Third set of Photos from Niagara South air show

Tue Jun 12, 2007 12:20 am

Here are a few more shots from this past weekend.

Jeff

Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:49 am

Looks like I missed out on a few planes by showing up on Sunday, specifically the two Bucker Jungmanns. Hopefully they'll make it to Geneseo. Thanks for sharing the photos.

Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:25 pm

I love seeing seeing pictures from that airshow. It looks amazing. The airfield is one of the things I like best about it. What is the name of the airfield and what are the dimensions?

With all the trees around the field it makes for really great pictures especially where the pilot and crews are dressed in uniforms and everything. It all looks really authentic.

I wish we had an airfield like that over here in BC. We do have Delta Air Park, but the runway is limited and we have a bad neighbour. Then there's Hope Airport which is beautiful with mountains on all sides. That is part of the trouble about it. It's not the easiest airport to fly into, but if it means anything, Boeing flew a 737 into and out of Hope once. Another problem with it is that it's rather far from Vancouver.

Here's an example of Hope Airport.

Cheers,

David

Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:37 pm

That field is privately owned by Ed Russell, though it may be in the name of his company, the Russell Group. He is an architect, to make a long story short his company won a lawsuit against Disney which enabled him to buy a Spitfire, Hurricaine, Me-109 E with original Daimler Bens engine, a veteran of the Battle of Britain and Eastern Front. Also he bought the airfield and he's had an airshow for I think the last 4 years. It's an absolutely wonderful opportunity for taking pictures, only a snowfence inbetween you and the statics, and it's a very social gathering, pilots tend to stay with their planes and are more than happy to chat with you. I've never been to Geneseo, this year will be my first time, but I've heard several people say Russell's show is like a Canadian Geneseo. Don't know if that helps at all. Please feel free to correct me if I made any mistakes there.

Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:59 pm

Thank you for all the information!

-David

Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:44 pm

Hi Jeff,

great pics! Thanks for posting them. Got any pics of the TBM in flight?? Sure would love to see some if you have any.

Thanks,

Glenn

Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:53 pm

For warbirddriver........your request is granted, not the greatest but not bad I suppose.

and here is one from Geneseo last year...

Jeff

Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:57 pm

THANKS Jeff!!

Glenn (TBM pilot)

Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:06 am

Very cool replica Spitfire!

What is the story behind it?

Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:00 pm

Not sure of the details behind this specific Spit replica, but the GRP (glassfibre-reinforced plastic) Spits and Hurricanes started to become commonplace in the late 80s, being molded from genuine airframes by companies such as Feggans Brown in the UK. (Dave Tallichet in California made a wide variety of plastic lookalikes based on his collection of oringinal airframes, also, including such types as the Mustang, P-47, P-40 and B-24.) Anyway, the Spits were seen often in films like "Piece Of Cake", but they're probably best known from the RAF's/MoD's praiseworthy choice in the early 90s to remove, and frequently sell, outdoor display Spitfires, to be replaced by GRP clones. Many of the thus-released Spits have subsequently flown.

I know of seven of these GRP "airframes" in Ontario:

*Spitfire IX atop KW Surplus' "Spitfire Emporium" shop in Kitchener
*Hurricane II at CWH, Mt.Hope (also brought in via KW Surplus)
*Hurricane II and Spitfire IX at NMAFC, Trenton (formerly RCAFM)
*Hurricane II and Spitfire IX at Jackson Park, Windsor (replacing Lanc)
*Spitfire IX at Russell Group Aviation, Niagara South

Anyone know of others? Sure, they aren't the real deal...but they're a pretty cool item notwithstanding. (Funny thing is they can cost more than, for example, CWH paid for their flyable Corsair in the early seventies!)

The GRP Spit at Russell's was set out for people to take their kids' pictures in the cockpit this year; a neat touch...especially since it did not appear they were charging to do so.

S.