Final farewell of Harrier Jump Jets

Lincolnshire is very proud of its RAF heritage, its known as bomber county.  Since the end of the second world war bases have gradually closed but we still have many airfields and RAF bases.

Today was the final flight from RAF Cottesmore in Rutland for the Harrier jump jets based there, but to say good bye the squadron took a final flight over Lincoln and the Lincolnshire airbases and towns.

Unfortunately I missed the fly pass but did manage to catch there practice flight yesterday.  It was an impressive flight, and an impressive demonstration of formation flying.  As a part time pilot myself (wish I had more time to fly!), I certainly appreciated the fly past.

The Harrier jump jet was a truly great demonstration of British technical achievement, but was retired early due to the financial crisis and the need for defence cuts to save money.  The Navy is also losing its Harriers and its aircraft carriers.

Lets hope we have no war, or major humanitarian disaster that needs a British aircraft carrier.  I know we need to save money but sometimes the choices made, do seem potentially fraught with danger.

Good bye Harrier, you proved your worth, in the Falklands, Iraq and the Balkans to name just a few.  I salute you, the designers, engineers and aircrew that worked with you.  Its the end of an era.

April Showers – Not

April Showers! Nope not this year. This month has been wonderful. Horse riding and flying have been the priorities for this month, with the good weather we have even fitted in two barbeques.

Flying consisted of more cross country work, trips to Boston and Retford. Caroline has started to get the hang of the canter and we also started to plan our next holiday.

It was are annual works dinner party. This time we also had an awards ceremony, and my team won the customer services award for all the out of hours back end support we do. Nearly makes those two in the morning server rebuilds worthwhile.

And one last piece of good news, Caroline’s Bike (Honda 650) past its MOT.

a Busy March, Photographs, Holidays, Flying and Horses.

Well its now March and time for our second holiday of the year. Once again we visited one of our favorite places, Southwold, in Suffolk. Richard went with a plan in mind. To get a picture with the sea in front, then the seashore, with the town and lighthouse in the background, just after sunset. Unfortunately they locked the pier at sunset so he could not get the picture he wanted, so had to make do instead, but still not a bad shot.

The weather was lovely and warm, not bad for March, and we took the opportunity to visit a few English Heritage sites in Suffolk.

Mothers day was also the day Angela and Martin were due to visit and see Sofia for the first time. We decided to all meet up at Caroline’s fathers place and we cooked up a big pot of chilli and a shephard’s pie for everyone.

March was also the month that Richard finally did his first ever flying solo cross country and Caroline managed to horse jump two poles high.

Lastly it was Alan’s birthday, so we all met up at Alison’s and Declan’s place. On the last day of March we got into the garden and spent all day getting it all tidy.