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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0686.PDF
686 Whitsun in Retrospect HUCKNALL ROLLS.. • given to the splendid vision afforded by the Minijet's cockpit.Two green Very lights now signalled the glider to cast off from its tug. Mr. F. Breeze, of the Derby Gliding Club, in theGull which he built himself, started with a spin, followed by a very tight loop, then another loop, and a stall turn. Thermalsfrom the runway made height-retention relatively simple for Mr. Breeze, who ended a satisfying display with two tight turns,landing right in front of the public enclosure and exactly alongside For artillery spotting by No. 664 Air.O.P. Squadron, R.Aux.A.F., an Auster 6 was flown by the Squadron's CO., Maj. A. R. Robertson, who took off and spotted for the 25- pounder guns. Their target was three heavy trucks, and the spotting aircraft flew low until the pilot was ready to gather information for the gunners. He then climbed to about 500ft, descended to about 250ft, and signalled range and, subsequently, corrections, until the gunners got their range and stopped the trucks. _ , , Three Shackletons of 204 Squadron, Coastal Command, then flew over, and a majestic sight they were. After the first fly- past they separated, and the first aircraft did a low, fast run, the second came over with the two starboard engines stopped, whilst the third demonstrated a slow run with wheels and flaps down and bomb doors open. The three trucks just mentioned now did duty as targets torflour-bag bombing by three Austers of the Leicestershire Aero Club, flown by Messrs. Coltman, True and Riga. Meanwhile,Meteor 8s of 504 Squadron were running up, and after radio checks and wind speed information from the tower they taxiedout for their formation aerobatics. After taking off, they formed up in two boxes of four with an odd man out. The soloist FLIGHT, 1 June 1956 started with a loop and a fast run. He made a circuit and camein from the opposite direction. A half-roll was followed by a tight turn, which was repeated as the others came over in arrow-head formation. The single aircraft then returned with a climb- ing turn and vertical half-roll and a neat loop. As he made a fastrun over the crowd, the formations came back in two echelon groups, then broke up to make individual fast runs—onemachine inverted, and the others breaking away to port and starboard to complete a very exciting display. An Auster J4 was then demonstrated for its manoeuvrabilityand handling qualities by Mr. Riga (an ex-Luftwaffe pilot), now assistant C.F.I, at Leicester. Meanwhile the U.S.A.F. Sky-blazers, led by Capt. James S. Reynolds, were waiting to start their act, and a very fine one it was. The F-86Fs arrived in lineastern and, as usual, leaving their trails behind them. They gave the crowd "the lot," changing formation on the top of theirloops, doing most of their aerobatics in a very tight diamond formation; a beautiful barrel roll in this formation was followedby another for which they changed to echelon starboard, then changing back to diamond as they went through another perfectroll. Their display ended with the famous "bomb burst and the four machines flying low over the runway from the four pointsof the compass. The afternoon was rounded off with another superb demonstra-tion, this time by the Hunter Mk 4 aerobatic team of No. 43 Squadron. Led by F/L. P. Bairsto, they started with a couple ofloops and a nice formation change from box to echelon starboard. Then followed another loop and formation change to box, atight turn round the airfield and change to line astern for a climbing roll. A few more changes of formation and, after animmaculate display, the Hunters released red smoke on the top of a roll before breaking up with each machine doing a separateroll In comparison with the Skyblazers their manoeuvres were, it seemed, slightly better positioned relative to the field andcrowd, but both formations were flown with immense panache, indicative of great skill and much hard work. IRELAND'S BIGGEST-YET AIR DISPLAY WHITSUN week-end saw an excellent two-day air displaystaged by the Aero Club of Ireland at Weston Aerodrome, some nine miles outside Dublin. It was the largest event of its kind ever to be held in the Republic and, with a varied and interesting programme, it drew crowds well over the 100,000 mark. _ . ... The opening item was a demonstration of an Aer Lingus Vis- count, showing the magnificent handling properties and high in- herent safety-factor of the Vickers-Armstrongs airliner. This was followed by a formation flight of the club's Tiger Moths, which maintained position remarkably well from start to finish despite somewhat adverse weather conditions, particularly on the second day. Aerobatics by individual club members and an interestingdemonstration of gliding ushered in the fifth and perhaps most polished and spectacular event of the programme. This was the15-minute turn by three Spitfire Trainers and a Provost of the Irish Air Corps. It was a'demonstration of considerable skill, thethree fighters going through the most intricate manoeuvres in perfect unison, and the trainer then proceeding to make low-levelaerobatics look almost easy. At the end of the Air Corps performance Rene Vincent took onin an Auster for a parachute jump, his departure being followed bv an incident involving the "theft" of a Tiger Moth by, to all appearances, a singularly unskilled pilot. When an arrest was eventually effected, the suspect was revealed as Capt. Darby Kennedy, the C.F.I., and the policeman as two club pilots. M Vincent then carried out his scheduled jump, using three 'chutes which he opened singly, detaching himself completely from each one before opening the next. On landing in the middle of the field he was greeted with warm applause from the appreciative crowd. , A roar now heralded the arrival of the Gloster Meteor sent by the Martin-Baker Co. to demonstrate low-level ejectum as earned out for the first time last September by S/L. J. S. Fifield. On this occasion a dummy was ejected from the aircraft, which was flown bv Capt. J. E. D. Scott, R.A. A large balloon provided by the Balloon Club of Holland then gave a tethered flight demonstration, which was followed by a beautifully smooth exhibition by Ranald Porteous, the Auster test pilot, in an Aiglet. „ The two remaining items were a mock attack on an enemystronghold, carried out in most realistic fashion, and mass aero- bactics, both items by club pilots. A noteworthy contributionwas made by Capt. Kennedy's 19-year-old daughter, Rosemary, who performed a twenty-turn flat spin from 4,000ft. Not-so-free balloon: an unusual item in the Irish programme was a captive- balloon ascent, contributed by the Balloon Club of Holland (Below) The time- honoured "Theft of a Tiger Moth," complete with police chase, never fails to entertain air-display crowds, and Weston's effort was no exception to the rule.
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