River Mersey Flypasts

[viscount]

In addition to Airport based air displays (covered on another thread), there have been a number of flypasts and air displays centred on Otterspool Prom, Pier Head and New Brighton over the years. These can be split into two categories: flypasts and air shows. Here I will initially concentrate on flypasts along the Mersey. I have noted that there were flypasts in 1951, 1970, 1984, 1993, 2003 and 2009, with Mersey Festival Air Displays mostly during the late 80s.

Anyone with photos of these events are welcome to illustrate the text as it develops.

1951 Festival of Britain
Thursday 26th July 1951

For the 1951 Festival of Britain, Liverpool put on a long programme of events, mostly arts, theatre, exhibitions etc., but also three riverside events. A regatta and air show off Otterspool held the following weekend can be found related on another thread.

The following is abstracted from the Liverpool Daily Post and the Echo newspapers, held on microfilm at the Liverpool Records Office. I've deliberately left in some of the phrases from the original - you don't get newspaper reporters writing like that today! To show nothing changes, the Echo report was far more interested in the transport difficulties faced by the massive crowds getting home and the failure of the the final salvo of rockets in the firework display than in reporting the event itself!

The event on 26th July was centered on the New Brighton, Egremont, George's Stage, Albert Dock section of the River. There had been light rain during the afternoon, but by the evening this had stopped and the cloud base had improved. First was a flotilla of Mersey working boats , including a pilot boat, tugs, fire boat, dregers, Birkenhead ferry and North Wales Steamers. Once they had cleared the Royal Navy provided 6 fast patrol boats (MTBs and MGBs).

The Fleet Air Arm element began with 20 Sea Furies at high speed sweeping in low for an east to west pass across the River, before they swept up high in the sky over the Mersey, carefully keeping below cloud level to indulge in intricate aerobatics and mock air battles. Firebrands chased Sea Furies and using their camera guns attacking aircraft signalled a kill. If the attacked pilot agreed, he signalled back to acknowledge the kill. From out of the setting sun aircraft mock attacked the ferry and tugs now off New Brighton. The aircraft were from Sir Philip Vian's flagship HMS Indomitable, but had remained behind at RNAS Stretton for the flypast, the carrier having sailed from the Mersey the previous day.

The event continued with two fireboats showing off with fountains of water in the gathering darkness. This was followed by a firework display - an aerial harlequinade with cascades of coloured stars.

This account has needed to be re-researched since the first one was lost on the closure of xs orbit as a host for the NWAN forum. I recall Phil Butler adding that a number of Seafires were also involved and that there were formation flypasts in addition to the mock battles reported by the press.

[viscount]

Flypast over the Mersey - 1970

From the MSAE 'Flypast' magazines of the time an event now largely forgotten. No author credited.

On 1st August 1970, Jim Keen founder of the Liverpool Aero Club, in conjunction with the 'Liverpool Echo' organised a flypast of assorted aircraft in a much publicised local tribute on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the founding of Melly's Flying School at Waterloo.

The participating aircraft either took off from Speke, or in the case of the R.A.F. element, with Gnats, Hunters, Vulcan, Britannia and a Basset, overflew from Nantwich and followed a route up the Mersey to Crosby and hence along the coast as far as Woodvale, where they either landed or dispersed.

In addition to the assorted types operated by the Liverpool Aero Club, private owners also supported the event and the clubs at Barton, Hawarden, Squires Gate and Woodvale sent aircraft. HSA provided their Mosquito and Coltishall returned Spitfire PR.19 PM631 to Speke for the first time in 13 years since it served on the THUM flight.

Airline participation included Dan-Air's Nord 262, a Britannia Boeing 737 (making a local flight between ITs), Humber Airways an Aztec while a Cambrian Viscount opened the proceedings. 'Vintage' Stampe G-ATIR played a star role in the programme when it dropped an illuminated scroll at the Crosby saluting base, where Mrs Melly and other invited guests were installed.

