Usually I hate the show – the noise is relentless and terrifies my three cats, but yesterday I watched as these two majestic old ladies, a Lancaster and a Spitfire, flew so low over my garden in close formation I swear I could see one of the pilots winking at me as he went by;
They quite literally purred through the sky, which I'm told by those in the know is in part due to their merlin engines. The reason they flew so low was apparently because they'd agreed to do a 'fly past' over a local school which was celebrating it's centenary - the entire school was out on the playground to witness it waving flags with a passion as they flew overhead - how cool is that?
I remember many years ago, collecting my daughter and her friend from primary school when the air show was on. They must have been six or seven at the time. To be honest, it was a pretty boring walk alongside a very busy main road and over a bridge crossing an extremely busy dual carriageway. As we stood on the bridge a low flying old hurricane did a couple of circles around Farnborough and as he passed by us again, tipped his wings first one way then another to the children who were waving at the plane from the bridge for all they were worth. Such a small gesture, probably now completely forgotten by the pilot himself, but the kids excitement (and I have to confess my own) is something I'll probably remember for the rest of my life.
So maybe the air show isn't quite as bad as all that, after all...
Such small things do matter. I used to work for Solartron (later became Schlumberger) in Farnborough. You have brought back many memories!
ReplyDeleteLol, I hope some of them were good! You're right of course, it's the small things that sometimes mean the most :-)
DeleteI have experienced a Vulcan bomber trying to give my hair a parting, so can understand why your windows rattle. A friend of mine was helping restore a Wellington at Brooklands; I wonder if that's the one (if it is indeed a Wellington)?
ReplyDeleteI was born in the lovely Surrey village of Lingfield. When I returned, a few years back, the sound of 'planes going in and out of Gatwick was relentless; at least you only have that noise once every two years (although I expect there's plenty more).
Yes, unfortunately the powers that be seems intent on increasing the number of flights in and out of Farnborough, despite a lot of resistance from those directly beneath the flight path. I certainly hope the day never comes when we'll be quite so affected as Lingfield seems to be now.
DeleteOh I WISH I was there for that!
ReplyDeletei'm visiting from friday fences but didn't see where to post a comment on your post for that but just wanted to say hi and beautiful pics you featured!
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