20 September 2008 - a calm late summers day on the West Coast of Scotland. At approximately 12:45 four Gipsy Major engines rattled into life and not long after that the radio crackled: 'Chipmunk Formation' - '2' - '3' - '4'. Was it really going to happen? After quite a long time chatting about it, all four Chipmunks calling Prestwick International Airport their home had planned for a 4-ship training sortie over South Ayrshire. Pre-flights checks went okay, power checks complete and lined up at Runway 21. 'Chipmunk formation - cleared for take-off'. Not to long after that, the world below was treated to the what must have been the first 'box-4' of Chipmunks in Scotland for at least 10 years. Quite possibly even longer. Was this history in the making? A few gentle turns and one or two formation changes later, the formation headed back to Prestwick to overfly the airport as a 'box-4' before changing into 'echelon-starboard' for a 'run-in and break'. Taxi back to 'P' was uneventful with loads for smiley faces after shutdown. Pleased with the results, de debrief and subsequent brief made sure the next formation would be even better. What followed was a quick lunch and another training sortie. This time with a 'box' that looked even more perfect in nice (sometimes) sunny conditions. I was privileged to be able to tag along in the back seat of No.2 to take some snaps to mark this event. Steve, Colin, Andrew, Alistair, Declan, Duncan and Martin, thank you very much for inviting me. You should consider doing this at air shows
Anyway, enough talk, on with some pictures!
First 'Box' of the day:
Part of the formation visible over Prestwick:
With positions slightly adapted, the second formation looks neat:
Skylark in a right-hand turn:
And a few individual aircraft shot during the two flights:
First up, G-AORW (ex WB682) over land:
And over water:
WP808 (G-BDEU) changing positions (port to starboard):
And last but not least, WD305 (G-ARGG) breaking away:
A most enjoyable day and hopefully one to be repeated more often. I should get some pictures taken from the ground (hopefully) pretty soon. Word from the ground was that it looked and sounded superb. Well done to all involved and thank you for the hospitality!
Cheers, Berry