For the thousands who turned out to line both shores of the Mersey, the event as probably something of a disappointment. It failed to be the breath-taking performance forecast by the 'Echo', largely because of the time lag between items. However it was a nice guesture and it did serve to illustrate what could be achieved even in controlled air space. Let us hope that it will be a pointer to greater things in the future. Had earlier notice of the event been served no doubt more participants would have appeared; even so the sight of some 20 assorted light and vintage aeroplanes clustered together on Speke's Western Apron was an impressive one, which should certainly be repeated more often.

Participants:
G-AVRL Boeing 737-204, Britannia Airways
G-AYFR Nord 262, Dan-Air
G-ATHJ PA-23 Aztec 250, Humber Airways
G-A... Vickers Viscount, Cambrian Airways

RR299/HT:E Mosquito T.3, HSA Chester
PM631 Spitfire PR.19, RAF Coltishall
XL640 Britannia C.1, RAF Brize Norton
XM648 Vulcan B.2
XS781 Beagle B.206 Basset CC.1, support for the Spitfire
12 x Gnats drawn from: XP503, XP500, XP511, XP533, XP516, XP531, XP502, XR567, XR569, XR954, XS100, XS106 & XS103.
4 x Hawker Hunters drawn from: XL622 & XL600 (T.7s) and XF527, XF384 & XG185 (F.6s). All RAF Valley 4 FTS aircraft, which included 2 flying spares.

G-ATIR SV-4C Stampe
G-ARGO, G-ARJH, G-ARKN & G-ARNC PA-22 Colt (likely also G-ARDV, not in the list)
G-ARGY PA-22 Tri-Pacer
G-AVGF, G-AWBD, G-AXRL PA-28 Cherokee
G-ARJW PA-23 Apache
G-AWTS Beech 23 Musketeer
G-ATNX, G-AWPU, G-AWXU Cessna 150
G-ARLW, G-ARMP Cessna 172B
G-AXFG Cessna 337 (listed as G-AXGU an error)
G-ARUV Emeraude
G-ANTE Tiger Moth
G-AAZP Puss Moth
G-ASMZ Beagle A.61 Terrier

[davecalveley]

Brian
The Cambrian Viscount was noted by me as G-AMOJ
regards Dave

[viscount]

I.G.F. Year - 1984

The International Garden Festival held at the riverside Otterspool site was held throughout the summer of 1984. There were a number of aviation events during the year, including helicopter pleasure flying, Mersey Festival flying display, hot-air balloon inflations, helicopter role demonstrations, Goodyear Airship fly-by and both civil and military parachute team drops.

There were three Flypasts at least during the year, two were directly IGF events and deserve brief mention. The third, an international event, was centred on the Anglican Cathedral.

During 'American Week' a tablet was unveiled on Monday 28th May commemorating the 350,000 Americans serving in Britain as part of the U.S. 8th Air Force during World War Two. A flypast of the site involved two, never to be identified, Phantoms of USAFE at 1120. The event brought a KC-135A and a VC-140A into Liverpool Airport with VIPs.

On Saturday 14th July a P.F.A. 'Fly-by' of the I.G.F. was a feature of the West Lancs Aero Club Fly-in held at Woodvale. Between 1400 and 1440 a stream of light aircraft overflew. Participants in sequence were:

G-BHAW Cessna F172N
G-ATFY Cessna F172G
G-BCVH Cessna FRA150L
G-BEVS Taylor JT.1 Monoplane
G-BEZZ Jodel D.112
G-ARND Colt 108
G-AVKG Cessna F172H
G-BKFR CP.301C Emeraude
G-AWPU Cessna F150J
G-AKAZ Piper J-3c-65 Cub

Rather unspectacular specator event with the aircraft well spread out. None of the participants called at Liverpool Airport, all operating out of Woodvale.

Battle of the Atlantic - 40th Anniversary Commemoration

On Sunday 6th May, a flypast at 12 midday consisted of 5 Maritime Patrol aircraft passed in salute over Liverpool Cathedral heading southwards. The multi-national force all flew down from Kinloss. They were:

Nimrod MR.2 XV239/39 R.A.F. new hemp colour scheme
Nimrod MR.2 XV248/48 R.A.F. older white/grey colours
Lockheed CP-140 Aurora 140104 Canadian Armed Forces
Lockheed P-3B Orion 154583 333 Skv, Royal Norwegian Air Force
Lockheed p-3C Orion A9-754 Royal Australian Air Force

A spendid sight indeed over Liverpool and the Airport, a fitting tribute.

