‘The Duxford Airshow presents the very best in historic and modern aviation, both civil and military’ – Steve Smith reports for Fighter Control from the Duxford September Airshow 2009.
When I volunteered to cover the Duxford September Airshow for Fighter Control, I had no idea that I would be sitting at 0342 in a closed KFC at the services on the M42 near Redditch en-route to collect fellow Staff member Graham Cherry. A stop off in Oxfordshire was required and with a sneaky drive past Brize Norton, I picked my colleague up just before five.
Driving In the dark dead of night, every junction looked like Brize’s runway, with red, green and white lights leading the way to Duxford - the country’s premier aviation museum. According to the Airshow notes ‘The Duxford Air Show presents the very best in historic and modern aviation, both civil and military.’ It was our job to validate that claim!
The participation list for the two days looked stronger for the Saturday than the Sunday, with the Typhoon and Reds headlining the display.
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It was the Sunday that we had been able to attend; and arriving early, we were lucky enough to get some great morning light on the flight-line.
The flight-line walk provided some interesting photo opportunities, thanks to the re-enactors who were milling around with the crowd, and a spirited start up by Miss Velma, which kept the spectators happy with flame licking out from the engine cowling.
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There were numerous stalls selling everything from aviation memorabilia and models to chairs and tents, and of course the Duxford museum to keep to punters interested until the flying kicked off at 2.00pm. We were told by the ATC volunteers that the Saturday looked like it was the busier of the two days; clearly the crowds flocked to see Red Arrows on the Saturday. One surprise was that the Vulcan wasn’t scheduled to display on either date, and we all know what a great crowd-puller that can be with the “Vulcan Effect” evident at every venue.
The display kicked off with two passes from a Mildenhall based KC-135 (Reg 62-3519), which showed off its refuelling capabilities by extending the refuelling boom. The 100 ARW KC-135’s have been out in force during the 2009 display season, appearing at many shows up and down the country - a great addition to any Airshow.
A first for me this season was the excellent and spirited display by the Gnat pair, flown by Classic Jets and comprising of XR538 (G-RORI) and XP504 (G-TIMM/painted as XS111). The type was first flown by the RAF in 1959 and became the steed of The Red Arrows for a number of years. They pulled some very tight formations and ended the display by drawing a Red Arrows-esque heart in the sky which is always a great crowd pleaser!
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An aerobatic contest ensued from the Bucker Jungmann, Mew Gull, Yak and the Pits Special, who followed a set routine which was then followed by a freestyle display, with the commentators keeping score.
One slightly disappointing aspect of the Sunday was the lack of RAF Participation, which was limited to the 2009 RAF Display Hawk and the next act – the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The Spitfire (PM631 – Mk.PRXIX) and Hurricane (PZ865 – Mk.IIc) were already pre-positioned at Duxford and as they lined up to depart, the Avro Lancaster arrived from the East with a slow pass down the runway. They proceeded to display in turn, Hurricane first, then the Spitfire followed by the Lancaster. Finally they formed up and gave a couple of photogenic passes before departing.
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One of the best photo opportunities of the day, which was eagerly anticipated by all those in the know, was Heritage Aviation Development Hawker Hunter F4’s trademark underside roll on take-off. This aircraft is unmistakeable in its custom yellow/red/star paint scheme. The Hunter proceeding to give us one of the most varied, and loudest displays of the day.
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Historic aircraft manufacturer Hawker were well represented in the line-up, with the afore mentioned Hunter and BBMF Hurricane, the RAF Hawk if you want to be pedantic, and the next two participants, the Hawker Demon (a two-seat variant of the Hawker Hart) and HAC’s Hawker Hurricane. The Demon on display was K8203, operated by Demon Displays, which has only recently become airworthy following a lengthy restoration.
RAF Valley’s finest stepped up to the plate and tried his hardest to up-stage the Hunter in terms of noise. 208 Squadron’s display pilot Flt Lt Matt Barker gave us his usual technically perfect display and added a bit of patriotism to proceedings with the excellent Union Jack paint scheme for this season.
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Two acts that had been eagerly awaited were due on next; a rare visit and display of the Belgian Air Force’s A-109 and Kennett Aviation’s Douglas Skyraider. The Skyraider was put through its paces and once again the pilot displayed such a beastly and ungainly aircraft beautifully.
The American theme continued as TFC’s Duxford resident P-51 ‘Miss Velma’ filled the air with the unmistakable sound of a Merlin engine. Just in case you were fooled into thinking ‘Spitfire’, plenty of fast diving passes produced that trademark whistling sound, unique to the P-51 Mustang.
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This was shortly followed by comrade in arms ‘Sally B’, who thankfully seems to be getting back to her best followed a traumatic couple of display seasons. Let us hope this continues and her engine troubles are behind her.
If American prop aircraft aren’t your bag, next was the soon-to-be-leaving-us F-86 Sabre, operated by Golden Apple Operations. It really will be a shame that she won’t be on the UK display circuit next year (she is heading to the United States) as she has been one of my favourite acts this season – very photogenic. Always slightly worrying however, as she belches out black smoke on every pass, an F-86 trademark. During Korea this was apparently the best way to identify an F-86 from a Korean Mig at distance! We were lucky enough to have her do a couple of passes with the Hunter F4 before it left.
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The display was coming to an end, but not before the Aerostars in their Yak50s wowed the crowds with some very tight formation flying and smoky aerobatic manoeuvres.
The final act was a fitting tribute to the 70th anniversary of the commencement of hostilities in 1939, with four Spitfire’s taking to the skies, along with the Buchon owned by Spitfire Limited. Some wonderful pictures were in the offing as a Spitfire and the Buchon commenced a tail chase around the airfield, followed by some very tight Spitfire on Spitfire tail chases involving the Grace Spitfire chasing ARC’s trainer and Spitfire Ltd’s Mk.XVI chasing HAC’s Mk.V.
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Duxford’s headline show for the 2009 season included a nice variety of acts and combined with the wide variety of museum exhibits, the show certainly made for an excellent family day out – although perhaps not a remarkable airshow for the ‘hardcore’ enthusiast. The lack of RAF participation on the Sunday, as has already been mentioned, was slightly disappointing, but the addition to the line-up of the Belgian Air Force A-109 certainly made the display for my colleague and was an interesting and very welcome addition to the line-up.