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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1330.PDF
66 THE R.A.F. DISPLAY Brilliant Revival : A Command Variety Show Seen by 200,000 Illustrated with " F.tght" Photographs With the Royal Air Force Standard flying in the foreground, Vampires of Nos. 601 and 604 squadrons are seen at air-drill. Other formation pictures of the fly-past appear on pages 76 and 77. RECALLING highlights of the pre-war Royal Air ForceDisplays, an article in Flight last week was entitled' Memories of Hendon. With the spectacular and inspiring 1950 Display fresh in our minds we may now hope that there will be many such memories of Farnborough. The Display has been brilliantly revived, but its future rests with the Air Council. It is for them to assess public opinion of the event, to balance effort and expenditure against tangible results. Two things seem evident: that the speed %f present aircraft, which ordinarily demands a large manoeuvring area, does not prevent the R.A.F. from giving the public full value for its money ; and that the Service, contracted though it may be, is well-trained, effi- cient and of good heart. Estimates vary, but certainly 200,000 people must haveseen the Display. Many of the younger visitors were, perhaps, potential recruits, for on Wednesday of last week some 30,000schoolchildren and cadets watched a dress rehearsal for the Display proper, which was staged on Friday and Saturday.On the Wednesday, weather was very unfavourable, but few items were omitted. Nevertheless, it was decided to hold afinal rehearsal on Thursday. Since the clouds, bringing a steady drizzle, came even lower on that day, accurate timingof the programme and prospects of fine weather were nothing more than pious hopes. Friday's brilliant sunshine, though delayed in its arrivaland occasionally dimmed by fluffy cumulus, was all the more welcome. Their Majesties The King and Queen, and a crowdof about 70,000, watched the event; on the Saturday even better weather prevailed and attendance went past the 100,000mark. The morning, on each occasion, was devoted mainly toground events. Most impressive were the massed bands which swung tunefully along the runways. The R.A.F. Central Band,the \V.R.A.F., various commands, Halton apprentices and the FLIGHT, 13 July 1950 A.T.C.—all were represented. Service teams—of both men andwomen—gave precise demonstrations of P.T., and the R.A.F. Regiment showed proficiency with 3m mortars. Three SlingsbySedbergh two-seat training gliders, piloted by supervised cadets, gave the A.T.C. its own part in the flying programme. It must be admitted, however, that the bands and P.T.teams, the drill-squads and the police dogs, performing out in the centre of the airfield arena, appeared small to manyeyes. The R.A.F. could be seen at closer quarters in the static exhibitions. Here were many sides of Service activity—operational, training, domestic and recreational. In one corner small boys sprayed visitors with imaginary shells framthe two 20-mm guns of a B-17 turret. The static park con- tained over 70 aircraft, from Meteors and Vampires to an S.E.5and Fokker D.7—ex-enemies of another age parked side-by- side. In this section, however, the predominant colour wasthe silver finish of today's R.A.F. aircraft; the machines of the late war and the inter-war years were, we felt, inade-quately represented. Aerobatics "on request" proved to be one of the mostpopular items on the programme. Members of the public were able to select, and request by R/T., evolutions to be performedby two Merlin-powered Balliol trainers. The comsiands were (Below, left) A section of Saturday's vast crowd, with a corner of the static park visible in the distance. A rocket-firing Vampire (below) pulls away from the strong- point, while a " dam- aged " armoured car waits for the repair squad.
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