Today was going to be a very good day, or at least that's what we had in mind
We started with a base visit at Cranwell, which should get us our last Dominie, the new Beeches and some Tutors.
RAF Cranwell
Beech 200, 45 (R) sq: ZK450/J, ZK451/K, ZK452/L, ZK453/M, Zk454/N, G-RAFD, G-RAFO, G-RAFP, G-RAFX
Dominie T.1, 55 (R) sq: XS709/M, XS711/L, XS712/A, XS713/C, XS727/D, XS728/E, XS730/H, XS731/J, XS737/K, XS739/F
Jetstream T.3, std: ZE438/76, ZE439/77, ZE441/79
Tutor (1 EFTS): G-BYUB, UE, UI, UP, UY, VA, VR, VS, WB, WF, WG, WL, WY, WZ, XM, XN, XZ,
XS710/O Dominie T.1 dump
XW353/3 Jet Provost T.5A pr, RAFC c/s
And it obviously was a success! We started with 45 squadron, where we got all of their aircraft almost immediately (especially nice for Hielko, since he didn't see a single one of them until now....). RAFD and RAFX are Beech 200GT by the way, with a digital cockpit. When they decided they needed two more aircraft the RAF preferred the "old fashioned" 200 apparently, but couldn't get those anymore. So it became two GT's instead. Once a student has started on one of both subtypes he (or she) stays on that type! Next stop was 55 squadron, and although we got many aircraft our target XS709 was still missing. Even not in the hangars, so I started worrying a little bit. But it turned out there was one more Dominie present, being thoroughly washed, and you guessed it: our last one! A nice surprise were the three stored former Navy Jetstreams. We needed 441, which had escaped us during our spotting career so far. We had had a base visit at Yeovilton two years ago, but at that time it was stored at Shawbury. And, of course, when we had our tours at Shawbury it had returned to service! I had heard they were to be withdrawn in september, so we were already sure we were not going to get it with our coming visit to Yeovilton either. But here it was, waiting for our cameras
Only disappointment (apart from the grey weather) was that the instructional airframes were out of bounds due to a course going on. Well, reason to come back one day I guess.
Ok, enough talk, back to aircraft.
Cranwell Aviation Heritage Centre (53º 00' 55" N, 0º 28' 42" W)
(XE946) Vampire T.11 pr, pod, no mks
XP556/B Jet Provost T.4 pr, RAFC c/s
This heritage centre is only half a mile away from the airfield, and well worth a visit. The JP is outside, and can (just) be seen when the centre is closed, but for the Vampire you really need access.
Next target were Typhoons, but via a quick stop again.
Old Manor Farm, Anwick (53º 02' 32" N, 0º 20' 17" W)
(542477) L-21B (G-SCUB, ex KLu R-157)
The two hangars/sheds were closed, and the farm lady didn't have a key. We could just see a Cub inside, and she confirmed the former Dutch one was in that hangar indeed. But for our own conscience we should come back here one day I guess.....
RAF Coningsby
Typhoon, 3 sq: ZJ921/QO-H, ZJ922/QO-C, ZJ927/QO-M, ZJ936/QO-S
Typhoon, 11 sq: ZJ811/DZ, (ZJ933)/DF, ZJ942/DH
Typhoon, 17 (R) sq: ZJ912/AB, ZJ930/AA
Typhoon, 29 (R) sq: (ZJ800)/BC, ZJ803/BA, ZJ805/BD, ZJ808/BG, ZJ812/BK, ZJ813/BL, ZJ911/BZ
ZK451/K Beech 200 45 (R) sq
ZK452/L Beech 200 45 (R) sq
XR753/XI Lightning F.6 pr, 11 sq mks
(XT891/P) Phantom FGR.2 pr (228 OCU mks)
XW924/G Harrier GR.3 pr, 9 sq mks
ZE760/AP Tornado F.3 pr (229 OCU mks)
The Typhoons were very active, and even with two visits to Warton in the past we made 4 new ones. No activity with 41 squadron though....
