Quote:
Originally Posted by Luddite
I've got Geoff's old panels on my Monster so, in a way, there's always a part of him riding with me.
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Many of us now cherish bits and pieces that perpetuate Geoff's memory... What a remarkable man to have deeply touched so many club folk. Moco1961 and I are secretly plotting to commemorate Geoff each year with an idea that you first suggested in that fateful "Buzzbomb" thread.
I was lucky enough to get up close to the BBMF's blue PR Spitfire last year on our club visit to RAF Coningsby.
Squadron Leader Mark Discombe talked us through each of the Spitfires and Hurricanes and when asked which was his favourite, he said it's like having a favourite child.. You shouldn't have one, they are all different and excel in their own way. But when we got to the PR, there was a different tone and glint in his eye. This was the plane he flew regularly, a late mark with some lovely touches, like a retractable tail wheel.
He was able to stash his travel bag in the redundant camera compartment and use it as a sports tourer Spit' when he was doing the show rounds. The fastest of the Spitfires in the collection, Disco described how it bucked and fought when trying to form up with the slower planes.. She just wants to GO he said. As he spoke he had a way of taking me into the cockpit with him that made all the hair stand up on the back of my neck...Wonderful, what a privilege!
I'll see if I can find a picture of the Flying Boxcar that caught the returning satellites by the parachute lines. It had two huge booms with a wire between that hooked the lines up!! When they winched the first one in, the chappie who grabbed it to pull it in was surprised to find it was still quite hot from the re-entry!