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Abingdon Air Show


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Well, it had to happen didn't it. Woke up and looked outside and the weather was terrible. As I write this the sun is out, as it was on Saturday, so it's blooming typical.

 

The rain came down hard until about 13.00. We didn't think there was going to be any chance of seeing any aircraft, but as it happens it stopped raining and cleared just enough to see some displays. The biggest disappointment was the fact the cross winds were too strong for the BBMF to take off.:-(

 

The highlight of the display was the Royal Netherlands Air Force F16.

 

There was a Blackhawk from the United States Army SHAPE team based in Belgium. This helicopter is used exclusively for the use of high ranking officers and is fitted with leather seats and carpeted throughout. The crew were a top bunch of lads and very friendly. There was also a Puma and Merlin there from RAF Benson, again crewed by a top bunch of lads.

 

The C17 made one pass and a VC10 made two passes. There seemed to be plenty of public there even though the weather was terrible. Not many Military Vehicles turned up and there were a lot of empty mine tapped off areas indicating that the weather stopped many from showing up.

 

Here are some pictures.

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Looks like a North American Rockwell OV10 Bronco to me.

Douby if it is still in active service, but stand to be corrected.

 

Mike

 

yep, Bronco, dont think they are still in use, there are/were a couple based at Duxford

 

nice piccys

 

Mark

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The Bronco is owned by Tony De Bruyn. It was indeed based at Duxford for a while but Tony now bases it at Weston On The Green.

 

 

 

Hi Simon,

 

Is Tony a Pilot at RAF Weston on the Green for the Skydiving mob?

 

That's where I did my RAPS Parachute Training and first jumps. Does he keep the plane in the Hangar there as I've never seen it outside?

 

From the information I've seen they only made about 300 of these planes, so it must be a very rare plane. I'm very glad I got to see it. It's in beautiful condition.:D

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I'm afraid I don't know what Tony does for a job. He has put a lot of care into the restoration of the Bronco. First time I saw it was at the RAF Odiham Families Day last year. The colours that it now wears are genuine to the aircraft from when it was in service with the German forces. At that time it was actually a target tug I believe.

 

As mentioned before, it was housed at Duxford for some years before Tony got it back into the air and it was then repainted about 18 months ago. There is a second Bronco in the country and that is still at Duxford in the hands of Aircraft Restoration Company. There were plans to restore it to flight, but they are so busy these days that it's now a long way down the list I believe.

 

Many people who have seen Tony's aircraft have said how good it would be to see it actually do some displays but there are so many rules pertaining to going down that route that at the moment the only way to see it airborne is on arrival and departure at the few shows that he attends. Great pity but the problem also is getting bookings. Show organisers tend to go with 'crowd pullers'. Enthusiats would love to see it, but it's Joe Public that brings in the money to the shows. If organisers relied purely on enthusiasts, then we wouldn't have any shows! It's all about getting the balance right but that's a whole new topic and the same with MV shows as well as air shows I suspect.

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  • 1 month later...

 

 

pencil.pngHere are a few of mine taken after the weather cleared! I have to say it was great to meet you MV guys at the show,and cheers for taking the time to talk to us newbies,I will definitely be bringing my 109FFR next year.

All the best

Mark

(Bournemouth)

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Many thanks,I enjoyed yours too.I was using a 400mm prime lens on my Canon EOS50D.It is quite a large diameter lens so lets in alot of light so very useful on that day!! Next airshow for me is RIAT at Fairford (Saturday and Monday) and am really looking forward to that! Here are a couple more from Abingdon:

 

All the best

Mark

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I'm afraid I don't know what Tony does for a job. He has put a lot of care into the restoration of the Bronco. First time I saw it was at the RAF Odiham Families Day last year. The colours that it now wears are genuine to the aircraft from when it was in service with the German forces. At that time it was actually a target tug I believe.

 

As mentioned before, it was housed at Duxford for some years before Tony got it back into the air and it was then repainted about 18 months ago. There is a second Bronco in the country and that is still at Duxford in the hands of Aircraft Restoration Company. There were plans to restore it to flight, but they are so busy these days that it's now a long way down the list I believe.

 

Many people who have seen Tony's aircraft have said how good it would be to see it actually do some displays but there are so many rules pertaining to going down that route that at the moment the only way to see it airborne is on arrival and departure at the few shows that he attends. Great pity but the problem also is getting bookings. Show organisers tend to go with 'crowd pullers'. Enthusiats would love to see it, but it's Joe Public that brings in the money to the shows. If organisers relied purely on enthusiasts, then we wouldn't have any shows! It's all about getting the balance right but that's a whole new topic and the same with MV shows as well as air shows I suspect.

 

It was indeed a target tug. Several were used in the anti-aircraft range at Todendorf, replacing Hawker Sea Fury TT60 and TT61 in service until the late 1960s. One of them, at least, was seen with a small turbojet mounted above the fuselage to give extra power. I'm not sure how successful that was.

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