What a privilege

We have been back in the UK now for just eight weeks and although the time has flown by, we have managed to keep busy, as well as taking the time to relax. Jen finally got her UK visa while we were in the US, so that is really a big relief as we can now get on with life here. This started as soon as we got back, with finishing unpacking being the first major milestone, followed by buying a car. It is amazing how much stuff two people can accumulate, so as a result we have had a good clear out and have sold some of our surplus at car boot sales. Fortunately the English weather has been kind to us, even if our stuff is not selling as quicklly as we hoped.

At this point you are probably wondering about the title of this blog. Well, we live very close to White Waltham airfield, where many years ago I learned to fly, and as a result of this close proximity, we see a lot of small aircraft passing overhead. We have now been fortunate enough to see the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) flying around as well as up close on two seperate occasions.

The first time, back in early June, the BBMF was due to flypast for the Queen's official birthday but the weather was bad so they were grounded at White Waltham. Below are some photos and here is a link to a video of them taxiing in to park.

This is such a fantastic sight to see in person, you really feel, smell and hear the Merlins roaring and the guys that fly these for the BBMF are so enthusiastic and willing to talk about the planes.

A few weeks later, it was the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and this time we saw six of these magnificent aircraft fly low overhead. Rushing quickly to the airfield, we were again fortunate to get close to the aircraft, this time it was four Spitfires and two Hurricanes. Nothing beats sitting in the sunshine, having a beer and watching Spitfires. I am sure the atmosphere 75 years ago was nothing like this and it is a fitting tribute to the thousands of airmen that these beautiful aircraft are kept in flying condition. One of the Spitfires was a bit cantankerous and refused to start, as you can see in this video, which includes flames shooting out from the exhaust!