John Russell is organising the 80th Anniversary Commemoration of the UK winning the Schneider Trophy outright in 1931. The plan is for a flight of seaplanes, including “Les Bleus” C182 and a Catalina, to fly round the original course near Southampton. The BBC will be involved mediawise.

For GSD participants:

All flights are planned to start from Lee-on-Solent (land) airfield (EGHF) and return there. Thus those who have very good reasons for avoiding salt can take part in the event without getting wet!

 At the moment John Russell's 182 will be the only one planned for salt water landings, but anyone else who wishes to do so can be included in the plan and obviously will be appreciated by the BBC team and spectators along the coasts. For the fresh water adventure please read on.

In the event of bad weather on the 13th, the memorial flight would be postponed for a day (or two?!). Thus the Official dates of the GSD 2011 will be 12th -15th September, with people arriving on the 12th to be in position for the 13th. The Fly-Out for water landings would be planned for the 14th with aircraft leaving on the 15th. 

Pilots needing to get back soonest could leave after the Anniversary Event on the 13th, as the Flight itself should be over by mid-afternoon.

In case you are not interested in getting your plane on British TV, there will be other attractions for the GSD visitors besides the anniversary flight.

After the actual event, John plans to lead a day-away flight. He just has visited a possible fly-out site on the River Severn. Other choices currently under investigation include a flight to an estuary which would almost be salt-free, or perhaps a Welsh lake (we are working on the clearance at the moment).

There are other good places to visit locally or fly into, such as Duxford, which has a great aero museum. Southampton Aviation Museum is a few miles away, which make an interesting afternoon visit as it has one of the Schneider floatplanes, the British SARO floatplane fighter and a Sandringham flying boat on view.

 John is hoping to obtain enough sponsorship to pay for your accommodation and/or your fuel, but won’t be able to confirm that until closer the time.

So, John Russell and the GSD are happy to offer a welcome to all European waterbirds and buddies!

More info, when available. Please use the RSS feed (right buttom corner of Home page) if you want to be informed when new contents will be provided on this page.

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 April 2011 17:32