aircraft will be repaired soon. This unique aircraft is a regular to Duxford and would have been at Flying Legends next weekend, so that is also a shame. The full landing sequence was captured on camera. The images can be seen here: Pictures

Great to hear you've completed another successful bombing run Jim! Hope to fly with you again soon. ~S~

To be honest i've got on ok with UP3 so far, it installed ok and in general runs ok. I do the same as Jabo, and have seperate installs for different versions of IL2 and this has worked out well for me. Currently I have UP3, 4.101 (ModAct) and good old UP2 just in case! (Plus a stock 4.101 vanilla) However, when it comes to playing co-ops I agree that we have to fly a version that is stable for everybody, and this last week has proved that not everyone is having such a smooth time of it. We have to remember that UP3 is still a release candidate and many of the bugs experienced are being worked on for the final release, whenever that may be! There does seem to be a lot bugs that are affecting mission building/conversions from 4.09, which is particularly worrying. I for one am willing to give the UP team the benefit of the doubt and continue to trial version 3, because I like what it has to offer. BUT, I absolutely agree that for the time being we should stick with what is best for the majority, and if that is 4.101, then so be it!

After cracking my ribs last Saturday in a cycling 'incident', I didn't feel up to doing much the following day. But as the weather was glorious, I headed down to the former Lashenden ALG to see what was happening and relax in the sun. See my pictures of the day in the gallery

Fantastic! Nice pictures, the smiles say it all! VWC have a beautiful collection of aircraft, and I like the fact that they often paint them in colour schemes relevant to the history of the aircraft or history of aviation in Canada. The Mustang in particular is refreshingly different to the usual 352nd, 357th FG colours...