Finningley 1971 and Biggin Hill 1972 MSAE/MAS Coach Trips

[canuk01]

I went on the the group tours to Finningly in 1971 and Biggin Hill in 1972. I have a few holes in my database, does anyone have a list from those two airshows and can post them please.

Many thanks.

Paul

[acklington]

There are comprehensive reports on the Scramble website, including the two you need

www.scramble.nl/database/show-reports/united-kingdom

[viscount]

Full reports for those both these trips appeared in the MSAE/MAS 'Flypast' issues at the time. The Biggin Hill report is awkward to copy as the original is printed on 'Foolscap' paper (longer and narrower than A4 and just too tall for a standard copier screen) so will have to be split. Quite descriptive as well as registration informative one side and a bit article. However the RAF Finningley list does not include a number of 'flying only' display aircraft - I'll forward my 5 sides of personal log to 'CanUK' as attachments to an e-mail.

I was on the Finningley '71 trip, so have a few transparencies and my own hand-written log, but was not on the Biggin Hill '72 coach trip - it would have been during the run-up to final exams at College, so not a great surprise.

R.A.F. FINNINGLEY, BATTLE OF BRITAIN DAY AIR DISPLAY, SEPTEMBER 1971





The 'tourists' (aircraft that appeared at more than one display during the afternoon) are not included in the list.

BIGGIN HILL AIR FAIR, MAY 1972

[viscount]

R.A.F. FINNINGLEY BATTLE OF BRITAIN 'AT HOME' AIR DISPLAY,
18th SEPTEMBER 1971

In September 1971 I was starting my final year at College and the cash to buy luxuries such as 'process paid film' was short. Just 15 transparencies (and that was likely more than I had budgeted for), took careful selection at what I pointed my camera at! With hindsight would I select the same aircraft topics? I doubt it, but the Me.262 outside certainly deserved to be snapped. The camera had been acquired around 6 months before - a Praktica Nova 1B SLR had a built-in light meter, but not 'through-the-lens' so the reading had to be entered manually through speed and aperture dials. Focus was 'through the lens' although adjusting the shot to sharp was performed manually too! No fully automatic 'point-and-shoot' then, you needed to know what you were doing to set speed, aperture and focus to obtain the best results. Seem to think I had a 35mm, a 28-135mm and a 'fixed' 400mm Pentax screw thread lenses, the telephotos being 'hand-downs' purchased from older friends. The 'blue cast' on these shots shows that I was using Agfa Film - it was cheaper than Kodak. These 50 year old shots won't win any prizes even after digital massaging, but what I do notice is the lack of crowds and the space between aircraft within the barriers. The profile of the Lancaster is quite different without the mid-upper turret, which took the BBMF a fair number of years to source, rebuild and fit.

[ronturner]

Interesting. That was two trips I never took part in. Nice to seethe photos.