At Clacton On Sea Essex Air show event on a much nicer day 2 Part 2 August 23

David Fortune Clacton

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At Clacton On Sea Essex Air show event on a much nicer day 2 Part 2 August 23

https://youtu.be/7iCfg4qkOvk

Transcript

00:00They're absolutely in perfect choreograph, timing with one another, smoke trailing behind,

00:08diving down towards the sea and punching back out towards us, here on the beach, flying

00:14with absolute precision, doing a wonderful job for us today, the Firebirds.

00:31Soaring so high into the sky, you have to keep careful of your eyes as we're looking up now,

00:38the sun is beating down on us, look at the sun glistening on the canopies of these wonderful

00:44little aircraft, so manoeuvrable and Nigel and John doing a wonderful display for us

00:52again today, they love it, don't they?

00:55I'll tell you who else loves these aircraft, Ian, and that's the Americans, this is an

00:59American designed RV4 aircraft, over 10,000 of them have been built over the years and

01:06mostly kit builds, like build it yourself planes as well, which is quite incredible.

01:11They were originally developed as a single seat RV3, their normal cruising speed is about

01:17160 miles per hour, but these guys don't do normal, we don't want to do normal, so at

01:22the airshow we fly up to 200 miles per hour.

01:29Just a quick mention from Essex Police, because Spencer Jarrett, if you're listening, Spencer

01:35Jarrett, the police have something of yours on the Greensward, so Spencer Jarrett can

01:41make his way to the police van on the Greensward, you can be reunited with a lost item.

01:48And a quick hello as well, a shout out to Michael, John Redpath, it's his 15th birthday

01:54today, he's here with some black Crocs on apparently, so there we are, we found out

02:00what he's wearing.

02:01Thank you from Lily, Leon and Lizzie.

02:04Modified for their role as airshow performers, they've been fitted with smoke systems, wing

02:10tip pyrotechnics for the twilight displays and LED lights as well.

02:15They're not fitted with inverted fuel systems, so they have to maintain positive G-loading

02:20as much as possible.

02:22And that was a beautiful heart there from the Firebirds as they bank out over in the

02:28distance by the wind farm, what a beautiful display that was from Nigel Reid and John

02:33Dodd, and thanks to ground crew, Tom Everitt over at Great Oakley looking after the team

02:38as well.

02:39Ladies and gentlemen, the Firebirds display team.

02:44Radio Airshow.

02:50A few more people to mention here from the seafront, can you give a huge shout out.

02:55Listening on the Wildcat, Sam, you're really looking forward to this, aren't you?

02:59I'm really excited about this, I don't think I've seen the Wildcat display for quite some

03:03time.

03:04It's flown in from Duxford this afternoon, part of the fighter collection aircraft and

03:09we have a Grumman Wildcat FM2.

03:13This aircraft dates back to the US Navy from 1945.

03:18Let's see what she's got.

03:43Here we go.

04:13We've got the Wildcat showing us the underbelly of the aircraft, you can see the striped markings

04:40on the underside of the wings there.

04:43So it's a Grumman FM2, it was built in 1944 and the engine is a Wright Aeronautical Corp

04:52engine, R182056WA for the experts among you, and it has a Curtiss electric propeller.

05:02I'm loving the sound of the aircraft, the growl of the engine, it's very cat-like, isn't

05:07it, Ian?

05:09It certainly is, and a great addition to Clapton today.

05:14And those stripy wings really do stand out, if you're listening at home, yeah, you can

05:20really see the stripes on the wings of the Wildcat.

05:24And that noise, that roar, it is almost tiger-like, isn't it?

05:31It's very tiger-like, I'm loving this aircraft.

05:40And those stripes are very special, they've been put back on the aircraft, they're invasion

05:53stripes, to mark the 80th anniversary this year of D-Day.

06:09This Wildcat was put back on the aircraft, it's very tiger-like, isn't it, Ian?

06:38This Wildcat was built by General Motors Corporation, the Eastern Aircraft Division

06:43in New Jersey, U.S. Navy aircraft in 1945, and it entered service in July of that year.