The Norwegian Orion landed at Liverpool Airport. There were also ships from the British, Norwegian and Belgian Navies in the docks, but none had helicopters embarked.

These all digitised from colour transparencies, the distant flying shots with a 400mm lens and x2 converter, so are somewhat grainy, but give an idea of the event.











The next two are at the airport the same afternoon, the Royal Norwegian Air Force Orion being the only flypast aircraft to call at the airport. I seem to recall positioning myself myself on Otterspool Prom, thinking the flypast would overfly the airport and take a heading from 27/09, in fact they came up the west bank of the River towards the narrows at the Pier Head, so were quite distant from my selected vantage point. The HS.125 brought in RAF top brass to attend the service at the Cathedral.

[CloudWarrior]

I recall, somewhere around this time flying on a QANTAS 747 from MAN on an hours flight. We overflew the garden festival site as well as the IOM and then back to MAN. The ticket had the destination as Psuedo City!!
Anyone else recall this?

[viscount]

Battle of the Atlantic 50th Anniversary - 1993

Never quite able to explain why the 50th Anniversary occurred just 9 years after the 40th Anniversary! However this was a much larger affair, with the flypast on Saturday afternoon 29th May, 1993, and a major service of commemoration on Sunday morning in the Anglican Cathedral.

The flypast was centred on the Pier Head/Albert Dock area, Saturday mid-afternoon.

G-BLSC PBY-5A Catalina
124485/DF:A (G-BEDF) B-17G Flying Fortress "Sally B/Memphis Belle"
P7350/YT:F Spitfire IIa, BBMF
W5856/A2A Swordfish II, RNHF
LS326/L2 Swordfish II, RNHF
WB271/204:H Firefly AS.5, RNHF

XV230/30 Nimrod MR.2P, Kinloss Wing
XV240/40 Nimrod MR.2P, Kinloss Wing, special tail scheme
XZ284/84 Nimrod MR.2P, Kinloss Wing

XV661/824:CU Sea King HAS.5U, 771 Sqdn 'Rescue'
XZ596 Sea King HAR.3, 202 Sqdn, yellow 'Rescue'
ZA134/598 Sea King HAS.6, 706 Sqdn
ZD633/507:CU Sea King HAS.6, 810 Sqdn
XZ730/634 Lynx HAS.3, 702 Sqdn
ZD263/630 Lynx HAS.3, 702 Sqdn

XW268/720:VL Sea Harrier T.4, 899 Sqdn
ZA175/717 Sea Harrier FRS.1, 899 Sqdn, special colour scheme
ZD578/715 Sea Harrier FRS.1, 899 Sqdn
ZD610/710 Sea Harrier FRS.1, 899 Sqdn
.... plus a second Sea Harrier T.4 also from 899 Sqdn

.... plus four unidentified Buccaneer S.2Bs of 208 Sqdn

140108 Lockheed C-140 Aurora, Canadian Forces
No.4 Atlantique NG, 23F French Aeronavale
61+08 Atlantic, MFG-3 German Navy
NZ4205 Lockheed P-3B Orion, 5 Sqdn RNZAF
4576 Lockheed P-3N Orion, 333 Skv, KNL Norway
161588/LJ:8 Lockheed P-3C Orion, VP-23 USN
304 Lockheed P-3C Orion, Netherlands Navy

Observing the flypast was photo ship ZF118/ZT Sea King HC.4, 707 Sqdn, while in the evening a para drop over Goodison was performed from ZA295/ZU Sea King HC.4, 707 Sqdn. On both the Sunday and Monday afternoons Extra EA.230 G-XTRA performed an aerobatic routine over the River Mersey.

