RD FLY 2Taking to the skies over Stirling yesterday (Thursday July 16th 1998) were a 1949 Chipmonk trainer,left, and a 1940 Piper L4 Cub spotter plane which along with many other famous aircraft including a Battle of Britain Spitfire, Hurricane and Messerschmidtt 109, a 1950s Soviet MIG 15 fighter and the Uk's only surviving Catalina flying boat will take part in a spectacular new air show, The Festival of Flight at East Fortune Airfield in East Lothian, Scotland, on Saturday 18th July. In the foreground is the wing of a 1940 Miles Magister training aircraft. Attendances are expected to reach 20,000 for the family day out at the National Museums of Scotland, Museum of Flight which houses over 50 aircraft and rockets at the former wartime airfield near Haddington.
© 1998 Roger Donovan, Media Photos. Having had an interest in aviation since my early teens when my career ambition was to become a pilot, it has been a joy to me that my eventual chosen career of photography has allowed me to get airborne on many occasions, including many flights in gliders, light aircraft, Chinook and Jet Ranger helicopters, biplanes and a hot air balloon as well as in this instance in the open cockpit of this single winged wooden built 1940 Miles Magister training aircraft.

This was shot in the skies over Stirling, Scotland on 16/7/98  where the three aircraft came together for me to shoot a picture for release to the Scottish media as a bit of pre publicity for the upcoming new air show, The Festival of Flight at East Fortune Airfield in East Lothian, Scotland, on Saturday 18th July.

It was an amazing experience but the shot itself proved quite tricky to choreograph as what radio we had was barely audible over the noise of the engine and propellor just in front of me and the wind noise in the open cockpit. Lots of hand gestures were required if memory serves me right. The picture was well used in the following days press across Scotland and got some good publicity for the airshow.

In the foreground is a 1949 Chipmonk trainer and beyond a 1940 Piper L4 Cub spotter plane which along with many other famous aircraft including a Battle of Britain Spitfire, Hurricane and Messerschmidtt 109, a 1950s Soviet MIG 15 fighter and the Uk's only surviving Catalina flying boat were to take part in the show.

My pilot for the day Jim McTaggart took part in the weekends display flying various aircraft but unfortunately his show came to an abrupt end when he crashed his Starbuster biplane in a corn field at Yellowcraigs near Direlton close to the airfield. Luckily he escaped uninjured from the upturned plane. I was at home when I heard news of the crash on the radio and quickly made my way to Yellowcraigs and after a long hike through woods and fields found the crashed aircraft.

ARCHIVE630The Starbuster biplane flown by Jim McTaggart lies in a corn field at Yellowcraigs near Direlton after it crashed whilst taking part in the Festival of Flight at East Fortune Airfield near Haddington.
© 1998 Roger Donovan, Media Photos, 4 Thornyhall, Dalkeith, Edinburgh. EH22 2ND.
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