06:52The Naval Air Station in Oregon, and the aircraft subsequently was struck off the U.S. Navy

06:58as early as 1946.

07:00It then went through a series of private owners all the way up to 1975, when it was placed

07:06on display at the Chennault Air Museum in California.

07:11And this is where it stayed until the early 90s, when it moved to Chino for a complete

07:16overhaul to airwear reconditioned by the Fighter Rebuilders.

07:21And this post-restoration flight took place in 1993.

07:26The aircraft was then acquired by the Fighter Collection at Duxford in the same year, and

07:33It currently wears the scheme of the Fleet Air Arm Wildcat when it was on board HMS Tracker

07:38in the 1940s.

07:52Centre of the crowd there, the Wildcat pulling up, almost roaring at us as he banks over

07:58and punches out towards the wind farm.

08:01And I stand corrected, it's not an oil rig, it's a boat on stilts way out to sea.

08:06Looking back on this this afternoon.

08:28I'm loving that roar as the Wildcat banks past his centre stage here on the beach, pointing

08:45out towards the pier.

08:47And the aircraft might have extreme performance and a huge amount of grunt in that engine,

08:51but it's being flown so beautifully and gracefully this afternoon by one of the most famous and

08:57well-respected pilots in the airshow circuit, Pete Kinsey, who learnt to fly at just 17

09:04years old and has been instructing and flying many, many years.

09:08He's flown helicopters, Boeing 737s, 757s, 767s.

09:14He was part of the British aerobatic team.

09:16He's flown many types of the Allied and German World War II fighters, and he is the pilot

09:22of choice for test flying new fighter aircraft once they're restored.

09:29Over 25,000 flying hours in his logbook.

09:34PK is the go-to test pilot, usually for the newly restored Spitfires.

09:41And whilst a rib with members of the police in front of us, keeping everybody safe.

09:48Well, they've put their blue lights on for us, look.

09:50Give us a little glimpse of the blue lights at the back.

09:54And this is the last pass for the Wildcat.

09:56So cameras ready as it flies past the commentary point, dipping each wing as it heads over

10:05towards the end of Clapton Pier now.

10:07What a beautiful display from a remarkable aircraft.

10:12And a victory roll over the pier on the way out.

10:16Thanks, PK.

10:17Safe back to Duxford.

10:18What a fantastic display.

10:20So just before we welcome a very important arrival to Clapton Airshow, let's see where

10:26Steve Scruton is on the Greensward.

10:29I've come right to the far end of the Greensward, Ian.

10:31I've come to the Toby Calvary.

10:33Because we have a gentleman here in Clapton today who has come from the other side of

10:37the world, from Australia, to see the Fairy Swordfish.

10:42Now, Sam is going to take you through the display.

10:45And I'll bring you some details about why we're calling this the Taranto Formation.

10:50But what a sight this is, Sam, right in front of us now.

10:54So thank you to Navy Wings for bringing these beautiful aircraft to us this afternoon.

11:00Leading the display at the front is the beautiful Fairy Swordfish.

11:05We believe it's the oldest surviving still-flying swordfish in the world.

11:09So that's leading the display.

11:11You can see just over towards the wind farm, the beautiful stripes on the top of the high

11:16wing there.

11:17And then to his right, we have the yellow aircraft, which is the Stinson Reliant.

11:22And to the left of the lead pilot, we have the Wasp helicopter.

11:27This is a fantastic demonstration of the Fleet Air Arm, which was served so importantly during

11:34World War II, and up to modern day in different aircraft as well, as an extremely competent

11:42and significant part of Royal Naval aviation history.

11:53So we call this part of the display the Taranto Formation.

11:58The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of the 11th to the 12th of November 1940,

12:05during the Second World War, between British naval forces under Admiral Andrew Cunningham

12:11and Italian naval forces.

12:13The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history,

12:19employing 21 Fairy Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious

12:27in the Mediterranean Sea.

