Ridgewell- 381st BG visit on 13 July 2011- PHOTO FILES

SPANNERmkV · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:02 pm

Ridgewell was the home of the 381st Bomb Group Heavy- The Triangle L boys from Pyote, Texas. To those who have not been following- TEXAS RAIDERS is a tribute to the entire Bomb Group.
Their base was not so easy to find. In fact Bomberflight and I circled it for about an hour before we spotted the Essex Gliding Club sign and let out a collective A-HA!
There was flying going on so I took the last of the borrowed Quid from Peter and bought myself a ride. When they heard what I was about with the B-17 and TR they upgraded from the cheapest Winch-Tow to- let's hook up the Pawnee and give the lad a proper ride.
There wasn't much lift that day, but I did find a thermal and circled it without falling out of the sky. :supz:

Clare was one of the villages surrounding the old base.

The glider field on downwind

OMG- The BIG GIANT HEAD GOT A GLIDER FLIGHT! :shock:

Dave Clark getting ready to Taze me.

World War II shed still serving proudly!

Looking towards where the runways were.

On short final... hold onto your shorts!

Dave Clark- PIC Instructor always brings them back alive!

Is NOW the proper time to tell you that I had a FANTASTIC trip and it wouldna been nary as good without Bomberflight AKA Pedro making good things happen all along the way??? :drink3:

SPANNER the luckiest

carlisle1926 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:57 pm

Even on an overcast day, that must have been a beautiful place to fly over!

StangStung · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:51 am

Thanks so much for these photos! I love the "then and now" shots!

bomberflight · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:23 am

Here's a few pix of Don's visit from his driver

Say ~ have any of you boys seen a glider around here .....

Don the intrepid aviator before his flight.

I looked up the registration on G-INFO and it's a JUBI SCHLEICHER AS-K 13

http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?c ... gmark=DEOE

Personally I want that warm cozy feeling that comes from having four Wright Cyclones purring around me !
This thing ain't got nooooooooo engine :shock:

One of the last remaining pieces of runway ..... it's to the right of the grass runway in the 2nd to last image posted by Don.
If you study the crop you can just make out an extending line towards the right hand corner of the image.

The road that enters the frame from the bottom was originally the airfield taxiway ~ the right hand turn was onto a another runway.

I have to add that Don was perfect guest during his visit and has an open invitation to come back and visit in 2012 !

Misterg97 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:44 am

As a LFTM of the 381st BG (my cousin flew 35 misssions with the 533rd), my personal thanks for posting the photos taken at Ridgewell.

SPANNERmkV · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:12 pm

You are MOST welcome Misterg97
If we had more time I wanted to stop at EVERY name I recognized as Bomberflight was driving thither and yon.
I think Bomberflight said there was a base every FIVE miles in that part of England. And I can say England, because it was Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, East Anglia and probably some other counties we crossed a glancing blow.

That day at Ridgewell was the coldest day of my trip to the UK and it was windy. It was a fair trade for ALL the beautiful weather we experienced at the Duxford Airshow... although even there I recall getting rained on, wind burned and sun burned on the same day... twice over!

The refrain I hear about ALL air shows, whether in the states or in the UK is that, "They ain''t what they used to be."
All fine and good... I endorse going and seeing them NOW because the trend is indicating that these may be the last of the good old days and I WILL TAKE THEM and be happy.

Keep 'em flying safely,

SPANNER

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Ridgewell- 381st BG visit on 13 July 2011- PHOTO FILES

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