20190526-MMPI0056

On Sunday 26th May 2019 I visited the lovely rural Watts Bridge Memorial Airfield at Cressbrook, Queensland, Australia around 90 minutes west of Brisbane. The event that beautiful, crisp, foggy morning was a combination of the end of the Red Thunder Tactical Flying Clinic (TFC) and the regular fly-in breakfast meetup. There were still many Nanchang CJ-6A, Yak-50 and Yak-52 aircraft remaining after the Red Thunder TFC ended, and all told about another 30 aircraft flew in for a hearty bacon and egg breakfast and chat with other aviators frrm the region. There was a beautifully-presented Spitfire Type 300 3/4 scale replica painted in same Cerulean Blue colour scheme as the protoype it is modelled from. Another standout was DH.60M Gipsy Moth, a wonderful restoration of the original aircraft G-ABHY that set the world record for flight time between London and Darwin. There were a pair of Russian Yak-50 aerobatic planes, my first sighting of these interesting aircraft that for two years held the world aerobatic championship. I got my first sighting of the original Victa Airtourer, the forerunner to the CT/4A Airtrainer the RAAF used as primary pilot trainer from the 1970s. To add to this, it was parked near the local CT/4A which made for a good photo opportunity. A Slepcev Aviation Storch Mk4 replica of the WWII German Fieseler Storch observation aircraft, its STOL capability was shown on takeoff when it took off in what looked like about 50 metres. Other interesting older aircraft were a Taylorcraft Auster III, DH.85 Leopard Moth, a Grumman American AA-1B, and a Luscombe 8E Silvaire. A great morning with lots of interesting aircraft, beautiful weather in a lovely rural setting.