12:29The attack struck the battle fleet of the Regia Marina at anchor in the harbour of Taranto,

12:35using aerial torpedoes despite the shallowness of the water.

12:39According to Admiral Cunningham, Taranto, on the night of the 11th to the 12th of November 1940,

12:46should be remembered forever as having shown once and for all that in the Fleet Air Arm,

12:52the Navy has its most devastating weapon.

12:57TARANTO BOMBERS

13:28TARANTO BOMBERS

13:37A little bit of a break for the display, the solo routine of the Fairy Swordfish.

13:42We're just momentarily left from the Stinson and the Wasp.

13:46They're just flying around to rejoin us later for their solo displays.

13:51And looking out towards the wind farm, we've got a wonderful view here from the centre of the beach

13:55of the huge biplane that it is, the Fairy Swordfish.

13:59We're so lucky to see this, we believe it's the oldest surviving airworthy Fairy Swordfish in the world.

14:06She first flew on Trafalgar Day on October 21st 1941 and was nicknamed Blackfish

14:14because she was built by Blackburn Aircraft at Sherbourne in Elmett

14:19and delivered to Litchfield in 1941 for overseas transport to Gibraltar.

14:25The aircraft is W5856, she served with the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet for a year.

14:32Little is known about her active service during the Mediterranean,

14:35but we know she was based on the north front of Gibraltar, carrying out patrols over the Straits.

14:41And you can see as you look out at the display, she's very gracefully and carefully flying along,

14:47very quiet, very softly, would be perfect for those sort of reconnaissance missions,

14:52gathering intelligence on patrols.

14:54And as the Swordfish flies out towards the pier, we're rejoined by the Stinson Reliant,

15:00the yellow aircraft, as she banks in front of us, in front of the wind farm,

15:05showing us the wonderful design of her wings.

15:09It's a very high-winged aircraft, very pretty looking.

15:13I've not actually seen the Stinson displayed before, I've only ever seen it on the ground.

15:22She was built in Detroit in 1943 and transferred to the Royal Navy.

15:29She's an American civil aircraft and first actually appeared all the way back in 1933.

15:35And now we're joined by the Wasp helicopter.

15:38This is a utility light helicopter and it was originally based, it's design, off the Army Scout helicopter

15:46and then evolved into the Wasp, which then served with the Royal Navy with the Fleet Air Arm.

15:52It looks a little bit like a Wasp with its aileron wheels hanging down below the aircraft.

16:00It's banking up almost to the vertical there, the propeller high up in the sky,

16:05and just twirling around the top, pointing back out towards the wind farm,

16:10showing its incredible manoeuvrability.

16:13You can just imagine if you're out at sea on a Royal Navy ship and the Wasp coming in to land.

16:19It had to be so agile and those pilots needed incredible skill to be able to land at sea.

16:35This Wasp helicopter was actually built in 1964 and she was part of a naval air squadron for training.

16:48And based on several different ships, but most prominently HMS Aurora.

16:54The design that she has on the aircraft, if you look closely, has red crosses painted on.

16:59And that's because she also served in the Falklands on HMS Heckler in a casualty evacuation role.

17:20And as the Wasp flies towards the Jaywick end of the beach,

17:23you can see the kind of quadricycle undercarriage hanging below.

17:27Very Wasp-like looking.

17:29She's got full castering.

17:43And the Wasp helicopter is flying facing towards the beach, flying sideways along,

17:49giving us a wave, a little waggle of the rotor tail there as she pivots around.

17:56The pilot can see you, so do give them a big wave.

18:00Nose punching down towards the sea.

18:03An incredible, capable helicopter.

18:05A five-seat helicopter that was used for transporting crew around when on active service for the Royal Navy.

18:14Now that gave me a little flashback to the Harrier days,

18:17when we used to have the Harrier here at Clapton that would hover in front of the commentary point and move sideways.

18:22And we're getting a little taste of that now.

18:26That looks incredible, doesn't it? Wouldn't you love to be in that?

18:29Oh, I'd love to have a go.

18:37Dipping its nose to the crowd here in Clapton,

18:43almost like a salute really as the Wasp heads off now to the right.

