I'm trying to collect information on all the shows performed over the years.
If you have further details or information about any show, please feel free to use the "contact" link on the left.
To give you an idea of the amount of training done, I checked & Dave Waddington's log book lists 51 GIN practice flights in the 3 months Feb - April 1969. The initial practice flights were at 5000 ft. After 12 flights in Feb 1969, the first FLAT show practice was done at 500 ft on 3 March. The Full show was also initially practiced at 5000 feet, the 27th GIN practice came down to 3000 ft, the 31st at 2000 ft, the 33rd at 1500 ft. There is no height recorded for the first few shows, but the 56th flight ( after a couple of shows ) was at 1000 ft. On 23rd May there was a practice of the FULL show at 500 ft. This was the 64th GIN Practice/Show flight.
Al Colesky's said the following :-
....we had "fly offs " on the base as to would be in the team and mine was on 29th January 1969 with with a Flt Lt Todd. ['67 team member] As far as I can remember we then started working up as a two ship formation pair and then to a three ship and eventually a four ship. My logbook reflects myself with Dave Coldicutt on 3rd Feb with a MacKenzie Crookes ['68 team member] and myself on 6th, myself and Joe Whitfield on 10th and so on. My logbook reflects approx 48 LINTON GIN flights prior to our first full show at RAF Shawbury on 3rd May 1969. If you remember I told you earlier that we would take every opportunity to leap into the air to practice and as Training Command was stationed at our base we were cleared to lower levels earlier than we might have been.
Where possible the 1969 shows tried to incorporate a take-off & landing in front of the crowd. As much as possible was flown in direct sight of the crowd.
Sid Edwards wrote the following :-
Formation take-offs and landings were SOP [Standard Operating Procedure] (except on short, narrow or grass runways!) as I felt that the JP was quite impressive taking off and landing in a tight bunch. We often landed with six aircraft in close formation because we took a spare aircraft and were often joined by the solo aerobatic JP. I took great pride in calling "finals 18 greens" or "finals 15 greens" or, if we were really wimps, "finals 12 greens." With six aircraft, I aimed to land well up the runway, with plenty of power on and wait for number six to hit the ground first and call "six on" then "five on" and "four on" before calling "cut" for the remaining three of us.
John Bishop ( '69 Reserve ) clearly remembers this :-
We often landed in formation. .....I can't imagine others ever doing anything like we did ..... with Sid leading from the front, we just toddled along, keeping him closely in view ...
Where he went, we went.
Here's what Al Colesky had to say about the '69 shows.
Dave Coldicutt and John Bishop never flew in the Full show but most certainly did in some of the flat show or fly pasts. The object at one stage to have a synchronized pair in our show did not work as our show was 10 minutes and we were in sight of the crowd for the whole time with the exception of after the formation take off when we opened up behind the crowd line to pull up over their heads into a "draw string loop".
The show comprised mainly of five different formation shapes. :- Diamond , Swan, Line astern, Card box and Tee. All changes in formation were done going into a loop or coming out of a loop and presented to the public in plan view so that they could see what we were doing. We also were well within the perimeter of the airfield to show the maneuverability of the Jet Provost.
Here's a picture of the "GIN Tee" in a loop. This has been hanging on our wall for aver 40 years now & has faded somewhat.
I have some amazing in aircraft footage of a Linton GIN practice flight. This shows what some of the display looked like from within the aircraft. The footage was shot from within Dave Waddington's aircraft, looking at Sid Edwards tail. Al Colesky is flying on the left & Joe Whitfield on the right.
The 1970 team had 1 new pilot - Dudley Carvell, Dave Coldicutt ( 69 Reserve ) became a full member & Dave Waddington & Joe Whitfield ( 69 members ) flew in new positions.
I don't know how much the show changed from 1969 to 1970, but here are the 1970 shows on paper.
This show is referred to as the "FULL" show in the details below. This show was flown for most displays in 1970.
If you click on this graphic, a LARGE version will open up.
The following graphic shows the "FLAT" show. This was flown if the cloud cover was too low & much of the "FULL" show would have been performed in / above the clouds.
If you click on this graphic, a LARGE version will open up.
There was a new "formation shape" used in 1970 called the "Mary", named after Dave Waddington's wife. This is shown in both of the graphics above. Here are a couple of newspaper clippings about it.
The Youtube clip below is actually a bunch of Black & White photos that I have, editted together. Eventually I will post the photo's in larger (more detailed) format in the "Miscellaneous" section on the left. These photos were probably taken from an aircraft flown by Dave Coldicutt.
I unfortunatley have very little information about the 1972 shows.