I always wanted to visit New York, and now it finally happened
Whaley Farm, New York (53º 03' 49.30" N, 0º 08' 44.50" W)
XS416/DU Lightning T.5 std, LTF mks
ZA361 Tornado GR.1 std, fuselage, no mks
G-TCUB NE-2 (L-4J) (ex BuNo 29684)
Also present were the wings of Tornado F.3 ZE294. The two jets are visible from outside; you'll see them through the trees when you approach the farm.
And then we went looking for the third Lightning of the day.
Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre, Tattershall Thorpe (53º 07' 13.50" N, 0º 11' 03" W)
XM192/K Lightning F.1A pr, 111 sq mks
This one is preserved outside. They should also have a Tiger Moth under restoration here, but that's inside and since the centre is closed after the summer.....
We had planned to work our way up north from here, but this morning we forgot to take a look at Barkston Heath, just south of Cranwell. Stupid, especially since Frank and I didn't stop here during our 2005 trip either....
RAF Barkston Heath (52º 58' 09.80" N, 0º 33' 01.60" W)
WT3(39) Canberra B(I).8 dump, wreck
This is dumped on the east side of the airfield, and you can get rather close via a small road here. There were also some Firefly's outside and active, but I do consider those civil
With this gap finally filled we did start our journey north.
Cottage Farm, Bloxholm (53º 03' 10.90" N, 0º 25' 29.90" W)
G-ALBJ Auster AOP.5 (ex TW501)
After some initial surprise that we came to see their Auster the couple that owned it got rather enthousiastic about our visit. First they showed it to us, then pushed it outside, then decided to start her up. The husband asked me to join him in the cockpit, and then did a fast run on the grass strip as well. Finally he applied so much power, with the brakes applied, that the tail lifted of the ground. Very, very nice!! He reassured me that he wasn't really going to take off, but to be honost I wouldn't have minded.....
It used to be owned by the husbands father, and apparently is the longest-owned-by-a-single-family-aircraft in the UK.
And further north we went, but via another detour. One of our party (no, I'm not gonna tell you who it was
) really regretted that he didn't graph the preserved JP at Cranwell, so we went back there first. This nrought us to the same spot for the third time today.....RAF Waddington
ZH102/02 Sentry AEW.1 8/23 sq
ZH104/04 Sentry AEW.1 8/23 sq
ZH105/05 Sentry AEW.1 8/23 sq
ZJ690 Sentinel R.1 5 sq
XM607 Vulcan B.2 pr, no mks
My last Sentry at last! Too bad the Sentinel was not new, but those should be around for some time I guess! We didn't see the preserved Phantom and Lightning by the way. By looking at Google Earth now I presume the Phantom will be visible from outside; anybody for info on the Lightning? It was getting dark by now, and we had an appointment in Hull (or more precisely Swanland). But there was one more stop to be made....
Kirton in Lindsey (53º 27' 29" N, 0º 34' 54" W)
G-DEXA Viking T.1 (ex ZE534)
It was totally dark by now, but the gate of the airfield was still open and we drove up to the hangars. A few gliders were outside, but obviously not the one we were looking for (thank you Murphy!). However with the aid of a flash light and some cracks in the doors we did get what we wanted after all. A nice ending of this day!
After this we drove on to Swanland, where we met up with Mike and his family. We had a nice evening, with old pictures, beers and Chinese food (in no partucular order); thanks again for the hospitality!
We had booked a hotel near York, and when we finally left Mike's place to go there we briefly tried to see the Puma that should still be stored next to the diving lake at North cave. Unfortunately it was too dark for this. Is the id confirmed as XW234 by now by the way?
And that was another day gone. Tomorrow, after only a short night, we were going to start with some helicopters.
As always corrections, additions and comments are very welcome.
That´s all folks!
Hielko Overeem, Frank Mink & Patrick Dirksen
Tristar Aviation