18:48We can still see the other two aircraft in this Toronto formation now over the wind farm.

18:54One thing that we're not seeing this year is the barges.

18:57Because of the windy conditions, sadly,

18:59the barges that normally bring thousands of passengers from all over Essex to watch the air show from the water,

19:05weren't able to make it today.

19:07There's a few light boaty craft out there,

19:10but nothing like we normally see on a sunny day like this.

19:15The Wasp is pulling up there.

19:18Steep sort of angular climb, almost hovering momentarily.

19:22Tailwater just twiddling round towards the beach,

19:25banking down back towards the sea.

19:28Flown very capably this afternoon by Tim de la Fosse.

19:32He served as a Sea King pilot with the fleet air arm and the reserves from the early 80s right through to 2001.

19:39And he was aircraft carrier based for the first tour flying on HMS Illustrious.

19:46After his naval career, he then joined an airline and flies Boeings, of course,

19:53as many of our display pilots do.

19:55He's flown for many different airlines.

19:57But apart from flying the Wasp and the Navy Wings, his historic flight,

20:01he also enjoys flying the Grop Shooter as an RAF reservist.

20:05And he owns his own de Havilland Chipmunk as well.

20:10I bet that's a lot of fun.

20:15Yes, just as Wasps were involved in numerous operations,

20:19most famously scoring hits on the Argentinian submarine Santa Fe,

20:23preventing her from submerging and being a threat to the British task force.

20:28Now, as we look out to sea, we now witness approaching us

20:34the other two members of this wonderful formation.

20:38The Fairy Swordfish, so recognisable by its biplane look.

20:45And I think we're now going to get a closer look.

20:49It's their turn for the limelight, isn't it, Sam?

20:52Absolutely. So you can see the yellow aircraft banking to the right towards Javowick Beach.

20:59And then to the left, we've got the Fairy Swordfish pointing towards the pier.

21:03A really lovely view here of the markings of the aircraft as she banks by.

21:20So the Stinson Reliance heading towards us on the beach,

21:23a yellow aircraft pointing directly to the beach,

21:26banking her wings over towards the pier in a gentle manoeuvre there.

21:33The Stinson Reliance is a high-winged aircraft, as you can see.

21:36She's a monoplane with seating for up to four passengers.

21:40She's extremely versatile with good performance

21:43and an unwavering solid feel when you fly them,

21:46which is ideally suited for communication and training roles.

21:55Quite a graceful demonstration at the moment.

21:58Top speed of 135 miles an hour, the Stinson,

22:02with a range of 850 miles.

22:06So that's pretty nifty. You can get around nicely in that, couldn't you?

22:29Go! Go! Go!

22:36This aircraft type was employed extensively by the Fleet Air Arm between 1943 and 1946,

22:43mainly for navigational training and as a communications aircraft for their second-line units.

22:49Most of those aircraft were actually retired to the USA after the war

22:53and became civil registered.

22:58Go! Go! Go!

23:09His mother told him someday you will be a man

23:12and you will be the leader of a big old band.

23:15Many people coming from miles around

23:18will hear you play your music when the sun goes down.

23:21Maybe someday your name will be in lights saying,

23:25Go! Go! Go!

23:28Go! Go! Go!

23:31Go! Go! Go!

23:34Go! Go! Go!

23:38Go! Go! Go!

23:44So we have a wonderful view of this bright yellow Stinson-reliant aircraft here

23:49from the centre of Clacton Beach,

23:51flown this afternoon by Navy Wings Chief Pilot Andrew Mum Davies.

23:56Now, despite picking up an unfortunate nickname of Mum,

23:59he embarked on flying operations in Melbourne

24:04and was actually involved in over 250 landings on board an aircraft.

24:10He was part of the Royal Australian Navy from the late 70s

24:14and given his Navy Wings in 1979.

24:18He flies many different aircraft

24:20and also, of course, is another one of our aerobatic pilots

24:23that flies this time with Virgin Atlantic Airways

24:26and he also enjoys flying.

