This was our second time at the show, but this year, the Jeep went in US markings rather than the RAF of last year. Saturday was the brighter of the two days, although the bright Sun did make for very contrasty pictures. There were four 'tanks' in attendance, a Sherman, Jackson, a Chaffee and Chaffee replica plus several more unusual vehicles. I set up in different spots each day along the road where the traders were located, near the tower.
Saturday May 25th was the first time the Mosquito made a full taxi in front of the public. It made an engine running appearance at the beginning of the month, but only rolled a few feet forwards.
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There were battles and firing demonstrations both days from the tanks and the Lancaster and Mosquito both made several taxi runs. During times when the airstrip was empty of tanks and Lancasters, there was a local group flying large R/C model aircraft. There was also music and dancing in the main hangar at various times during the day.
Over this weekend, the Mossie taxied several times around the large grass flying area. The BBMF Dakota gave a flypast on Saturday and a full display on Monday.
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One evening, most of the armour went for a drive around the airfield, escorted by troops on foot. There were a few civilian vehicles on display, along with several dioramas scattered between the museum buildings.
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Shortly after the Monday Dakota display, the sky darkened and at 15:00hrs, exactly as B-17 "Sally B" began to display, the Pacific Ocean dropped out of the sky onto the airfield. As a result, the B-17 shots are poor and several show heavy streaking from the rain. I got soaked.
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The Bedford/Queen Mary trailer was giving airfield tours across the weekend. On Sunday evening, I noticed that the near by Lancaster fuselage gave the impression of a fully loaded trailer.
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I managed to catch the Jackson and Chaffee firing again this year. Catching the flash from the barrel is almost impossible on my DSLR, especially when you don't know when the shot will be fired. Shooting video however, usually catches the flash on at least one video frame and a piece of astronomy software I have, can then split the video into single frames to extract the image I want.
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We stayed on site again on Monday evening, but instead of heading home on Tuesday, continued South for a holiday in Suffolk, since we were already so far down the country. Norfolk and Suffolk were of course home to the U.S. 8th Army Air Force and part of the holiday would involve exploring some airfields.
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