We were incredibly lucky with the weather at Cosford this year - which might seem an odd thing to say when you find out that we packed up at 2pm on Sunday because of the rain. But the weather forecast had been for rain most of the weekend and yet from Saturday at 10am it was rain-free and until 2pm on Sunday it was almost rain-free. So there was lots of flying for the visitors to see.
Richard's engine lost power during both flights so he elected to land early rather than have to go for a long trek to retrieve the model if he lost the engine completely. It was frustrating because the previous day he had flown 4 times with no engine trouble at all and nothing had been changed.
(c) Alex Whittaker
As the engine was showing the same characteristics that Steve's showed a few weeks ago, since the show we have made the same modification that his engine had so hope it will now perform well again.
(c) Neil Hutchinson
Despite the engine problems there were some great photos of the models. Thanks to Neil Hutchinson and Alex Whittaker for these great close ups. You can see more of their photos of the Baby Wingalkers on our Facebook page and more of their photos of hundreds of different aircraft at their own sites.
Steve's Bronco has been a useful addition to the show models this year. He likes flying it but it's also useful on the flightline. At a couple of shows it's been a welcome sunshade but this weekend it was useful as a tent. We put the tarpaulin over it, put the other models underneath and could actually dismantle the Stearmans in the dry - though it was a bit cramped.
The Baby Breitling Wingwalkers flew at Woodspring Wings Model Show at the beginning of July. It marked a year since our first public display at the same show last year.
Woodspring is always an enjoyable place to fly at. The site gives a great background to fly against and the crowd can get a good view of the models. Although there is a tarmac runway there's also a lot of grass to use as well.
This year is was incredibly hot on both days but the DA150 engines in the Stearmans performed well.
We were really pleased to be awarded a trophy for the best biplanes.
(Photos courtesy of Chris Bowler)
David from Icebox was there again and we made a rig for one of his cameras so he could have some onboard footage. We didn't have the usual camera mount we use so made one out of a spare propeller. It's not as steady as our usual mount so tends to cause camera shake when the plane throttles up. But it's nice to see the whole routine from the ground and onboard.
This weekend we flew at the 25th anniversary of Wings and Wheels model show. Both Steve and Richard have flown a variety of their planes there over the years.
Saturday wasn't a comfortable day for flying. The drizzle we drove through on our way to North Weald airfield had just about stopped when we arrived to set up but there was a strong crosswind blowing towards us. The Stearmans are difficult to land at the best of times (a feature shared with the full size) even more difficult to control on the ground in a crosswind.
We decided to fly only one plane for 2 reasons. Firstly, we have another show next week and no time for any repairs so at least if anything happened to the plane we flew this week we would still have one for next week. Secondly, when you are flying in gusty conditions the models get knocked around a lot by the wind so even if you aim to fly a straight line you can get blown off course. This means the formation looks untidy so the display actually looks better with just one plane.
Sunday was a completely different story. It was hot before the show even started. The wind had shifted nearly 180 degrees and was now blowing on our backs. But the wind strength was much lower and so ground control was much easier.
As we liked the 5 minute routine that we flew last weekend we decided to stick to that and add 2 new manouevres towards the end to fill an 8 minute slot. The first we call a "William Tell" where Richard flies a loop and Steve flies through the middle of the loop. The second is an "opposition bump" where the pilots fly towards each other and do a "Breitling bump" in the middle of the display area.
Last weekend was our first public display this year. The Cotswold Airshow is a 2 day full size airshow in Gloucestershire but they also have a few slots for model planes.
This year the models all had a local theme. A model Hunter to fit in with the anniversary of the planes that have a long connection with the airfield; a model Hercules and the Baby Wingwalkers which are both modelled on aircraft that are based nearby.
We also put a video camera on one of the planes during Sunday's flight so you can see what Cotswold Airport (still known to regulars as Kemble) looks like from the air and some of Baby Danni's manoeuvres during the flight.
The weather on Saturday was wet and windy but we were lucky and did still get two flights. The others weren't as lucky because the morning model slot was cut short to let the Dutch Hunters land so the Hercules couldn't fly and our additional slot at lunchtime was brought to a rapid end by torrential rain so the Hercules lost its flight again. We were lucky as we flew first and the rain held off but poor Geoff flew the Hunter in horrible rain.
Fortunately it was still windy which dried our clothes out so we didn't have to spend the rest of the day squelching round. We were hoping to have a picture in the Sunday Times as their photographer spent a long time setting up a shot with us - but it never made it to print.
Sunday was much better weather and photographer Chris - who is also a highly skilled rigger/ derigger and plane pusher - took some gorgeous photos of the planes sunlit against the dark clouds. See more of our photos.
So, another successful weekend and good to see the variety of aircraft there. You can see some great photos of the full size on the Cotswold Airshow Facebook page and in this forum.
A few weeks ago Richard flew one of the Baby Wingwalkers at Rendcomb at a Help for Heroes event.
There have been a few changes on the planes and in the wingwalkers' outfits for 2011 and this was the first display for the new colour scheme.
We flew at the start of the event and it was very bumpy because there was a rainstorm coming in behind us. Part way through the routine we looked at the big black cloud getting closer and closer and advised Richard to land - just in time as the heavens opened shortly afterwards.
After about 20 minutes or so the weather cleared up and the full size planes had great weather as the wind had dropped. We were jealous! Let's hope the rest of the flights this year have better weather.
If you want to see more photos of the new colour scheme and wingwalker outfits visit Baby Wingwalkers on Facebook.
Breitling have made a few changes to the full size planes' design and the wingwalkers' costumes for 2011. We had a chance earlier this week to visit Rendcomb to take some photos for reference and saw the full size team practising their routine.
Now it's down to Richard to reflect the changes in the models. He's already added the numbers on the nose of each plane and started cutting out the new costumes.
