Monday 4 April 2016

Planes on Parade

The RAF Museum Centenary Programme Logo

The reason I went to Horse Guards Parade on Friday was to see these 3 aircraft. The Sopwith  Snipe, a Spitfire and a Typhoon Jet. Friday was the 98th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Air Force. The same aircraft are on the RAF centenary Project logo.

The Sopwith Snipe and the Spitfire overlooking the Parade ground as the Changing of the Guard is taking place. Doubt I will ever see that happening again.










   The Sopwith Snipe was a successor to the Sopwith Camel and was first used by the RAF in September 1918  until 1928. This one on display was built by the Vintage Aviator company in New Zealand in 2011/12. Many of the parts, including the engine, are original from the RAF Museum




This is the Supermarine Spitfire and was used mainly for ground attack during the latter part of WW2










The Typhoon Jet was a full sized replica and was assembled on the Parade ground. A real Typhoon Jet flew over Horse Guards Parade later that day. It can fly at a speed of 1,320 mph. but I imagine it didn't reach that speed as it flew over London.



29 comments:

  1. What interesting vintage aircraft! I have heard of the Sopwith Camel and the Spitfire and would love to have seen them in person. Thank you for the fine pictures. :-)

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  2. That is the sort of thing I like seeing. Love the Spit

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  3. Hello, it is cool seeing these vintage airplanes and jets. What a great collection of photos. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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  4. Honoring heroes! We all owe the RAF ! Beautiful planes .. Lovely to see the changing of the guard.

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  5. imagine the fuel guzzling at 1320mph

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  6. A very memorable day! I love the roar of jet fighter planes but the Spitfire is probably the most iconic RAF fighter plane of all time!
    Great photos.

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  7. Such beautiful planes. I can't believe how few people there appears to be to join in such a wonderful chance to get close to those historic machines.

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  8. How cool to see those old planes all nicely restored.

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  9. No chance of getting in and playing with the joystick then. As soon as I hear the name Spitfire I think of Biggles.

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  10. You certainly are having fun and providing such gorgeous photos and information too!

    Wishing you peace in each day ~ ^_^

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  11. I ove planes, especially old ones. lucky you.

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  12. What an adventure it would be to fly in one of these!

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  13. Such wonderful vintage airplanes! Nice to see this parade for the RAF

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  14. Gorgeous photos and information!

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  15. I have not seen a parade like this since I was a child. Good to see and such a beautiful castle :)

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  16. Once I attended a conference in Cambridge and I was lucky enough to witness an air show of a Spitfire. They are so beautiful and they carry so much history!

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  17. I saw a little of this on the news. Would have loved to go myself. Wonderful that you could get such great shots.

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  18. Lovely old planes and what a special day for you to be right there.

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  19. During my years as a coach driver I have been able to see several airshows featuring both new and older planes. The noise is always so evocative, although I can imagine that hearing hundreds and hundreds of them at the same time can be pretty scary!

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  20. That is special to see those planes in the middle of a city!

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  21. Amazing....
    You always have such special, interesting, posts. And, I enjoy it each time I visit!!!

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  22. Wonderful parade of the planes.

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  23. What an interesting outing. The backdrop for your photos makes them very special indeed. I love your photos in your previous post too, with the guards' brightly polished armour. A day to remember.

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  24. Wow, what an amazing sight, especially in that setting. It looks like you were able to get quite close for photographs, too.

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  25. Thats a remarkable change in technology! Nice to see them close up.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  26. That would have been an unusual sight. Great shots of the planes and the guards. They were great planes.

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  27. As a pilot, I love planes of course. This seems like an unusual place for them to be on display. Did they bring them in by road? I can't imagine a place to land near all those old structures. - Margy

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  28. Wow that must have been very interesting !

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