The RNHF and the FAA helicopters operated out of RAF Woodvale. Following the flypast the Canadian Aurora, French Atlantique landed at Liverpool and night stopped. Two of the Sea Harrier FRS.1s ZD578/715 and ZA175/717 landed at Liverpool and later flew a local to display off the Albert Dock area before returning to Yeovilton on both Friday and Saturday. There were other rather 'tasty' aircraft in the Airport too: BO-3/LC B-2A Islander, Belgian AF on Tuesday & Thursday; 161588/LJ:8 Orion USN Wednesday before; 143 Puma SAAF briefly Thursday morning; 159119/JU C-9B USN on Friday morning, departing Saturday morning; 143 Falcon 10MER Aeronavale Sunday; NZ4205 Orion RNZAF Sunday; 10957/UN C-130H RNoAF Tuesday before & Sunday; 163843/8G Beech UC-12M USN Sunday; 15002 Airbus CC-150 CAF on Tuesday before and Monday after, plus RN Jetstreams and RAF Andovers and BAe.146s.

There were a number of ships in various docks, those with helicopters embarked:

'F93' HMS Beaver with XZ723/374 Lynx HAS.3S, 829 Sqdn, RN
'F126' HMS Plymouth with XS570/445 Wasp HAS.1, preserved Birkenhead
'F171' HMS Active with ZD258/322:AV lynx HAS.3S, 815 Sqdn, RN
'D92' HMS Liverpool with XZ722/304 Lynx HAS.3S, 815 Sqdn, RN
'A835' HMNLS Poolstar with XV703/139 Sea ing HAS.6, 826 Sqdn, RN
'266' HMCS Nipigon with 12425/425 CH-124 Sea King, Candian Forces
'A301' SAS Drakensberg with 143 SA.330L Puma, 22 Sqdn South African Air Force
BNS Defensors with N-3027 Lynx HAS.21 of HS-1, Brazilian Navy
'F421' HMNZS Canterbury with NZ3905 Wasp HAS.1 of 3 Sqdn, RNZAF.
'989' USS Deyo with 149904/616 SH-3H Sea King of HS-5, USN.










The pair of Swordfish aircraft, W5856/A2A and LS326/L2 flying over Type 22 frigate HMS Cornwall F99 at anchor off the Pier Head.

















Westland Sea King HAR.5 XV661/824:CU of 771 Sqdn performed several Air Sea Rescue demonstrations with the aid of the RNLI over the weekend.



US Navy MDD C-9B 159119 at Liverpool Airport, one of a number of military aircraft there during the weekend.

[viscount]

60th Anniversary Commemoration, Battle of the Atlantic, 2003

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More a series of air displays, than a fly-past, I'll incude this here rather than in a thread on River Mersey Air Displays. This report by Dave Graham from the paper NWAN

In what was billed as the final Battle of the Atlantic commemoration, the River Mersey played host to a number of interesting ships and aircraft during the May Day Bank Holiday, 3rd to 5th May, 2003.

Although a little spoiled by the weather on occasions, fly-bys and set-piece displays were held over the Mersey on all three days, pulling in helathy crowds along the waterfront. The flying displays included aircraft operating off HMS Invincible (Sea Harrier, Sea King and Merlin), while a Nimrod operated out of Liverpool Airport. Taking part daily were:

XV255/55 Nimrod MR.2, Kinloss Wing RAF
XV671/183:B Sea King AEW.7
XZ920/826:B Sea King HAS.5U
ZD625/VZ Sea King HC.4
ZE694/004:L Sea Harrier FA.2
ZH864 Merlin HM.1

There were just two ships with helicopters known to be embarked, in the docks. These were the FS Latouche-Treville with 623 a Lynx HAS.2(FN) French Navy and the Admiral Chabanenko with 47 (red) a Kamov Ka-27 'Helix' of the Russian Navy, with another Helix thought to have been locked away in the hangar!

Interesting aircraft calling at the Airport in support of the Commemorations included: CE-01 EMB-135 Belgian AF Thursday & Sunday; LN-BRE Boeing 737-400 Braathens Friday & Monday; 57+02 Do.228 German Marine Saturday; plus RN Jetstream and RAF BAe.146.



Oddly the only photo I seem to have of the weekend's events are a shot of XV255/55 Nimrod MR.2 on a rather wet apron at Liverpool Airport between display flights.

