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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1092.PDF
8o FLIGHT JULY 15TH, 1948 '"I1" 11 Bi 4 SQUADRON A/R D/Wl: The Spitfires of No. 60/ (County of London) and No. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadrons, Gotw/ck ;'n " F/;ghts line astern." " Flight " phutoyrup i.p. passing over Ambitious Air Pageant Great Variety and Excellent Timing of Events NOT since the days of the Hendon R.A.F. displays hasthe public been treated to a flying spectacle of suchscope and variety as that staged by the Daily Expressat Gatwick last week-end. Unseasonable weather—dull, cold and with cloud ceiling little more than 1,500ft—failed to dis-courage either the performers or some sixty to seventy thou- sand people who travelled to Gatwick for the occasion. For those fortunate enough to see many of the importantflying meetings each year, in particular the S.B.A.C. Display, there were several new items on the long programme to addnovelty, while the great diversity of events catered for every individual taste. Praise is due in particular to the pilotsfrom each of the three Services for their really immaculate exhibitions, and to the organizers for a well arranged andexpertly timed programme. Although each event was worthy -of separate description, space permits little more than amention of outstanding turns. To open the main afternoon flying programme (during themorning spectators had seen A.A. gun drill, a W.R.A.F. Band, police dogs and light aircraft demonstrations by Duck,Proctor V, Fairey Junior, etc.) perfect formations of six Meteor 4s and six Vampires flew past, and these were followedby representative civil airliners: a B.E.A. Viking, K.L.M." DC-6; B.S.A.A. Tudor IV; Air France Languedoc; SkywaysYork; B.O.A.C. Solent; OUey Air Service Dove. Event 4 was grimly impressive. Lincolns are not intendedto fly in formation, but never have six of these sjfcedy " heavies " (in two close vies) swept over with a more purpose-ful appearance. Four Vampires were the first of the fighters after the fly-pastto demonstrate the very high standard of formation flying now achieved in the Services. Their aerobatics were unfor-tunately hindered by the low cloud. Later in the after- noon three Meteors also added another magnificent high-speedformation event, while a fourth, flown by F/L. Chambers, indulged in impres-sive individual aerobatics at very low level. S/L. Wootton, Capt. Tucker andF/L. Windle are noted for the forma- tion rolls, and it was a great disappoint-ment not to see an example from the Horsham St. Faith trio on this occasion.Everyone was glad to see Spitfires represented, and no fewer than twelve •/Mk. 16s, in the hands of expert Auxiliary : pilots, went through squadron drill,including in their repertoire not only an arrowhead formation but a new arrowwith '' feathered '' tail composed of a final vie. C.F.S. lived up to their traditionalhigh reputation with a skilful instructor- and-pupil act in two Tigers, which manypeople voted the most entertaining show of the day. Whirling-wing types were well repre-sented, and a Hoverfly 2, Westland : Sikorsky S.51 and Irvin Bell were eachput through their omnidirectional paces. The S.51 flew off in the direction of Fleet ^ WAIT FOR IT: Two photographs showing Michael Cain waiting to perform and performing his towline pick-up stunt.
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