27 September 2016
As many as 100 aircraft could turn up for this Saturday’s Radial & Trainer Fly-in at Sywell Aerodrome. Organiser Andy Dell said, “We have 40 booked in currently but I suspect we will have 90 to maybe 100 with some types yet announce – one in particular if it makes it will cause a stir.”
The fly-in Facebook page is alive with pilots and aircraft owners confirming their plans to attend the event which has been staged twice before. An earlier event scheduled for April this year had to be cancelled.
The idea for a radials fly-in came about simply because Andy saw some radial-engined aircraft taking off and thought it would attract some interesting types of aircraft.
“We did the [first] Radial Fly-in in April 2015 and we had a few trainers turn up. Both types of aircraft have a huge variety so we thought of running an event with both and it worked so we stuck with it,” Andy told FLYER.
Among the aircraft that are likely to come are a number of Yakovlev Yak-50 and Yak-52. “The venerable trainer, the definition of Soviet ruggedness, will hopefully be represented by several examples,” said Andy. “With quite a few still airworthy there’s the opportunity to see some varied colour schemes and configurations.
“One particular aircraft that has become a stalwart of the fly-in is the North American Texan, or Harvard in RAF service. Rob Davies will be bring his Harvard and Yak C-11.”
Other possibilities include a Waco UP7, Spartan Executive, Morane Saulnier MS.317, Auster AOP.11 and J5G Auster.
If you are thinking of flying into Sywell for the event, PPR to the airfield is essential. Visitors are welcome by car but there is limited parking so try to fill up the seats!