[viscount]

"Fly Navy 100" Celebration Flypast, 2009

To publicly celebrate 100 years of British Naval Aviation, the Fleet Air Arm held at least 4 major flypasts during the year, including at Yeovilton (weather disrupted) and IAT Fairford. The final flypast took place up the River Mersey and over aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious at the Pier Head on Friday 23rd October 2009 at 1400.

The day of the flypast was reasonably sunny with only a steady breeze. In all 39 aircraft took part in the flypast, most arranged in 9 boxes, however the timing was so good that the whole formation passed overhead almost together, rather than in a sequence, so was over very quickly, without giving the large viewing public a chance to appreciate the event. The helicopters and light aircraft had gathered at RAF Shawbury, the jets arrived from RNAS Yeovilton. The formation routed from Cheshire, up the River, from south to north. Afterwards the aircraft and helicopters either landed at Woodvale, or returned direct to base.

After the flypast, a few of the helicopters returned to land on HMS Illustrious, some briefly. A Sea King XV648/18 returned later to perform a rescue demonstration and the 'Black Cats' performed using Lynx XZ248/634 and XZ250/631. Further helicopter displays took place off the Albert Dock/Pier Head on the Saturday mid afternoon (in wet weather) and Sunday around midday (in blustery winds). Additionally there was a static display at the Pier Head (Wessex HU.5 XT466/X-V, Sea King HC.4 XV700/ZC and Lynx HAS.3 ZD254/306), while the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, with 6 aircraft and helicopters embarked, was open to the public on Sunday and Monday afternoons.

Aircraft and helicopters involved:

XX478/564 Jetstream T.2
XX488/562 Jetstream T.2
ZA111/565 Jetstream T.2
XX484/566 Jetstream T.2

G-BWXW T.67M Firefly
G-BWXA T.67M Firefly
G-BWXH T.67M Firefly
G-BWXZ T.67M Firefly

G-BYWM Grob Tutor
G-BYXS Grob Tutor
WK608/906 DHC.1 Chipmunk T.10, RNHF

ZH834/86 Merlin HM.1
ZH841/82 Merlin HM.1
ZH833/85 Merlin HM.1
ZH846/81 Merlin HM.1

ZD627/WO Sea King HC.4 Commando
ZD479/WQ Sea King HC.4
ZF116/WP Sea King HC.4
ZF121/T Sea King HC.4
XZ612 Lynx AH.7, Marines

XV648/818 Sea King HAS.5U, dark blue gloss 'retro' scheme 'Ace of Clubs' logo
ZA167/822 Sea King HAS.5U, red/grey 'Rescue' scheme
XV707/184 Sea King ASaC.7
ZE418/186 Sea King ASaC.7

XZ250/631 Lynx HAS.3, 'Black Cat' special paint scheme
XZ733/-- Lynx HAS.3
ZD266/302 Lynx HMA.8
XZ248/634 Lynx HAS.3

ZJ261/61 Squirrel HT.1, DHFS
ZJ269/69 Squirel HT.1
ZJ273/73 Squirel HT.1
ZJ275/75 Squirrel HT.1

SX336 VS Seafire

G-FRAF Falcon 20
G-FRAP Falcon 20
XX159 Hawk T.1
XX281 Hawk T.1

ZD348/15 Harrier GR.
ZG504/75A Harrier GR.9A

ZJ707/O Griffin HT.1, DHFS - photography platform oribiting over Birkenhead
G-XMII EC.135 'Police' over the City centre in the period before the flypast

There were also 'spares' held at Shawbury and Woodvale: Tutor G-BYXK, Lynx HAS.3 XZ727/635 and Lynx HMA.8 XZ697/641.

Quite an event, but who in the optimism of the 100th anniversary event would have anticipated that a quarter, no less than 10 (Firefly, Jetstream, Harrier) of the 39 aircraft would be retired from service within a year and a half ?

