Time is flying by with 100 days to go before G-PBYA sets off on its Circuit of Britain.  Last week it flew as part of the Battle of Atlantic Flypast in London and the Circuit of Britain flight will take the historic Catalina past many Coastal Command bases.  Also, the Circuit of Britain flight will involve air displays at the Control Points which have been updated for readers on The Route page.  However, sponsors are still needed to support this Commemorative Flight so do not be shy in coming forward!

All of the original Control Points for the 1913 Circuit of Britain have been identified by means of archive material gathered over the past two years.  Last week saw the last site visited on what was a glorious sunny day.  In a number of sites (Yarmouth, Scarborough, Cromarty and Oban) the response from locals has been most welcome.  Furthermore, the local councils at those same sites have shown interest in assisting the 100th Anniversary Commemorative Flight by the IWM Duxford based Catalina G-PBYA.

Time flies when you are busy and having fun!

All the site visits bar one have been completed and display applications are about to be submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).  Discussions are also underway with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) for the Dublin display.  Just need an Irish sponsor for that!  The route is nearing the final version pending agreement with a couple of airfields for landing approval as well as handling.  Enough crew have volunteered to enable a final Captain and Crew Chief selection to be made.  On the media front, Flight International, who have endorsed Project Hawker 2013, ran a couple of items at the start of April but the story has also broken in The Oban Times and as recently as last week in the Great Yarmouth Mercury with a superb photograph from 1913.  Finally and following a tip-off, Gaumont footage of the Sopwith Waterplane landing at Cromarty has been discovered in the archives!

The website has been live just over a week and already there has been international interest in this exciting project.  Also letters have gone to potential sponsors.  Looking forward to the coming week!

Keep following as the first post is yet to arrive!