Well, what a day Thursday was.....Set off from Edinburgh at 23:30, straight after a late shift on Wednesday evening, primarily due to all the hype over the lack of parking frenzy which seen us arrive in one of the many car parks at 04:10. At this time, there were a few cars around, but nothing like I was expecting. In fact there was a nice steady stream of arriving parties throughout the morning, and the afore mentioned parking frenzy only began around 11:30!
Anyway, the next dilemma was where to go and when to climb. Again, people were leaving their cars as early as 5:30 to get in position, bearing in mind it was foggy and cold at the time! Crazy! anyway, once the sun had dispersed the fog, we set of on a little tourist adventure around the area to get our baring’s and take in the potential locations. We were heading back to the car and certainly walking against the masses all making their way to above the Dam.
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We set off to the south east end of the valley and as It was just a little after 9am and we still had 3 hours of the sun in our face before anything was set to happen. Needless to say, there was barely a cloud in the sky throughout the morning and a mere 14 of us set up there. It was incredible watching the popular spot over the Dam fill up throughout the morning.
Anyway, I am sure you have all seen some of the excellent coverage by the BBC and kept up to date by Gills extraordinary site, so enough ramblings.
The first piece of action other than two news helicopters sitting over the valley was the Spitfire of the BBMF. The example provided was a Mk19 – PM631. A lovely touch considering the photo recce role these Spits played in the greater scheme of Operation Chastise.
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Shortly followed by the Thumper MkIII, the amazing sight of PA474, 617 marked Lancaster being gracefully operated at low level. Although nothing like the ultra low passes from 2008, she was still looking great!
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6. And on the run North
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Next to follow, was the home team and the modern day Dambusters!
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The Sun popped out briefly for the next sequence of shots
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And that was that……as far as tributes go, they don’t get much better. A very fitting set of events for a remarkable group of courageous young men. Après moi le Deluge
Thanks for looking and have a fab weekend!
Andy
Numbers 4,9 and 11 are the best of a belting set 
