I thought this would be a good place every month to publish an image from the archive. I've been scanning in a lot of my old slides, mostly from the mid 1980's and this seems a good way of some of them seeing the light of day once again...


November 2008
Having recently seen that Phantom FG-1 XV582 'Black Mike' 111 Sqn RAF had made an appearance on a new decal sheet, it reminded me I had a couple of nice pics when I saw that aircraft at Mildenhall Air Fete...






October 2008
Well I thought it fitting that as the Royal Naval Historic Flight have recently managed to get Fairey Swordfish LS326 back in the air after a long lay off, here's a shot of her at RAF Mildenhall when I was there in 1985



September 2008
We should see the new Italeri British Aerospace Hawk T.Mk.1A in 1:48 scale soon - to go with the already good Airfix release. So, just to get us all in the mood what about this image I snapped at the RIAT in the mid 1980s? RAD Hawk T.MK.1A XX193 from RAF Brawdy. Note the heavily weathered finish, especially the bleached grey? Note those hydraulic stains and load out...I might just have to do this when the kit comes in?




August 2008
With a successful Waddington airshow recently passed and the mighty Avro Vulcan flying on Saturday, here's a moody shot of XH558 on Sunday against a great, thundery sky!



July 2008
Here's a nice shot of English Electric Lightning XM192 FMk.1A. Not many of these left now...This aircraft is the former Wattisham gate guardian and now resides not far from here at Thorpe Camp, near Woodhall Spa, Lincs. Also appropriate this month as I'm building the later FMk.6 in an overall metal scheme for 74 Sqn in the early 1970s.



June 2008
With Avro Vulcan XH558 returning to the airshow circuit in 2008, in the 90th anniversary year of the RAF no less, it just has to be this months pic of the month...



May 2008
I remember capturing this image of Ex Red Arrows Gnat TMk.1 at Biggin Hill in 1984 - quite nice through the struts of a biplane?




April 2008
The Fairey Gannet is a topical choice this month, especially with the recent releases of the Trumpeter scale models in 1:72. I photographed this ASW Gannet XL502 at an Air Fete, RAF Mildenhall in the late 1980s. Hope you like it?




March 2008
How nice is that?..Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) DC-3 ZA947 when it appeared at IAT in 1987.



February 2008
Well here's one to get you in the mood - the Mighty Hunter! Appropriate, considering the imminent arrival of the Airfix scale model in 1:72 scale? Who'd ever thought it......!? XV250 seen at RAF Brize Norton in 1984.



January 2008
With the hopeful imminent arrival of the Cutting Edge British Phantom FGR-2 / FG-1 conversion, this month just had to portray the classic British fighter. Seen here in the last months of service when 74 Sqn aircraft carried a mix of No 56 Sqn and 74 Sqn markings, this aircraft sidles up to its American KC-135 tanker support. Just notice that stunning heavy weathering on the wings and fuselage...

Also note that this aircraft seems to have an overall Barley Grey upper surface camo pattern - without the Medium Sea Grey inner wing sections typical of most British 'grey' F-4s



December 2007

So...to North Weald in 1988 for these nice images of Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS-1...Hope you like them?





November 2007

Here's a nice one! I shot this pic of a No 10 Sqn RAF VC-10 at RAF Brize Norton in the mid 1980s



October 2007

Here are two images of a really different Whirlwind helicopter XJ763 when it visited the Biggin Hill Air Fair in 1985..That would make an interesting scale model subject...





September 2007





How about these two images? I shot these pics at RAF Mildenhall in the mid 1980s. The aircraft pictured is F Mk.6 XR754 'BC' in the relatively unusual two-tone grey scheme. Some nice weathering possibilities here for us scale aircraft modellers? Oh yes...I think so!

August 2007


Admittedly not an old image, but Carolyn Grace's Supermarine Spitfire two-seat Mk IX is superb!

I'm currently building a Mk I Spit for my good friend John Gillies - in fact the 66 Squadron aircraft his father flew in the early stages of WWII. I'll post the final images on this site soon - so keep your eyes peeled!

Here are some previous Pics of the Month....
July 2007

A pair of Luftwaffe F-104G Starfighters at RAF Alconbury in 1985. Some nice weathering ideas here...

And one gets airborne....just feel that power of the J79!



June 2007

Phantom FGR-2 XV470 'D' of No.56 Squadron RAF, the "Firebirds". That sharkmouth on the nose is just awesome!

May 2007

Vulcan B2 XL426 takes off from RAF Mildenhall Air Fete 1985 - Those were the days!.....