Below is a list of the shows that I know of. For each show I have listed what ever information I have been able to find, such as duration, aircraft used, programmes, newspaper clippings etc etc
If you have further details or information about any show, please feel free to use the "contact" link on the left.
| Date | Venue | |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 - 5 Shows flown | ||
| 10 June 1961 | RAF Dishforth | Details |
| 24 June 1961 | RNAS Arbroath | Details |
| 8 July 1961 | RNAS Abbotsinch | Details |
| 15 July 1961 | RNAS Culdrose | Details |
| 22 July 1961 | RNAS Lossiemouth | Details |
| 1962 - 4 Shows flown | ||
| 28 July 1962 | RNAS Culdrose | Details |
| 15 Sept 1962 (BoB day) | RAF Finningley | See RAF Benson entry |
| 15 Sept 1962 (BoB day) | RAF Hullavington | See next line |
| 15 Sept 1962 (BoB day) | RAF Benson | Details |
| 1963 - 8 Shows flown | ||
| 6 July 1963 | RNAS Arbroath | Details |
| 20 July 1963 | RNAS Brawdy | Details |
| 27 July 1963 | RNAS Culdrose | Details |
| 10 Aug 1963 | RNAS Lee on Solent | Details |
| 14 Sept 1963 (BoB day) | RAF St Athan | See below |
| 14 Sept 1963 (BoB day) | RAF Colerne | Details |
| 28 Sept 1963 | RAF Valley | Details |
| 5 Oct 1963 | RAF Middleton St George | Details |
| 1964 - 6 Shows flown | ||
| 27 June 1964 | Yeovilton | Details |
| 25 July 1964 | RNAS Culdrose | Details |
| 14 Aug 1964 | Leconfield | Details |
| 14 Sept 1964 | Linton-on-Ouse | - |
| 16 Sept 1964 | Finningley | Details |
| 26 Sept 1964 | Rochester | Details |
| 1965 - incomplete list :-( | ||
| 3 July 1965 | RNAS Yeovilton | - |
| 23 July 1965 | RNAS Arbroath | - |
| 24 July 1965 | RNAS Lossiemouth | - |
| 7 August 1965 | RNAS Brawdy | - |
| 21 August 1965 | Baginton | Details |
| 18 Sept 1965 (BoB day) | RAF St Athan | - |
| 18 Sept 1965 (BoB day) | RAF St Mawgan | - |
| 1966 - incomplete list :-( | ||
| 30 May 1966 | Church Fenton | - |
| 23 July 1966 | Arbroath | Details |
| 27 Aug 1966 | Lossiemouth | Details |
| Sept 1966 | St Mawgan ( Battle of Britain ) | Details |
| 1967 - 14 shows flown | ||
| 6 May 1967 | Lakenheath | Details |
| 29 May 1967 | Church Fenton | Details |
| 10 June 1967 | Sunderland | Details |
| 17 June 1967 | Catterick | Details |
| 14 July 1967 | Acklington | Details |
| 21 July 1967 | Leeming | Details |
| 22 July 1967 | Arbroath | Details |
| 29 July 1967 | Wheeton | Details |
| 5 August 1967 | Newcastle | Details |
| 9 Sept 1967 | Lossiemouth | Details |
| 16 Sept 1967 | Abingdon | Details |
| 16 Sept 1967 | Gaydon | See previous line |
| 30 Sept 1967 | Prestwick / Glasgow | Details |
| 4 Oct 1967 | Linton | Details |
| 1968 - 14 Shows flown | ||
| 30 March 1968 | Fylingdales | Details |
| 4 May 1968 | RAF Shawbury | Details |
| 13 May 1968 | Linton-on-Ouse | - |
| 18 May 1968 | RAF Wattisham | Details |
| 25 May 1968 | Topcliffe | Details |
| 4 July 1968 | Menwith Hill | Details |
| 6 July 1968 | Leeming | Details |
| 6 July 1968 | Sunderland | See previous line |
| 18 July 1968 | Swinderby | Details |
| 20 July 1968 | Arbroath | Details |
| 27 July 1968 | RAF Shawbury | Details |
| 10 August 1968 | RAF Valley | Details |
| 8 Sept 1968 | Rufforth | Details |
| 14 Sept 1968 | Leuchars | Details |
| 1969 - 23 Shows flown | ||
| 30 Apr 1969 | Ripon | Details |
| 3 May 1969 | Shawbury | Details |
| 11 May 1969 | Helmswell | Details |
| 14 May 1969 | Perth | Details |
| 24 May 1969 | Halton | Details |
| 31 May 1969 | Turnhouse | Details |
| 14 June 1969 | Upper Heyford | Details |
| 21 June 1969 | Denham | Details |
| 28 June 1969 | York Racecourse | Details |
| 4 July 1969 | Menwith Hill | Details |
| 4 July 1969 | Leeming | Details |
| 5 July 1969 | Alconbury | Details |
| 12 July 1969 | Wycombe ( ex-RAF Booker ) | Details |
| 23 July 1969 | Arbroath | Details |
| 26 July 1969 | Peterhead | Details |
| 31 Aug 1969 | Münster ( Germany ) | Details |
| 6 Sept 1969 | Rufforth | Details |
