Weekender 2020 ~ Here we go again

[Mr Gazza]

Originally Posted by BigOz

I heard a story about the Vulcans returning from missions at Red Flag in the states with cactus stuck on the wingtips.

Yep.. It's in the Book Vulcan 607 that Mike lent me. The story of the first Black Buck mission and more... Pilot with the cactus was Willis I think? Same chap who flew the first Vulcan all the way to The Falklands. Fantastic book.

Edit.. Dacs has just informed me that the pilot was Martin Withers, not Willis.
He also sent me a photo of his framed Vulcan portrait... Signed by Martin Withers... Class or what?

[mickj]

I worked at RAF Spadeadam in the 70's and we used to have Buccaneers flying down the fire breaks in the forest surrounding the site collecting pine sap on their wing tips. Great to be part of it as we often looked down on aircraft from two story buildings.

Helen has confirmed this morning that all rooms previously reserved for the event are now back on open sale, as per a previous post ,5 have already been taken by another group.

You can still get the special rates by quoting "Ducati weekend" but the rooms are on a first come first served basis now.

If you are undecided on taking the plunge my advice is Book a room, no money is taken at this point, if you change your mind you can always cancel.

This is a great weekend get together at a great hotel at really good prices......you wont regret it.

......17 rooms now, welcome aboard Pezz, the list is creeping upwards, can we make 20 rooms? !

Moco1961 +1
ChrisC2925 +1
UK Surfer
Char
BigOz
Bigredduke
Utopia
Doggy
Mart64
alanC
Rollo
Grumpy
Rollo22
Tokke007
Fireman sam +1
Stinger101 + 1
Dacs
Mr Gazza
MarkH
Chris Yateman
Dave R
Liz
Stafford
Adie851
Pezz + 1

Come on down folks,

[chris yeatman]

Moco1961 +1
ChrisC2925 +1
UK Surfer
Char
BigOz
Bigredduke
Utopia
Doggy
Mart64
alanC
Rollo
Grumpy
Rollo22
Tokke007
Fireman sam +1
Stinger101 + 1
Dacs
Mr Gazza
MarkH
Chris Yeatman
Dave R
Liz
Stafford
Adie851
Pezz + 1

Oops! Sorry Chris ....

[Pezz]

My plus one will only be on Saturday night if at all [shifts could scupper any appearance...] so I've tweaked the list

Moco1961 +1
ChrisC2925 +1
UK Surfer
Char
BigOz
Bigredduke
Utopia
Doggy
Mart64
alanC
Rollo
Grumpy
Rollo22
Tokke007
Fireman sam +1
Stinger101 + 1
Dacs
Mr Gazza
MarkH
Chris Yeatman
Dave R
Liz
Stafford
Adie851
Pezz + 0.5

Nearly there.....welcome aboard Rob, always knew you would make it

Moco1961 +1
ChrisC2925 +1
UK Surfer
Char
BigOz
Bigredduke
Utopia
Doggy
Mart64
alanC
Rollo
Grumpy
Rollo22
Tokke007
Fireman sam +1
Stinger101 + 1
Dacs
Mr Gazza
MarkH
Chris Yeatman
Dave R
Liz
Stafford
Adie851
Pezz + 0.5
Rob & Thuli

RE: the mach loop. the RAF have stopped flying the loop for last little while, air forces of other countries are still using it though but the air traffic is a lot less. If you don't fancy trudging up from the lay by in all your bike gear there's a little used single track road that'll take you all but to the top on your bike. If you check Google maps it'll make sense, turn off the A487 at Corris and head for Aberllefeni keep on the single track up the mountain open and close two gates and park where the road crests the top.

[Mr Gazza]

Thank you very much for that tip Derek. I had heard that the Mach loop was not so good these days. Grumpy and I met a fellow at Shuttleworth whilst staring into a Bristol Centaurus engine of all things. He was a regular at the loop and said the RAF knocked it on the head after someone was caught showing off in a very noisy way!

I had seen someone showing that route somewhere on the net but didn't realise it led to the right hill... I'll have a search for it.

Originally Posted by der888

RE: the mach loop. the RAF have stopped flying the loop for last little while, air forces of other countries are still using it though but the air traffic is a lot less. If you don't fancy trudging up from the lay by in all your bike gear there's a little used single track road that'll take you all but to the top on your bike. If you check Google maps it'll make sense, turn off the A487 at Corris and head for Aberllefeni keep on the single track up the mountain open and close two gates and park where the road crests the top.

Morning Derek, you out and about today?.......check your pm'sriverside hotel, b-y-c..11:45

Ok folks so the itinerary for the weekender is taking shape quite nicely, Mark and I braved the elements and did a route reccy today, still some minor details to confirm but Saturday's route will be aiming for Anglesey .

Some great roads and scenery on the way, the object of the ride is RAF Valley.Chris has worked his magic behind the scenes and got us access to the hangar where the T2 Hawk trainers live, even getting one rolled out for us to look at close quarters and get some photos.

Now obviously this is an active facility so we need to send then names of those who wish to attend.please let me know if you would like access for this unique opportunity , if your name isn't on the list security can't let you in on the day.

Thanks folks.......

[uksurfer]

Does this mean that both days involve looking at planes?

[Mr Gazza]

All three days hopefully..

Is it just a name you need Mike? We had to supply full name, Nationality and DOB for Coningsby

[ChrisC2925]

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

All three days hopefully..

Is it just a name you need Mike? We had to supply full name, Nationality and DOB for Coningsby

Full details please Mr G & bike reg please, you can either PM me or Mike.

Thanks

Chris