November in the UK is always a bleak affair with lots of rain, and this year was no exception and so the pilots and crew at Middlezoy Aerodrome in Somerset were watching the Met Office weather forecasts with fingers crossed as they planned a repeat of the previous year's Remembrance Sunday Flypast with two 3-ship formations flying over the wartime airfield sites at Puriton, Huntspill, Burnham-on-Sea, Berrow, Brean, Brean Down, Somerton, Weston-super-Mare, Pitney, High Ham, Loxton, Stawell, Cossington, Edingworth, Woolavington, Mark, Wedmore, Shapwick and Middlezoy.
In the event, the weather gods shone down on the aerodrome, however there was a fierce crosswind that the rather light airframes would have to contend with. The plan from my end was to fly up front in the spare seat of the open cockpit of the beautiful Pietenpol AirCamper that is based at Middlezoy and capture some air-to-air footage. But the crosswind put an end to that strategy - I was grounded, the aircraft would have a shaky take-off even without me adding to the weight.
No matter though, I must say it was rather poignant watching these aircraft leave the field on Remembrance Sunday. My fellow groundcrew and I followed their progress with the transponders in the comfortable and fascinating aero-cave that is the airfield nissan hut.
As the flypast aircraft returned, we greeted them as they touched down before adjourning to the nissan hut for a debriefing and a toast of brandy to those aircrews who did not return from their wartime missions.
Later, gathering together phone footage from the media manager of the aerodrome and one of the Auster co-pilots (who it turned out is sort of in the same line of professional graphics and video work as myself so we happily we could speak geek tech spec) to mix with my own humble iphone footage, I pieced together an edit to commemorate the event, and so, we will remember them...
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