Blue Eagles

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

Blue Eagles Team Displays – Waddington – 28th and 29th June 2003

A long and steady rainfall settled over Lincoln on the night of Friday 27, which cooled the summer heat to a pleasant temperature. The only snag was that the cloud did not dissipate once the rain stopped, so Saturday’s air show took place under a flat blanket of dull grey cloud. This meant that several of the display Teams had to resort to a limited version of their full display, one restricted in height, but did not prevent anyone from flying their full slot. The crowd at Waddington was enormous! The display stand was in the middle fo a sea of people from 09:00 onwards as the airfield filled rapidly. At midday there were still reports of traffic queues well beyond Lincoln, so the show is looking like a great success for the organisers already. The highlights of Saturday were taken from the flight side, Sunday’s action will be brought to you from crowd side.

Saturday 28th June

The display stand amid the crowd!	Visitors to the stand are always delighted to find the whole team manning it. Here Sam Pickering explains the role of the Corps.
Neil O’Brien took three new recruits to Army flying on a tour of the Gazelle cockpit.	Always a pleasure to see old friends, particularly John, who must be the biggest Blue Eagle fan.
The Historic Aircraft Flight of the Army Air Corps is also at Waddington….	….bringing their unique sight and sound to the show with the combination of Beaver, Chipmunk, Auster, Sioux, Scout and Allouette.
Over at the dispersal, and in a tradition dating back to the dawn of flight….	….the aircrew pre-flight check the aircraft as the ground crew assist and prepare the inevitable paperwork.
Kav was the first away to take up position on the display line.	Ray and Chris fly backwards in the Lynx, before pulling up between Kav and Neil in their Gazelles.
Kav and Neil then begin their pairs manoeuvres, starting with….	….this perfect line-abreast pedal turn….
….before the formation Elphinstone loops.	Dave and Sam then charge in crowd centre to fly the heart manoeuvre, a favorite with the fans.
Ray and Chris begin the Lynx solo section of the display with the Eagle Roll and the Lynx Loop, not a natural manoeuvre for a helicopter!	All four Gazelles then run in for the Cross-over Break….
….splitting the Team either side of the centrally hovering Lynx, who then Backflips through the centre.	The finale brings the whole Team in for a bow along the crowd line with the Lynx positioned centrally.

Click here to see the arrival and practice on Thursday’s press Day.

Click here to see the highlights from Sunday’s show.

Archived news is available by clicking here.

[ Home ]