24:48Looping the loop and you find the ground

24:52Stand tall, right beneath the sky

24:56If it's a penny, then I'm the king

25:00Well, I'm now standing with a very special guest here at Clacton Airshow today.

25:06His name is Jonathan Hearn

25:08and he's come from a town about four hours north of Sydney in Australia

25:15to be with us today to watch this very aircraft.

25:20I'm not going to interrupt his filming.

25:22He's holding his camera into the sky to record this moment.

25:26Jonathan, tell us why you wanted to come halfway around the world to watch this.

25:31Well, my dad flew these off-aircraft carriers at the beginning of World War II

25:37and it's just one of those moments.

25:40We have static swordfish in Australia

25:44and it's just brilliant and I'm just blown away.

25:48Thank you, Clacton, on sea for putting on the great weather.

25:51Magic.

25:52Yeah, his history is pretty amazing.

25:55He survived World War II.

25:58He crash-landed in Norway.

26:00Was a POW for four years

26:03and thanks to Seaford Charlie,

26:07which was his plane's number, call sign,

26:12I'm here.

26:13We're all here, so thank you very much.

26:16Wow, and you've got your Navy Wings swordfish T-shirt on today.

26:20How do you feel watching this,

26:23knowing this is just the sort of plane that your dad was in?

26:27I think it's just amazing.

26:28It's only, what, 80-odd years ago

26:30and now we've got amazing aircraft,

26:34supersonic with space stations

26:38and it's just, he couldn't even imagine this,

26:41but he lived long enough to see a lot of it

26:44and the pioneers, the engineers, the designers of these planes,

26:48wow, amazing.

26:50Did he talk to you much about his experiences in the swordfish?

26:54Not until later in life, like a lot of service persons do,

26:58but thank heavens he left us a book of his story before he's died

27:03and if there's anybody here today that'd like to have a look through it

27:07or my dad's logbook, I'm on table 16

27:10and if you want to walk past and have a look through it, you're most welcome.

27:14Jonathan, I'm going to let you savour this moment.

27:17It was so disappointing that it didn't happen yesterday,

27:20but you're going to be taking some very special memories back to Australia, aren't you?

27:24Absolutely. Thank you, Ian. All the best.

27:27Jonathan Hearn, who's come from Australia to be with us today

27:31to watch this amazing aircraft

27:35and it's just so graceful, Sam, isn't it?

27:37I mean, we're now with the very best possible view

27:41overlooking the swordfish just making a very...

28:06We had about the rain and thunder

28:14And flying so beautifully for us this afternoon,

28:17we have Glenn Allison, who's a volunteer pilot with the Navy Wings Heritage Flight.

28:22He's also their QFI, their Qualified Flying Instructor.

28:26He has a long and impressive career from the Royal Navy.

28:31He was Lieutenant Commander Glenn Allison and joined them in 1984,

28:36first as an Apprenticed Aircraft Engineer,

28:39working on the Lynx helicopters before doing flying training in 1990.

28:44He followed the well-trodden path as a naval helicopter pilot,

28:48doing elementary flying training on the Bulldog

28:51and then Gazelle helicopters at Royal Naval Airfield Cold Rose,

28:56where he was awarded his wings.

28:58He became very busy flying the Sea King and became a commando,

29:02a jungly pilot, flying frontline service on tours of duty

29:06in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Norway.

29:09He became a Qualified Helicopter Instructor

29:12with the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shoresbury.

29:16He converted to the Lynx helicopter

29:19and was Flight Commander on HMS Cumberland in 2001

29:24and he carried out the two-year missions in the Baltic with NATO

29:29and a nine-month deployment carrying out maritime operations

29:32in the Northern Gulf and Indian Ocean.

29:37A lovely wing waggle there from Glenn Allison in the Fairy Swordfish

29:42as she makes her way back towards the Jaywick end of the beach.

29:46What a wonderful display from a very accomplished team of pilots.

At Clacton On Sea Essex Air show event on a much nicer day 2 Part 2 August 23

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