Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. Festivities to mark the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth ll on Thursday 2nd May 2022.
Thousands enjoyed the sun and entertainment on the seafront at Lee on the Solent.
Road closures meant Marine Parade became the venue for one of the biggest ‘street parties’ in the south.
Acts included Believe A Bubble, Hoop Ballerinas, Balloon and Stilt Man, Punch and Judy, Live Music, HMS Sultan march and the lighting of a beacon to mark 70 years of reign by Queen Elizabeth ll
Click on any thumbnail below to view the images in a carousel.
Lockdown Cycling. Despite Coronavirus and lockdown it was still possible (and encouraged) to cycle locally for exercise. Later, restrictions were lifted and cycle rides further afield were permitted. My 1000 mile total (to date) was made up of rides around the Meon Valley, along the Meon Valley Trail, frequent rides around Gosport and Lee on the Solent, trips to the shops and what has become an annual ride around the Isle of Wight.
A family event at Solent Airport Daedalus to commemorate 75 years since the D-Day landings in Normandy on the 6th June 1944.
The high wind on Saturday proved too much for some of the displays, however the wind relented on Sunday allowing the planned flying programme to go ahead.
D Day 75 Daedalus. Douglas Dakota “Drag ‘em Oot” at Solent Airport Daedalus to mark the 75 anniversary of the D_Day landings by allied forces in Normandy 1944
Many missions were flown over Normandy in support of Operation Overlord from the Daedalus airfield.
The airfield continued to be a Royal Navy establishment until it was de-commissioned in 1996.
The thumbnails below show some of the images I took over the weekend, please click on any thumbnail to view the images in a gallery.
D Day 75 Daedalus. Boultbee Spitfire SM520 (G-ILDA) at Solent Airport Daedalus to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings by allied forces in Normandy 1944
Auster TW536 being held in a straight line while taxing in the wind
Drag em Oot parachute display team
D Day 75 Daedalus. Douglas Dakota “Drag ‘em Oot” at Solent Airport Daedalus to mark the 75 anniversary of the D-Day landings by allied forces in Normandy 1944
D Day 75 Daedalus. Agusta Bell Sioux AH Mk1 at Solent Airport Daedalus to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings by allied forces in Normandy 1944
D Day 75 Daedalus. The Red Arrows fly past at Solent Airport Daedalus to mark the 75 anniversary of the D-Day landings by allied forces in Normandy 1944
D Day 75 Daedalus. “Tall in The Saddle” P-51 Mustang at Solent Airport Daedalus to mark the 75 anniversary of the D-Day landings by allied forces in Normandy 1944
The setting sun silhouetting diggers and operatives working on Daedalus Common.
The Common is one of a number of community facilities provided to help soften the blow of having a large building housing high voltage transformers and associated cables on an active airfield.
More planned community facilities related to IFA2 include a heritage facility, play area and a gate guardian.
The setting sun silhouetting diggers and operatives working on Daedalus Common.
The setting sun silhouetting diggers and operatives working on Daedalus Common
PNGC closes after discussions between the gliding centre and Fareham Borough Council failed to find a compromise.
The gliding centre has been based at Solent Airport Daedalus, formerly HMS Daedalus, for more than 60 years.
The PNGC website gives more insight into the reasons behind the closure.
No one has ‘won’ and for sure we have lost a great facility for anyone wanting to try gliding and for a centre which allows young people to develop aviation skills “in an affordable manner”
The gallery below shows some images of gliding activity which in all probability we will not see again
Static aircraft, stalls and side shows on display at Solent Airport to celebrate 100 years of flying at Daedalus. The airfield opened in 1917 during the first World War and played a major part in the Second World War, particularly the D-Day operations.
Though not as exciting as the displays when it was a Naval Airfield (under the guise of health and safety) it was great to see the vintage aircraft and the ex Royal Navy Sea King, Wessex and Wasp helicopters along with the NAVYWINGS Gazelle and Wasp helicopters
Sea King XV647 at Solent Airport Daedalus 100 years event
Sea King XV647 winched to safety 26 crew members of the MSC Napoli a container ship that got into trouble off the Devon coast and had to be beached
Past displays included this Virgin Atlantic B747!
Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 747-238B on approach / fly past at one of the HMS Daedalus Airshows during the 1980s. The airfield is now Solent Airport Daedalus.
Click on any thumbnail below to view the images in gallery.
Boeing-Stearman Solent Airport 100 Years Event
Waco Classic Aircraft YMF-F5C at Solent Airport Daedalus to celebrate 100 years of flying at the airfield.
Solent Airport Daedalus 100 years event – Yakovlev Yak 52 G-RNAC. The Yakovlev Yak-52 is a Soviet primary trainer aircraft which first flew in 1976. It is still being produced in Romania by Aerostar
Westland Wasp
Wessex Helicopter
Gazelle
Yakovlev Yak 52 G-RNAC at Solent Airport Daedalus 100 years event
Sea King XV647 at Solent Airport Daedalus 100 years event
Staggerwing Beech N16S The Red Rockette at Solent Airport Daedalus 100 years event
Aeroprakt A.22 Foxbat G-FJTH at Solent Airport Daedalus to celebrate 100 years of flying at the airfield.
Storm Doris gave winds gusting up to 40 kts at Lee on the Solent, not as strong as Storm Imogen in early 2016 but still worth a trip to snap a few photographs.
Late afternoon sun but still a strong breeze from the storm
Storm Daris and High tide at Lee on the Solent
Windsurfing at Hill Head
Lee on the Solent
Hill Head is a residential area to the south of Stubbington and west of Lee on the Solent. Beaches at Hill Head provide many locations for wind and kite surfing at most states of the tide. Low tide generally gives shallow water extending a significant distance from the high tide mark. There is a car park at Salterns with a grassy area for rigging up with access to the beach across a low wall and promenade. The prevailing winds are south westerly though the conditions can be very choppy to say the least! West to north west gives cross shore winds down from Southampton water
Lee on the Solent
Some hardy windsurfers braved the elements to sail from the beach at Hill Head, from the safety of the beach I can say that about 30 years ago I would have done the same!!
Hill Head is a residential area to the south of Stubbington and west of Lee on the Solent. Beaches at Hill Head provide many locations for wind and kite surfing at most states of the tide. Low tide generally gives shallow water extending a significant distance from the high tide mark. There is a car park at Salterns with a grassy area for rigging up with access to the beach across a low wall and promenade. The prevailing winds are south westerly though the conditions can be very choppy to say the least!
West to north west gives cross shore winds down from Southampton water
Film crews and WW2 era planes at the former HMS Daedalus airfield now renamed by Fareham Borough Council as Solent Airport at Daedalus. Photographs taken from Kate’s Diner next to the control tower and from Gosport Road.
Spitfire on approach to Solent Airport at Daedalus
Spitfire and Messerschmitt
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, commonly called the Me 109 (most often by Allied aircrew and even amongst the German aces themselves, even though this was not the official German designation), is a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid-1930s (Wikipedia)
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries before, during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft. It was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war (Wikipedia)
A couple of ‘weather’ releated pictures taken yesterday and today.
After a day of heavy showers on Wednesday the sky started to clear over the Solent in the evening though still with some dark clouds being blown through, the result was not quite the vibrant sunset I had hoped for but the result was still interesting.
I’d glimpsed the field of Linseed last week and thought it would be worth a visit, being in easy cycling distance. However by early afternoon the cloud had set in though the trip was still worthwhile. Make note to visit again!
View from Hill Head across Southampton Water towards Fawley
