August et al--
Oh my...full speed astern down memory lane...
The '90 Canadian Memorial Flight. That was the weekend MK297 dinged her prop; she never flew again. Only one of the aircraft in Eric's pic is still active. That formation, though, is not only soon to be possible again but, all things (and owners) considered, downright likely within the decade. The Mossie and Spit MK297 were both there one other year also..iirc the Mossie in 88 and the Spit in 89. After the Saturday of the '90 show, no Spitfire was ever on an HIAS flying program again...
Far as I know the last time MK923 was at the Hope was that magic day in September 88 when the Lanc was publically demonstrated for the first time. 2000 people, they thought. Hah. Ten times that showed up. What a day...I can certainly confirm that Jerry B brought "5J:Z" to HIAS in '82, also, as I was directly underneath his lawnmower arrival pass that year. (My reaction to The Rotol Haircut was happier and less profane than Alain deCadenet's in that famous video of Ray Hanna...

) Same year and also pre-weekend, was eating a sandwich beside Hgr#3 when Mustang "Lou IV" went scorching past at a Reno-looking speed and altitude, bound due northward...ie. at ninety degrees to the flightline and main runway. Yee-haw!
The Thunderbolts I and II flyby...saw that after a rained-out '82 show day that otherwise consisted of long, wondrous solo aerobatic routines by Jerry B in the Spit and Howard Pardue in his Wildcat. By the time all that happened the weather had turned lovely.
The AIR GROUP NINETEEN Bearcat...I remember that one, viewed from inside Hgr#4, taxiing in, just as he shut down in came a tremendous rain squall. Have always wanted to do a painting of that scene.
Color Me Gone...Tangerine...the XP...hanging round (sometimes out on the grass beyond the flightline) all through arrival day...what times those were. Many thanks for the vivid reminders!
S.