Duxford Airshow - Part Three

The first aircraft to display were the Red Arrows, who delivered the usual exceptional routine. I find it almost unbelievable that the government are considering disbanding them to save money!





Sam has seen the Red Arrows before, as have I, but it seems that their appeal doesn't fade.

In between displays we managed to have even more fun, and Sam tried his hand at "zorbing", with hilarious consequences....

Sam says that his very favourite aeroplane is the Lancaster bomber. He saw one for the first time at the RAF museum in Hendon a few weeks ago. Seeing the sole remaining flying Lancaster for real made his day, as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight put on a crowd-pleasing show.

We just had time to watch a four-ship of Hurricanes whizzing around, before heading back up the A10. Great show Duxford!

Duxford Airshow - Part Two

Continuing along the flight line we found the UK's only remaining serviceable B17 Flying Fortress, the graceful Sally B (above), and a wonderful Catalina flying boat.

The early jets were so varied in design and capability (and safety!), and the Vampire is no exception with its twin boom back end. It's first flight was in 1943 but it wasn't developed quickly enough to take part in the Second World War.

As you can see, Sam looked every inch the seasoned airshow visitor, complete with ear defenders, binoculars, and a very purposefully walk!

A highlight was the lovely collection of Spitfires that were gathered for the weekend.

During the spring we had regularly watched Ice Patrol on Friday nights, featuring HMS Endurance and her adventures in the South Atlantic. So Sam was very happy to find one of Endurance's helicopters right before his eyes.

The American Air Force building at Duxford is seriously impressive. It's flowing, curved design, with inclined walkway around the inside, and glass front wall add up to a lovely looking structure. It houses many iconic American planes, including a B52 bomber, A10 Thuderbolt "tankbuster", Huey helicopter, Phantom, and one of Sam and Dad's favourites, the Blackbird spy plane (below, Sam is standing underneath it). This is a place you must visit.

Further along the museum frontage is the equally impressive Land Warfare hall. Unassuming on the outside, when you enter it becomes clear that this too is an exceptionally well-put together display area. It holds many, many tanks from various periods, most of which are set in life-life dioramas. Again, you must see this for yourself.

Duxford Airshow - Part One

We used the remainder of our summer holiday fund in spectacular style - we visited the Duxford Airshow! Actually we visited it twice, and finally got in on the second attempt. On Saturday we got within three miles before becoming gridlocked in traffic, and watched the Red Arrows displaying in the distance before hearing on local radio that the gates were closed. It was a very disappointed drive home.

On Sunday we departed King's Lynn at half past nine to make it in time for the two o'clock flying display - we were taking no chances on missing out again. And it worked out just great, as we found ourselves wandering along the flight line just after eleven. The aircraft below is receiving ground power from a Houchen, which is still in RAF colours.

What a fantastic event Duxford is. I've been to plenty of airshows in my time (some even when not working there in RAF guise), and was very impressed. So was Sam, who found the whole thing extremely exciting. There were plenty of aircraft buzzing around right from the time we arrived, and the anticipation among airshow crowds is infectious.

Nothing to do with the photos, but we decided to eat healthily all day. Just potatoes and grass we said. Potatoes, carved into thin strips and stored briefly in hot oil. And, as cows eat only grass, they must be made of grass, so eating a beefburger probably counts as two of your five a day.

A walk along the flight line is surely essential. You can see the aircraft close up, sometimes have a chat with the owners/crew, and the pictures you can take are miles better. Ferocious Frankie, below, is based full time at Duxford and is a regular in its display programmes.

We chose to use up our summer holiday fund this weekend. Thanks to the sale of some of Grandad's collectables that he handed down to us, we built up a goodly sum over the winter, enabling us to enjoy the spoils in the summer. It's not cheap to gain entry to Duxford (£37.80 for the two of us this year), but I vote it as being definitely good value for money. We blew another few bob on some rather cool binoculars which will serve us well for many years to come....

As it was Duxford's Battle of Britain tribute show, the emphasis was naturally on aircraft from that period. Here's a Buchon plane painted to resemble a Messerschmidt 109 - in fact this very plane starred in the film The_Battle_Of_Britain . Duxford was the airfield used to film much of the action.