As the lockdown restrictions are slowly lifted across England, this coming weekend will see a number of aviation museums open for the first time since lockdown, in many cases the first time in 2020. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/50066263867/in/dateposted/ One such museum is the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge. The museum has been featured on this page … Continue reading Warbird People: He 111 Reborn – Kent Battle Of Britain Museum
As so many of these stories start, Rob Stewart grew up attending airshows such as the Great Warbird events at West Malling. Aside from the awful traffic getting in and out (some things never change), it was the warbirds that left a great impression. That love of warbirds continued for Rob but as is often … Continue reading Warbird People: Eagles 11 & Flying the Yale
As the airshow season in the UK fast approaches, I wanted to feature some of the heavier warbird types for a change. Over the past couple of years this site has had a strong focus on WW1 and WW2 fighters with less of an emphasis on the bombers and transport types. This post marks a … Continue reading Warbird People: Al Herum – Commemorative Air Force B-24/B-29 Squadron
Following on from the previous 2018/19 Warbird People posts which has taken a look at pioneer/WW1 aircraft and 1930s racers, this post brings things a little more up to date. That is of course, in relative terms. In a time when classic jets seem to be in something of a lull in UK skies I … Continue reading Warbird People: Ace Maker Airshows – Displaying the Lockheed T-33 across the United States
In a workshop in the middle of England, a missing link in one of the great aviation racing stories is slowly coming back to life. Ken Fern has previously been involved in working on the construction of other vintage replicas in the past. More recent time has been spent on his current project, an ambitious … Continue reading Warbird People: Racing Revival – Ken Fern on the DH88 Comet Racer Project
In aviation circles, there are a number of airfields and collections around the world that capture the imagination and become almost mythical as part of aviation folklore. Old Rhinebeck is most certainly amongst those legends, especially for those with an interest in those early years of aviation right through until the 1930s. Delicately nestled between … Continue reading Warbird People – Alex Jameison: Learning to Fly the Old Rhinebeck Collection
The Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland is an East Lothian based group that has been in place since 1973 with an aim of providing members with education and experience in aviation. Today this society has around 80 members, of which 25 are working members. Though a number of projects are in progress, the undoubted "headliner" … Continue reading Warbird People: Scottish “Strutter” – WW1 Replica Nears Completion
Following on from my visit to the "Meet the Blenheim" open day back in December, I had the pleasure of being given an update on the project by the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust's chairman, Dave Brocklehurst, last week. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/28022760868/in/dateposted-public/ The museum, based on the site of former RAF Hawkinge, is an unparalleled treasure … Continue reading Warbird People – Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust Update
This month’s “Warbird People” sees me speak with Ed Vesely, the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) Helldiver pilot, a self-described “caretaker of history” who takes on the responsibility of flying this unique airframe and keeping history alive telling the important stories of the veterans that flew the SB2C. Curtiss aircraft throughout the company’s history maintained that … Continue reading Warbird People – Ed Vesely on Flying the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
Earlier this year it dawned on me that Warbird Tails would soon be racking up 300 posts - I thought the occasion certainly warranted some sort of celebration. I kicked around a few “300” themed ideas before ultimately concluding that there was one perfect answer; the Spitfire. The original Spitfire prototype was known as the … Continue reading Warbird People – Warren Pietsch: Spitfire at Reno
