Blue Eagles

Associated sites:
Army Historic Aircraft Flight | The Museum of Army Flying | Army Air Corps Recruiting

The Goodwood Festival of Speed – 11th to 13th July 2003

The second day at Goodwood started early, as the traffic certainly does build up around the A27 and everyone wanted to get to the display area in good time. Visitors started arriving almost as soon as the gates opened which continued as a steady trend for the rest of the day, keeping Alex, Jim and Naomi seriously busy. The display took place at 13:25, to a peak crowd who, as on Friday, turned away from events on the track and stared skyward. Comments overheard among the crowd after the Team returned to Goodwood airfield included "I never knew helicopters could do that" and "That must be perspective!" The return of the Lynx’s aerobatic sequence is still startling people and has lost none of it’s power to surprise and delight. Later in the afternoon the Team were invited to visit BAR racing to see the car they were running at Goodwood. The engineers were testing the engine as we arrived, an experience you do not so much hear as feel! They had the engine covers off, but quickly reassembled the car to enable the pictures at the bottom of this page to be taken. The Team has a number of invites to visit other racing teams on Sunday, and we will be bringing you the pictures from these events on Wednesday.

Saturday 12th July

Reese and Jackie visited the stand, collecting a signed poster from Colin….	….while Alex was snowed under at the Gazelle cockpit with many interested visitors.
The centrepiece of this year’s Festival of Speed is these three Ford GT40s complete with water-spray smoke effects!	The display area includes large stands from motor manufacturers such as Vauxhall….
….and Honda as the Festival is a truly global event.	Cars on the track included a selection of Le Mans 24-hour winners….
….including this immaculate Aston Martin.	Not all the entrants are quite so serious however, as Rock and Gravel from the Wacky Races proved!
The display began, and here you can get a good idea of how close-in the display line is!	The bright blue sky made a perfect setting as Kav and Neil’s Gazelle glinted….
….in the sun flying round the line-abreast pedal turns.	And now, how to fly the Elphinstone Loop with Kav. First pull up and roll the Gazelle about ten degrees….
….let the roll increase as you continue to pull and the manoeuvre rounds nicely….	….at this point the cabin may fill with smoke….
….which clears as you pull over the top….	….and begin to accelerate, so reduce power a bit and….
….pull round the bottom corner to form a perfect circle! Only joking about the smoke!	An unusual tail on view of the Lynx as Ray and Chris position to perform the backflip.
At this point Dave and Sam run in and split for the heart…..	….which finishes at the bottom with a very, VERY, close pass!
The Lynx’s aerobatics drew a great deal of surprise and disbelief from the crowd….	….who had not seen a rotary winged aircraft upside down before. Mind you, it still looks totally wrong to me too!
The four Gazelles in a tight line astern running in for the cross-over break.	A really unusual Lynx shot. It’s the right way up! Ray and Chris bow to the crowd to finish the display.
The Team then visited BAR racing to have a look a the car they are running at Goodwood….	….and became one of BAR’s new badge sponsors! Now thats what I call a prestige zap!

Click here to see display and events on Friday.

Click here to see display and events on Sunday.

Archived news is available by clicking here.

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