It's only been three weeks since my last entry but it feels like much longer! Plenty of water's passed under the bridge in that time with fascinating visits to both 29(R) Sqn at RAF Coningsby and then, last week, to 1 FTS at RAF Linton-on-Ouse where we could not have asked for a more complete tour.
The 29(R) Sqn piece, as you've doubtless already seen, is live on the site and, as Gareth cited in the text, it was great to walk into Squadron Ops and be greeted by so many faces familiar from the very privileged access I was granted by Wg Cdr John Sullivan, Officer Commanding 6 Sqn, during the (temporary) winding up of his squadron, which also saw the Sepecat Jaguar's service with the Royal Air Force draw to a close.
It hardly seems possible that more than two and a half years have passed since JS made that final landing at the then DCAE Cosford…
All being well we're going to break with tradition once again and bring you the first instalment of our Linton coverage this Friday, which will feature plenty of exclusive, unseen content regarding the 2010 RAF Tucano Display. We even managed to escape from our on-going weather hoodoo during the visit, experiencing almost perfect conditions throughout!
It was good to finally be in a position to push the brand new Dawlish Air Show website yesterday. I absolutely fell in love with the event in 2008 when I took my parents and Sammy down for the first time, so I was only too happy to pledge my support when asked to help out with the website.
It's such a different airshow venue and the atmosphere, both on the day and into the evening, makes it one not to miss. As I've said on record elsewhere, it would be a crying shame if all of Kev Wills and team's efforts to secure the show's future were in vain.
With the size of crowd that the show's racked up in recent years I find it very disappointing that such a small percentage actually put their hands in their pockets to give ANYTHING back in return. If every person present were to give just 25p it would make a huge difference to the viability of the event, and £1 would not only ensure the show's survival, but it'd also give Kev a real budget to go to war with to attract even more participation. It would be absolutely fantastic if all 1000 of the Friends of Dawlish Air Show packs could be sold - that alone would put £8000 into the kitty.
Already this week Gareth's been down to visit the RIAT team at Douglas Bader House to catch up on all the latest gossip ahead of the 2010 show. Tomorrow both he and I return to RAF Coningsby where the main focus will be on the BBMF's plans for this most significant of years for them.
Next week is free of visits, but the one after that promises to be manic as we're booked in at RAF Cranwell, RAF Northolt and then, for an entirely different flavour, at London-Stansted Airport! All good practice for when the airshow season gets into full swing!
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