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16 FLYPAST May 2015

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NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

We salute you

Sqn Ldr Tom Carroll OBE DFC – Pathfi nder pilot who fl ew Avro Lancasters with

83 Squadron – died on February 21, aged 92; Sqn Ldr Gerry Cullen DFC – fl ew

Bristol Beaufi ghters with 144 Squadron – on February 7, aged 93; Gp Capt

John Gilbert CVO DFC – Flying Fortress pilot with 214 Squadron and later deputy

captain of the Queen’s Flight from 1966 to 1968 – on March 3, aged 93; Wg Cdr

Peter Henley – Lightning and Hercules squadron commander and later chief

test pilot with British Aerospace at Woodford – on March 2, aged 85; W/O Ron

Jennings – fl ew as radio operator with 619 Squadron from Dunholme Lodge

and Strubby – on February 20th, aged 92; Flt Lt Eric Jones DFC – Lancaster

pilot with 49 Squadron who fl ew ‘ops’ to Berlin on 11 occasions – on March 2,

aged 92; Gp Capt Peter Knapton OBE DFC – Hurricane and P–47 Thunderbolt pilot

with 134 and 213 Squadrons who fl ew in Russia, Burma and with the Desert

Air Force, later fl ying in the ‘Cold War’ – on March 1, aged 93; Sqn Ldr Lord

Mackie of Benshie DSO DFC – a navigator and bomb aimer with 148 Squadron in

the Middle East who later fl ew as a captain on Lancasters with 115 Squadron,

completing 75 ‘ops’ – on February 17, aged 95; Wg Cdr Bill McCrea DFC – fl ew

Lancasters with 57 Squadron – on February 8, aged 93; Sqn Ldr Ken Ruskell

MBE DFC – fl ew Lancasters with 50 Squadron, completing 30 ‘ops’ between June

1943 and February 1944 – in January, aged 92; Ft Lt Henry Stockings DFC – HP

Hampden pilot with 44 Squadron who ended the war as a PoW in Stalag Luft

III – on February 10, aged 98.

Classic Wings of Duxford is the latest company to offer experience fl ights in the back of a two-

seat Supermarine Spitfi re. The organisation already takes passengers on ‘Wing To Wing’ fl ights

• fl ying in a Dragon Rapide alongside a Spitfi re – but thanks to changes to CAA regulations it
  is now possible to actually fl y in a Spitfi re Tr.9. Customers will enjoy 30 minutes in the aircraft,
  around 20 of which will be in the air. Prices start at £2,995. For more details see: http://www.classic-
  wings.co.uk PHOTO-RICHARD PAVER–CLASSIC WINGS

Get airborne

in a Duxford Spitfi re

The fi rst major public event to be

held at Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire,

will be Flywheel, a festival of historic

aviation, motoring and militaria at the

well preserved World War Two bomber

base on June 20 and 21.

Demonstrations by classic aircraft,

plus military vehicles and historic

road and racing cars, will evoke

the spirit of the pre-jet era. With

no grandstands or crowd barriers,

aviation enthusiasts will be able to get

closer to the aircraft than is normally

possible. “The event will take the best

elements of airshows and historic

motoring to create something new, in

a very special location,” said Duncan

Wiltshire, boss of Flywheel organisers

Historic Promotions.

http://www.fl ywheelfestival.com

Historic festival

confi rmed for Bicester

DH Tiger Moths and a GP Sunbeam car at

Bicester. SOPHIE BOLESWORTH–BICESTER HERITAGE

Douglas AD-6 Skyraider N39606 is currently

for sale in California via Courtesy Aircraft.

Having fl own with the South Vietnamese Air

Force it was returned to the US in 1980 and

restored to fl y by Fighter Rebuilders of Chino

in 1989. Painted in a US Navy scheme, it is

believed to be one of only two AD-6 models

still fl ying. http://www.courtesyaircraft.com

Ninety-nine years of military aviation at

Wyton in Cambridgeshire ended on February

4 when seven RAF Grob Tutor trainers

took off from the airfi eld for the last time.

The Cambridge and London University Air

Squadrons and No.5 Air Experience Flight,

which use the Tutors for elementary fl ying

training, have relocated to nearby Wittering.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of York

visited Yorkshire Air Museum on February

19 to congratulate the YAM team on being

voted Top Specialist Attraction by readers

of Going Places travel magazine. Cllr Ian

Gillies and Mrs Pat Gillies are pictured at

Elvington with museum director Ian Reed.

COURTESY YAM

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