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As with so much about the Revival Meeting, only superlatives can be said about the flying displays which happen at various times each day, usually between the various races and parades that happen on the track. Due to the fact that, being a motor race meeting and with crowds lining the outside of the track, this creates a very different situation for the pilots when compared to a ‘normal’ air show. Flying is only allowed to take place when there is no racing and if there are delays due to incidents on track then unfortunately the flying can suffer somewhat. This in fact happened on the Sunday afternoon this year when firstly the 80th Birthday Tribute to Stirling Moss overran its time and then various cars decided to take to the boondocks in the following race leading to the traditional warbird mass take off and airfield beat up being scrubbed. However, this must not detract from what is always a feast for any aviation nut. Meanwhile, at the Goodwood Flying Club, the outside area had been provided with some classic vehicles including Bugatti and Bentley, along with re-enactors to give a flavour of what RAF Westhamphnett was like back in the dark days of WWII. Of course, all the staff had joined in the fun and were dressed in a variety of uniforms from the period whilst the ladies were in their floral finery. 2009 was indeed Merlin heaven with a total of 11 examples of Roll-Royce’s famous engine in the air. Spitfires were HAC’s Mk.Vb with Charlie Brown in the cockpit and OFMC’s Mk.IX flown by Lee Proudfoot. Mustangs were P-51D ‘Ferocious Frankie’ and TFC’s TF-51 flown by Alister Kay and Paul Bonhomme and representing the ‘other side’ was John Romain in the Hispano Buchon, a Spanish built Messerschmitt Bf109. The BBMF are always at their stunning best in the Goodwood setting and on Friday and Saturday brought along Lancaster PA474, Hurricane IIc LF363 flown by ‘Parky’ Parkinson and Soitfire Mk.IX MK356 flown by The Boss Sqn Ldr Al Pinner. An oft heard comment about the BBMF is the lack of topside passes but this is certainly not the case here with formation passes aplenty by all three and a tailchase routine by the fighters. Across the weekend there were various permutations of the Warbirds with at various times a brace of Spitfires, a pair of Mustangs and a wonderful tight four ship formation comprising all four. The Buchon was put through an excellent flowing display by John Romain on all three days. Following the disappointment of last year, Avro Vulcan XH558 finally made it to Goodwood and certainly made its presence felt. On Sunday in particular, this Cold War bomber thrilled the crowd with a series of low curving passes finishing off with a mighty and steep climbout, with plenty of opportunities to hear the infamous Vulcan howl. Sunset is always a bit special with the South Downs as a backdrop and in that glorious light, the Brooklands Vimy replica took to the air each day giving its final public displays in the capable hands of John Dodd and Clive Edwards. Mainly keeping within the tight confines of the airfield itself, the Vimy belied its somewhat aged design with some very tight turns in the still air. On hand to witnesss Sunday’s display was Peter McMillan the original founder of the project that led to the construction of the replica and it’s worldwide flights. FREDDIE MARCH SPIRIT OF AVIATION The Spirit of Aviation Concours event at the Revival was started in 2007 to bring together a collection of priceless examples of some of the best and in some cases unusual aircraft from the classic biplane days up to 1966. Fredie March, the grandfather of the current Earl of March, was no mean aviator and also designed his own aircraft in the 1920s and it is as a tribute to him that the Spirit of Aviation now takes place at the Revival each year. The full entry list is given below and as can be seen, includes one or two very rare machines as well as some from manufacturers that are still with us today. Worthy of special mention were Brooklands Museum who had brought along their Bleriot XI replica which was very appropriate in the year when the centenary of Bleriot’s Channel Crossing was celebrated, Nigel Pickard’s gorgeous Spartan Executive which is the second of these beautiful aircraft that he has brought over from America to his base at Sywell and the trio of Aeroncas of which the tiny C3 was in the original colours of the London Air Park Flying Club at Hanwell. By far the largest aircraft, by total wing area at least was the now world famous Vickers Vimy replica which graced the far end of the enclosure. The Vimy was making its final public display appearances each day, before retirement to the Brooklands Museum. It drew enthusiastic crowds all weekend to hear from the Museum staff about its exploits on its flights across the Atlantic, to Australia and to South Africa and a final flight recreation this year when it flew back to Ireland to the place where Alcock & Brown had originally landed. The judges of the concours this year were Sir Terence Conran, Chris Barrie who can currently be seen on TV presenting his Magnificent Machines series, Top Gear’s James May, newly crowned Red Bull Air Race World Champion Paul Bonhomme and Apollo astronaut and the 2nd man to walk on the Moon, Buss Aldrin. Buzz was flown in to the circuit aboard the Bell Iroquois (Huey) helicopter, though that wasn;t sufficient to get it into the top three in the judging! Sharing the runners-up places were Andrew Wood’s Cessna 195B and the previously mentioned Spartan Executive. Judged the overall winner was the much travelled Dornier built Bucker Jungmeister belonging to Mark Rijkse. ENTRIES: Aeronca C3 G-ADYS Aeronca 11A Chief G-BPRX Aeronca K Scout G-ONKA Alouette AH.2 XR379 AAC Historic Flight BA Swallow II G-AFGE Bell UH-1H Iroquois G-UHIH Bleriot XI G-LOTI Brooklands Musuem Bolkow Bo107 D-EFOE Bucker Jungmeister G-BVGP Cessna 195 N3064B De Havilland Hornet Moth G-ADKC De Havilland Tiger Moth G-AFGZ Douglas C-47 N147DC Fokker S11 Harvard KF729 Hutter H17 Glider NA Navion N8968H Nanchang CJ6A G-BVVG Nord 1002 Pinguin (Bf108) G-ETME Pilatus B4 Glider Piper L-4 Grasshopper N46779 Spartan Executive NC17615 Vickers Vimy N71MY Brooklands Westland Scout AH.1 XT626 AAC Historic Flight |