Taking part in a role demonstration display off the Pier Head/Albert Dock on the Sunday at midday were:

ZH841/82 Merlin HM.1
XV707/184 Sea King ASaC.7
ZD479/WQ Sea King HC.4
XZ697/641 Lynx HMA.8
XV648/818 Sea King HAR.5, retro dark blue gloss scheme, Rescue demonstration
XZ248/634 Lynx HAS.3, Black Cats solo display, the other held off due to the gusty winds

Photos (although some have been deleted), and discussion over 6 pages of this forum:
derbosoft.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=eggpmovements&action=display&thread=1552
While the HMS Illustrious visit is covered, along with all Aircraft Carrier visits to the Mersey:
derbosoft.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history&action=display&thread=1790



HMS Illustrious at the Pier Head



Formation of 4 EH.101 Merlin HM.1



Formation of Westland Sea Kings, two HAS.5U (in different schemes) and two AScC.7 (with underslung radar)



Zoomed-in shot of the 4 x Merlin helicopters



What a lot of aircraft in the same slice of sky! 15 in all, 2 Hawks, 2 Falcon 20s, 2 Sea Harriers, 4 Jetstream, 4 Sea King and a V-S Seafire.



4 x Jetstream T.2 aircraft



4 x Westland Lynx (three HAS.3 and a HMA.8) over the waterfront



4 x Westland Commando (Sea Sea King HC.4)



4 x Slingsby T.67M Fireflys


Photo reports of the air displays over the river during the weekend and a small collection of helicopters on the Royal Navy Careers stand at the Pier Head appear on other NWAN threads.

[Barfluer]

Some of the aircraft mentioned in Viscount"s report of the
50 th anniversary "BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC" 1993.
Sorry about the quality .

IMG_0292 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr


IMG_0293 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr


IMG_0294 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0296 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr


IMG_0295 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0297 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr

IMG_0298 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0299 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0300 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0301 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr

IMG_0302 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0303 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0304 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0305 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0306 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0307 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0308 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0309 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0310 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0311 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr
IMG_0312 by DAVID TYRER, on Flickr



I also have some photo"s of some of the warships, if anybody is interested i will post some of them.

Regards Dave.

[avro748]

Here are some photos taken from the Birkenhead side during the 1993 Battle of the Atlantic flypast.

12 and 208 Squadron Buccaneers


899 Squadron Sea Harriers


RNZAF P-3


Canadian CP-140


Norwegian P-3


Two out of the three Nimrods.


...and finally 'Sally B' bombing the Liver building!


Cheers

Shaun

[cbfkoh37]

Regarding the 1970 Flypast at Crosby, I was flying a Cambrian 1-11 to Barcelona, and we were scheduled to participate. Although we were delayed I was determined to join in and after take-off at about 1630 we routed down the river to fly across Crosby baths at about 500ft, close to maximum speed. One of our pilots who lived in Crosby said it rattled a lot of roof tiles ! We were 20 miles past Wallasey before we'd completed the turn to rejoin airways. We enjoyed it, even if the most of crowd had probably gone home.

[viscount]

FOOTNOTE TO 2009, NAVY 100 FLYPAST

I positioned myself at Birkenhead, however found that too many elements of the flypast arrived together, the visual event being over very quickly. My photo have already been used earlier, slotted into the report and participant listing earlier.





The exciting(!) part of the day for me was returning from Birkenhead on the ferry and experiencing a situation which would never be tollerated on the motorway with two HGV drivers (OK highly qualified experienced ship's Captains - which makes it even worse), one not looking at the traffic ahead crossing his lane, the other effectively not using his rear view mirror. Result the ferry and the Ramira got rather closer than they should have been (the Liverpool art of the understatement). The passengers were incredulously wondering when the vessels would sheer away from impact (not "screaming for their lives" as stated in the 'Echo'). We were close enough to hear the crackle of Ramira's bow wave, before before vessels bellowed at each other and broke away from collision.

[xw268]

If anyone has photographs of the Harrier flypast for the Battle of the Atlantic 50th Anniversary commemoration on 29th May 1993, I would love to see them as I am heavily involved in restoring one of the aircraft that took part - XW268 (which is the last Harrier T4N variant in existence). The aircraft will eventually be restored in the colours she wore for this flypast which is why I would love to see any other pictures anyone has. The aircraft restoration can be viewed at www.xw268.com if anyone is interested. Thanks very much.