| 7 Sept 1969 | Thruxton | Details |
| 18 Sept 1969 | Gaydon | see next line |
| 20 Sept 1969 | Gaydon ( Battle of Britain ) | Details |
| 20 Sept 1969 | Benson ( Battle of Britain ) | Details |
| 27 Sept 1969 | Harrogate | see next line |
| 27 Sept 1969 | Linton | Details |
| 1970 - 20 Shows flown | ||
| 16 April 1970 | Swinderby | Details |
| 2 May 1970 | Church Fenton | Details |
| 10 May 1970 | Wiesbaden ( Germany ) | Details |
| 25 May 1970 | Henlow | see next line |
| 25 May 1970 | Hucknall | Details |
| 6 June 1970 | Doncaster | Details |
| 13 June 1970 | Doncaster Aero Club | Details |
| 14 June 1970 | Leeming | Details |
| 4 July 1970 | High Wycombe | Details |
| 11 July 1970 | Höchst ( Germany ) | Details |
| 12 July 1970 | Gelnhausen ( Germany ) | Details |
| 12 July 1970 | Ailertchen ( Germany ) | Details |
| 18 July 1970 | Lossiemouth | Details |
| 22 July 1970 | Plymouth | Details |
| 25 July 1970 | Leconfield | Details |
| 7 Aug 1970 | Hereford | Details |
| 29 Aug 1970 | Newcastle | Details |
| 31 Aug 1970 | Newcastle | Details |
| 6 Sept 1970 | Rufforth | Details |
| 19 Sept 1970 | Leuchars ( Battle of Britain ) | Details |
| 1971 - 33 Shows flown | ||
| 28 April 1971 | Staff College | Details |
| 1 May 1971 | Newton | Details |
| 9 May 1971 | Dijon ( France ) | Details |
| 12 May 1971 | Finningley | Details |
| 15 May 1971 | Turnhouse | Details |
| 23 May 1971 | Orleans ( France ) | Details |
| 31 May 1971 | Henlow | Details |
| 31 May 1971 | North Weald | See previous line |
| 5 June 1971 | Harrogate | Details |
| 10 June 1971 | Carpi ( Italy ) | Details |
| 20 June 1971 | Valley | Details |
| 22 June 1971 | Topcliffe | Details |
| 26 June 1971 | Haughley Park | Details |
| 27 June 1971 | Maidstone | Details |
| 3 July 1971 | Topcliffe | See next line |
| 4 July 1971 | Topcliffe | Details |
| 10 July 1971 | Scunthorpe | Details |
| 17 July 1971 | Wick | Details |
| 24 July 1971 | Plymouth | Details |
| 25 July 1971 | Portsmouth | Details |
| 31 July 1971 | Middle Wallop | Details |
| 1 Aug 1971 | Ingliston | Details |
| 7 Aug 1971 | Rufforth | Details |
| 11 Aug 1971 | Hereford | Details |
| 29 Aug 1971 | Brighton | Details |
| 5 Sept 1971 | Coventry | Details |
| 5 Sept 1971 | Waterbeach | Details |
| 12 Sept 1971 | Hammelburg ( Germany ) | Details |
| 12 Sept 1971 | Hanau ( Germany ) | Details |
| 14 Sept 1971 | Leuchars | Details |
| 15 Sept 1971 | York | Details |
| 18 Sept 1971 | York | Details |
| 18 Sept 1971 | Leuchars ( Battle of Britain ) | Details |
| 1972 - 25 Shows flown | ||
| 13 May 1972 | RAF Turnhouse | Details |
| 20 May 1972 | Hereford | Details |
| 20 May 1972 | RAF Woodvale | - |
| 28 May 1972 | Le Mans ( France ) | Details |
| 29 May 1972 | Oundle | - |
| 29 May 1972 | Henlow | Details |
| 3 June 1972 | Aberdeen | Details |
| 10 June 1972 | St Peter Ording ( N. Germany ) | - |
| 24 June 1972 | RAF Locking | - |
| 1 July 1972 | Kitzingen ( Germany ) | - |
| 2 July 1972 | Kitzingen ( Germany ) | - |
| 8 July 1972 | Topcliffe | - |
| 9 July 1972 | Topcliffe | Details |
| 15 July 1972 | Leavesden | - |
| 12 August 1972 | Biddenden | - |
| 19 Aug 1972 | Woodford | Details |
| 20 Aug 1972 | Barton | - |
| 26 Aug 1972 | USAF Bitburg (Germany) | Details |
| 27 Aug 1972 | USAF Ramstein (Germany) | Details |
| 3 Sept 1972 | RAF Turnhill | - |
| 3 Sept 1972 | RAF Valley | - |
| 12 Sept 1972 | Leuchars ( Press Day ) | - |
| 16 Sept 1972 | Leuchars ( Battle of Britain ) | Details |
| 20 Sept 1972 | Linton on Ouse | - |
| 1 Oct 1972 | Weinheim ( Germany ) | Details |
| 1973 - 8 Shows flown | ||
| 6 May 1973 | Doncaster | Details |
| 13 May 1973 | Valance ( France ) | Details |
| 19 May 1973 | Woodvale | Details |
| 3 June 1973 | Kitzingen ( Germany ) | Details |
| 9 June 1973 | Sheffield | Details |
| 16 June 1973 | Sunderland | Details |
| 17 June 1973 | Stockton | Details |
| 24 June 1973 | Toulouse ( France ) | Details |