Puma 50th anniversary Flypast

[Seamus]

Afternoon all,

 

A few images from Middle Wallop to catch the 9-ship of Pumas stopping for fuel during their 50th anniversary flypast yesterday. Hot and hazy conditions made photography tricky, so these are only record shots really, but nice to witness the event nonetheless. Hope they're of interest.

Westland Puma HC2 | XW224 | Royal Air Force | AAC Middle Wallop | 07/07/21 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

 

Westland Puma HC2 | XW224 | Royal Air Force | AAC Middle Wallop | 07/07/21 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

 

Westland Puma HC2 | XW224 | Royal Air Force | AAC Middle Wallop | 07/07/21 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

 

Westland Puma HC2 | XW216/G | Royal Air Force | AAC Middle Wallop | 07/07/21 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

 

Westland Puma HC2 | ZJ956/Y | Royal Air Force | AAC Middle Wallop | 07/07/21 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

 

Westland Puma HC2 | Royal Air Force | AAC Middle Wallop | 07/07/21 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking,

Shaun

Edited July 8, 2021 by Seamus

[Pete in Lincs]

Nice pictures, Shaun. Thanks very much for posting them.

[canberraman]

A lovely selection Shaun. You managed to get considerably closer to the formation than I managed at RAF Wyton

 

Cheers

 

Mark

[Harry Lime]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Worryingly, the last time I was at Middle Wallop I was a spotty Air Cadet selling airshow programmes and these airframes hadn't quite hit the 25 years service mark just yet and here they are at 50! Unless I'm mistaken, that's the top of Danebury hill fort in your last shot? Did you take these from the A338 side of the airfield?

 

Mark.

[Seamus]

Thanks chaps, glad they were of interest

 

1 hour ago, canberraman said:

A lovely selection Shaun. You managed to get considerably closer to the formation than I managed at RAF Wyton

 

Cheers

 

Mark

 

Cheers, not nearly as close as I'd have liked though! They didn't quite play ball sadly and the heat haze was a nightmare.... Can't complain in the circumstances mind, not everyday we get to see this!

 

 

1 hour ago, Harry Lime said:

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Worryingly, the last time I was at Middle Wallop I was a spotty Air Cadet selling airshow programmes and these airframes hadn't quite hit the 25 years service mark just yet and here they are at 50! Unless I'm mistaken, that's the top of Danebury hill fort in your last shot? Did you take these from the A338 side of the airfield?

 

Mark.

 

These were shot from a little along the fence from the museum in the Northwest corner of the airfield. Google Maps confirms it is indeed Danebury Hillfort

[Wez]

Thanks for sharing these.

 

Being an ex-Puma liney, it's interesting to see the differences between the current Mk2 and the Mk1's I used to work on (gulps), over 24 years ago.  There's an awful lot of reinforcement on the sliding cowling aft of the exhaust these days!

 

XW224, the one in the commemorative paint scheme, was traditionally one of the Pussycat's display cabs, so it's fitting it's been chosen to wear the commemorative scheme (I still prefer the DSG/DG/Black scheme to the current schemes for SH cabs).

[junglierating]

Ho ho 9 cabs ....always one that goes tits up 😆 funnily enough I was at the Oxfordshire air station on Monday....amazing how tiny Pumas are....still good looking beast if a little puny .

 

[Des]

A nice set and thanks very much for sharing.

 

Exhaust staining didn't take long to take the edge of the tail.

[F-32]

Lovely shots, Benson is up the road from me but unfortunately we didn't see them on the day