VISITORSNone as such today, of course, but Gatwick's controllers were probably kept even busier than usual during the hours of daylight as countless light aircraft of all makes & vintage from virtually every airfield in the southeast of England took advantage of the glorious weather & the airport's closure to make approaches & stooge up & down Gatwick's runways. This included one mixed formation of fourteen aircraft, among them Tiger Moths, Stampes & Turbulents, from Headcorn. The oldest aircraft to make a flyby was undoubtedly Gipsy Moth G-ABYA (built in 1932), which made a late afternoon pass accompanied by Terrier G-ATDN (marked TW641). Someone else (I missed who it was) asked permission to do a barrel roll over the airfield! Flypasts were initially allowed no higher than 2,400 feet & not below 1,000 feet, but the lower limit was later reduced to 500 feet. Congratulations to the airport authority & to ATC for allowing so many people to indulge in this unique opportunity (unlike their counterparts at LHR who I gather were having none of it). Perhaps they could arrange a fly-in next!FLEET NEWS Air Via A320 LZ-MDT (2108) was ferried from Varna to Amman today for painting prior to delivery to Cyprus A/W. Cityline Swiss who are due to start a service to Gatwick on 2/6, are now believed to be intending to use MD-83 HB-LKW. While the pedigree of this aircraft is currently unknown, it is understood that it is still on the US register & a possible candidate must be N598BC (53232 ex I-DATP, HK-4399X, HK4399), which was ferried from storage at Victorville, CA to Istanbul over the period 9-11/4. It will probably turn out that my 2+2 makes anything but 4! EasyJet A320 G-EZTX (4286) made its first flight on 14/4 as F-WWIR & was ferried from Toulouse to Finkenwerder the same day. B737 G-EZJY (32420) was cancelled from the UK register yesterday & will presumably wend its way to THY as TC-JKT in due course.Flybe B462s G-JEAS (E2020) & G-MANS (E2088), at Exeter for scrapping, were cancelled from the UK register yesterday as permanently withdrawn from use.KD Avia B733 VP-BJW (23551) was ferried from Kiev/Borispol to Ostrava on 15/4 & will fly on to Kemble once UK airspace reopens.RAM B738 CN-ROZ (33071) made its first flight yesterday.Ryanair B738s EI-EMH (34974) & EI-EMI (34979) were both noted on the Renton flightline on 15/4. EI-EME (35029) made its first flight yesterday.Thomson A/W B752 G-OOBP (30394) was ferried from Munich to Eindhoven on 16/4 still as HB-IHS to be painted all white prior to delivery next month. Due back at Manchester early today after winter lease to Skyservice were the following:G-OOAT (1605) A320 still as C-GTDH from TorontoG-OOPP (1571) A320 still as C-GTDG from TorontoG-CPEU (29941) B752 still as C-FLEU from TorontoG-OOBB (32447) B752 still as C-GTBB from TorontoG-OOBH (29944) B752 still as C-FOBH from WinnipegG-OOOX (26158) B752 still as C-FLOX from WinnipegAs far as I can tell, the ones from Winnipeg may have made it back to Manchester, but the four from Toronto seem to have diverted to Keflavik (how ironic!) with, possibly, the Winnipeg two. Anyone able to confirm details, please?ROUTE NEWSNone today.MISCELLANEOUS ITEMSI wasn't going to bother with a roundup today due to the continued airspace closure, but with a fair bit of fleet news relating to Gatwick airlines beginning to pile up, it seemed worth a posting. Totally outside our area, but it may be of interest to some was that Lufthansa ferried five B744s & six A346s VFR at low-level below 15,000 feet from Munich to Frankfurt today in preparation for the airspace reopening. Air Berlin also flew A330 D-AERQ from Nuremberg to Hamburg at 12,000 feet. Unfortunately, it seems that the current situation may well last a few days more - let's hope that I am wrong. Very bad luck for our stranded list members, who include Neil Barnes (Athens), Pugwash (Lagos), Tony Howard, Steve & Alan (Charlotte) & Dave Broome (LAX) - best wishes to them in their quest to return home. Any more of our guys stuck overseas? DON'T FORGET THE GATWICK INTERNATIONAL AIRCRAFT ENTHUSIASTS FAIR (LGW2010) ON SUNDAY 25/4 AT K2 CRAWLEY FROM 10.00 TO 17.00. SEE YOU THERE! CREDITSDave Long, Mr Anon, Jethro, Skyliner, the Dormouse & anybody else that I have forgotten. Happy spotting! John (& my cat Mad Max)