Project D-Day Flypast – 05 June 2019

Wednesday the 5th of June 2019 saw over 25 aircraft leave Duxford to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

The flypast, which includes some of World War II’s most notable aircraft including Dakotas and Spitfires, passed over Essex, Kent and Sussex, before crossing the channel towards Le Havre in France.

To commemorate the flyover, Essex Ham ran a Net for aircraft-watchers on GB3DA from 2pm. Over 20 stations took part, and crucially, the net was joined by GB2IWM, the Imperial War Museum station at Duxford airfield, the starting point for the flight. GB2IWM was also backed up by Essex Ham member Mike G1KOT, who was visiting for the event

The flight was set to depart just before 2pm, but was delayed, and up-to-date information was relayed over GB3DA from Duxford, to various amateurs across the county and beyond. Our information was better than that being broadcast by the local BBC radio station.

We’ve put together a short montage of audio clips from GB3DA, where live information and sightings were relayed, and we’ve included some photos from Duxford, courtesy of Mike G1KOT

Also taking part was Keith G6NHU, who had his ADS-B aircraft tracker active, showing more accurate real-time information that services such as Flight Radar 24. (See EssexRadar.co.uk)

Live updates to spectators

Dorothy M0LMR, Richard G7OED, Pete M0PSX and Sarah M6PSK co-ordinated the net, and social media updates, from Two Tree Island, near Leigh-on-Sea, where over 100 people had gathered to see the flight. We quickly found that we were able to provide spectators with information on the flight, and the delays, which was an unexpected benefit. Always keen to promote amateur radio, we managed to get a short mention in the local paper too.

Thanks to everyone who took part, providing updates, plane-spotting, or via social media, to enable us to keep people informed. We were also providing a live stream of the net, for people outside of GB3DA’s coverage, and we saw a spike in online listeners.