Home - Events Diary - Events Gallery - Members Vehicles
Area Reports - Articles - For Sale/Wanted

2016

Croft Nostalgia - August 4th ~ 8th

For the 2016 show, I decided to take all three of my vehicles on display. The activity began on Thursday, collecting the Dodge from storage and bringing it home. Because Lynne was working in Richmond, I was able to take the GPW to Croft on Thursday afternoon, and be collected on her way home. On Friday morning, we then drove the M201 and Dodge to Croft. It then took about three hours to set up the tent and the display of vehicles. 
croft1.jpg (125575 bytes) croft2.jpg (100330 bytes) croft3.jpg (110006 bytes) croft4.jpg (126326 bytes)
croft5.jpg (119804 bytes) croft6.jpg (114762 bytes) croft7.jpg (150066 bytes) croft8.jpg (98181 bytes)
croft9.jpg (129343 bytes) croft10.jpg (131301 bytes) croft11.jpg (123185 bytes) croft12.jpg (75690 bytes)
The Pitts Special flew in on Friday, but the rest of the visiting aircraft arrived on Saturday. There were the Bestmann and Chipmunk around 9am, and the Twisters Duo aerobatic Team later in the morning. I took the photo opportunity for some more 'Follow Me' duty, leading the Bestmann and Chipmunk to the display area.
croft13.jpg (76578 bytes) croft14.jpg (76681 bytes) croft15.jpg (75559 bytes) croft16.jpg (75567 bytes)
croft17.jpg (84809 bytes) croft18.jpg (85734 bytes) croft19.jpg (90471 bytes) croft20.jpg (105482 bytes)
croft21.jpg (81023 bytes) croft22.jpg (82949 bytes) croft23.jpg (93337 bytes) croft24.jpg (105164 bytes)
croft25.jpg (78803 bytes) croft26.jpg (115015 bytes) croft27.jpg (120152 bytes) croft28.jpg (134896 bytes)
 The Twisters landing and on static display.
croft29.jpg (65935 bytes) croft30.jpg (68336 bytes) croft31.jpg (105377 bytes) croft32.jpg (123203 bytes)
2016 was a record year for military vehicle entries into the show, there being over 100 entered.
croft33.jpg (103224 bytes) croft34.jpg (106066 bytes) croft35.jpg (116020 bytes) croft36.jpg (119473 bytes)
croft37.jpg (92783 bytes) croft38.jpg (116856 bytes) croft39.jpg (126963 bytes) croft40.jpg (45952 bytes)
The good weather allowed uninterrupted racing, although the wind picked up on Sunday, it at least stayed dry. 
croft41.jpg (114168 bytes) croft42.jpg (92512 bytes) croft43.jpg (117091 bytes) croft44.jpg (105064 bytes)
croft45.jpg (110219 bytes) croft46.jpg (99789 bytes) croft47.jpg (108460 bytes) croft48.jpg (89770 bytes)
Back to the aviation theme, we had a rare Bristol Hercules aero engine which was running at regular intervals across the weekend. It made a nice change from the 'Merlin' and 'Griffon' engines often seen at airshows.
croft49.jpg (116470 bytes) croft50.jpg (110290 bytes)
croft51.jpg (101354 bytes) croft52.jpg (107389 bytes)
There were 300+ classic cars on display, and probably the most ever entered into the show.
croft53.jpg (121268 bytes) croft54.jpg (127199 bytes) croft55.jpg (85155 bytes) croft56.jpg (140067 bytes)
croft57.jpg (115901 bytes) croft58.jpg (128667 bytes) croft59.jpg (123010 bytes) croft60.jpg (145752 bytes)
On Sunday, while the Twisters flew their second display, the Sherman, FV432 and Stalwart took to the arena for a blast around.
croft61.jpg (101088 bytes) croft62.jpg (90714 bytes) croft63.jpg (76453 bytes) croft64.jpg (61819 bytes)
croft65.jpg (90482 bytes) croft66.jpg (90384 bytes) croft67.jpg (67640 bytes) croft68.jpg (72668 bytes)
croft69.jpg (119860 bytes) croft70.jpg (62265 bytes) croft71.jpg (39566 bytes) croft72.jpg (27300 bytes)
croft73.jpg (30113 bytes) croft74.jpg (33739 bytes) croft75.jpg (38575 bytes) croft76.jpg (26387 bytes)
croft77.jpg (42593 bytes) croft78.jpg (34426 bytes) croft79.jpg (78949 bytes) croft80.jpg (103622 bytes)
We didn't get a great sun set on Saturday evening, but I still took the chance for some long exposure shots of the aircraft against the orange/purple glow of the clouds over Darlington.
croft81.jpg (83819 bytes) croft82.jpg (78465 bytes) croft83.jpg (71515 bytes) croft84.jpg (69968 bytes)
croft85.jpg (77510 bytes) croft86.jpg (70912 bytes) croft87.jpg (71926 bytes) croft88.jpg (66956 bytes)
croft89.jpg (108295 bytes) croft90.jpg (111179 bytes) croft91.jpg (135403 bytes) croft92.jpg (127445 bytes)
croft93.jpg (96367 bytes) croft94.jpg (118754 bytes) croft95.jpg (119047 bytes) croft96.jpg (116341 bytes)
Around 4pm on Sunday, the wind eased a bit, and the Bestmann and Chipmunk flew out back to Breighton airfield.
croft97.jpg (95272 bytes) croft98.jpg (87118 bytes) croft99.jpg (51516 bytes) croft100.jpg (61765 bytes)
croft101.jpg (23445 bytes) croft102.jpg (28914 bytes) croft103.jpg (28033 bytes) croft104.jpg (26961 bytes)
I started packing away small display items about 3pm, and late in the afternoon, by the time most other vehicles had gone, I got my three vehicles together for a quick photo-shoot. Shortly after, I took the Ford to the Croft Engineering workshop to be locked up for the night. I would return first thing in the morning to return that home, followed by returning the Dodge to its storage yard. It was a busy, long weekend, but an excellent show. 
croft105.jpg (98682 bytes) croft106.jpg (93742 bytes) croft107.jpg (100790 bytes) croft108.jpg (101200 bytes)
croft109.jpg (98743 bytes) croft110.jpg (98154 bytes) croft111.jpg (90037 bytes) croft112.jpg (102359 bytes)
Home