Chailey's grass runway provides lots of room......

...........and there is plenty to occupy the visitors.

The Chailey Air Show is a new venue for the 2004 season, and the countryside setting makes it an excellent addition to the display circuit. There is a great deal of history attached to the location - in 1943 the Bower Farm was taken over by the RAF and used as a home for three Polish Spitfire squadrons which made up 131 Wing of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. These squadrons, operating from the very field used for the Air Show, flew four sorties over the beaches of Normandy on 6th June 1944 and it is this in particular that the Chailey Air Show commemorates - sixty years on.

The people behind the show have a good feel for history, and their research has unearthed the surprising fact that three of the Spitfires booked for display have a connection with wartime Chailey. The Historic Aircraft Collection's Mark V, BM597, was flown in 1942 and 43 by Polish pilots of 317 squadron, some of whom were still with the same squadron at Chailey in 1944. Carolyn Grace's Spitfire, ML407, operated from a neighbouring airfield - Selsey - and is credited with the destruction of a Junkers Ju88 on D-Day itself. Finally, The Old Flying Machine Company's Mk IX Spitfire, MH434, also flew from Selsey as part of 222 Squadron. For this event, MH434 has been painted in the personal markings of Group Captain Aleksander Gabszewicz, who commanded the three wings based at the airfields of Coolham, Chailey and Selsey.

For such a young display, the organisers have done a fantastic job. Following the advice of friends who live locally, I arrived early on the Sunday and had no problems with parking and entrance to the show. In addition to the interests on the flight line, there were a large number of trade stalls, vehicle displays, demonstrations from The "Real" Dad's Army and a visit from two stars from Radio 4's "The Archers", emphasising, I suppose, the rural aspect of the show (they seemed quite popular anyway). Add to this a traditional fairground for the younger members of the public, an excellent beer tent, plentiful toilet facilities and you have all the hallmarks of a well run event.

Back to the aviation side and there were an impressive number of warbirds assembled for this event. In addition to the three Spitfires mentioned above, Historical Aircraft Company were represented by their Hurricane XIIa and Fieseler Storch, American warbirds were represented by two P-51D Mustangs (Rob Davies' "Big Beautiful Doll" and Maurice Hammond's "Janie") and The Fighter Collection's P-47D Thunderbolt. The Real Aeroplane Company was well represented by their PR.IX Spitfire and Hurricane XII but not, as advertised, by their Fokker Dr.1 or recently restored Me 109. Although this was not much of a surprise, the participation of these aircraft had been widely advertised and it was obvious by the show programme that the organisers knew well in advance that they would not be taking part. It was a pity that the show's website had not been updated to reflect their nonappearance. A bit of a black mark for the organisers there......

AEROBATICS

WARBIRDS

There was a great deal to see throughout the morning for - in addition to the arrival of the display aircraft - this event had attracted a number of visiting vintage aircraft flying in for the event. So it was a good chance to see some immaculately maintained aircraft, ranging from Peter Holloway's Ryan Recruit and Simon O'Connell's Nord 1002 to various examples of Piper Cub, Jungmanns, Stampes, and even a Miles Messenger and Isaacs Fury. Chailey seems to attract a very good class of visitor, and I have included photographs of the best of these in the photographic sequence (see from the bottom of page 2 of the index pages). It certainly added a new dimension to the day and is a plus for any aviation enthusiast.

The Air Show itself started promptly at 2pm with displays by the Historic Aircraft Company's Hurricane XIIa and Spitfire Vb. The Hurricane boasted it's new HA-C markings (no doubt who this aircraft belongs to!) and the Spitfire V, flown by regular pilot Charlie Brown, gave a nicely polished display with plenty of good photographic opportinities. Following this was a quartet of Harvards lead by Rob Davies, who gave an accomplished demonstration of close formation flying. Next was the "Black and Blue" pair - Spitfire PR.XI and Hurricane XII of The Real Aeroplane Company based at Breighton, Yorkshire. This is one of the most distinctive pairings on the display circuit with the Spitfire in Photo-Reconnaisance blue and the Hurricane sporting the markings of Ian Gleed, CO of No.87 Night Fighter squadron in 1940. The only other time I had seen this Hurricane this season was at Flying Legends when it was unfortunately grounded, so it was a special pleasure for me to see it airborne today!

The following display slot was a complete change of pace, with aerobatic displays from three training aircraft of different eras; Anna Walker's 1930s Bucker Jungmann, the ever-popular Boeing Stearman and a de Havilland Chipmunk, the RAF's main trainer in the 1950s. After this we had formation flying again, but with a difference! Four tiny Druine Turbulents of the Tiger Club more than making up in agility for what they lacked in overall speed. They kept the crowd entertained with displays of limbo flying, balloon bursting and flour bombing. Then Denny Dobson put in an appearance in his Extra 300S and put his aircraft through its paces with a near insane routine. To end this section devoted to aerobatics, we had a display by Chris Jesson in his immaculate Stampe. This was a beautifully stylish display and one of the show's highlights for me.

Another change of scene - this time Anna Walker in her Piper Cub giving us a demonstration of banner towing. This is actually more interesting than it sounds since we were shown something of the mechanics behind picking up the banner in the first place (the photographs clearly show the grappling hook under the fuselage of the Cub) and the art of towing - especially with a crosswind! The banner itself refers to a book about wartime Chailey promoted by the show's organisers.

Spitfires form the core of the Air Display and it was the turn of Carolyn Grace and her two seat Spitfire IX. This Spitfire represents 308 Squadron, part of 131 Wing at Chailey. This Spitfire actually was part of this squadron in 1945 and, of course, has become familiar to millions through the recent television programme "Spitfire Ace".

Following on from this we had "The Last Dogfight on the Western Front", a recreation of an event in 1945 when a the pilot of a Piper Cub, armed only with a Colt revolver, managed to shoot down a Fieseler Storch. This sedate display again formed a contrast with the following "act", Will Curtis and his Sukhoi SU-26. This aircraft has an amazing power to weight ratio and Will is able to perform some incredible manoeuvres, and Will himself commentating from his cockpit heightened the experience.

By now time was moving on and the weather was starting to deteriorate. There were, however, two treats left in store - a three ship display from the Fighter Collection's P-47D Thunderbolt accompanied by the two P-51D Mustangs. A couple of formation runs and they then split up for individual displays before leaving to return to their bases ahead of the weather front. This left the scene clear for Ray Hanna and MH434, the Spitfire IX which Ray has flown for some 40 years and which today was painted with the personal markings of Group Captain Aleksander Gabszewicz. Ray is probably the best Spitfire display pilot in the world and his display - full of loops, rolls and very fast low passes - left no one in doubt that we were witnessing a true master of his craft. What better way to honour the thirty-six or so young Polish pilots who flew out of this same field on 6th June 1944?

So ended the Chailey Display for 2004, and I am sure that this will be looked back on as one of the highlights of the season. Although it suffered from "overdirection" at some points (whose idea was it to belt out Elgar over the tannoy system in the middle of Ray Hanna's display?) and the commentator was a little too fond of his own voice, the display was overall an amazing success. Congratulations and thanks are due to all involved in the daunting task of mounting such an event and we can only hope that this might all happen again quite soon.

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