Simply Planes uses cookies, click here to learn how to change your cookie settings and/or read more about cookies

 

Duxford Air Festival 2018

 

Duxford Airshow

The P47-D Thunderbolt and the pilot for the weekend, Stu Goldspink.
Image courtesy of Chris Cannon.

 

Duxford Air Festival 2018

The two-day show at IWM Duxford, held on the 26th and 27th May was one of the first air shows of the season. There was a large line up of aircraft, with a few unusual visitors, including several display teams and a few old favourites from Duxford. Below we feature some of the participants during the two day show.

The P47-D Thunderbolt (The Jug) For many years at Duxford with the fighter collection, and now back in the UK and operated for the new owners by Air Leasing Ltd.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

The Tiger 9 Display team, another sedate training aircraft, pilots would have been trained on this type of aircraft before flying fighters such as the Spitfire and Hurricane.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

The Dassault Rafale flown by Captain Sebastian Nativel, with an eye catching paint scheme, His display was the highlight of the weekend for a lot of people, and very nice to see this type of aircraft back at Duxford.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

Boeing- B17 G Sally B, Flying Fortress, one of the largest aircraft on the UK air show circuit, in fact the only B17 flying in Europe. And this aircraft is a reminder of the all this type of aircraft operating from British bases seventy years ago.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

The Great War Team brought seven aircraft to Duxford for the weekend, and with the fantastic pyrotechnics and the re-enactment of long ago air battles and sedate aircraft, maybe a time to reflect on the type of aviation from 100 years ago.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

The T28 Fennec is another regular item at the Duxford air shows, flown by Dave Southwood who is a test pilot down at Boscombe down in Wiltshire. This type of aircraft easily identified by the sound of it large radial engine. And it is able to carry out a very spirited display.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

The Chipmunk display Team, displaying the venerable de Havilland Chipmunk, these aircraft were the mainstay of RAF training for many years before being superseded by the Bulldog

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

Farner Werke Schlepp C3605, one of the highlights of the weekend was the UK debut of this aircraft, this type of aircraft was used by the Swiss air force for target towing and for such a large turboprop aircraft is very agile.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

Another long time resident at Duxford, the PBY-5A Catalina is much sort after for air shows, is always a popular participant here at Duxford. With the two large radial engines and able to land on water it was perfect for search and rescue duties.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

The Douglas C-47 Sky Train. Next year Duxford will be visited by veteran aircraft of this type from all over the world, to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

Sunday saw a fast moving display by the Patrouille de France display team, flying the eight Dassault Alpha Jets, with a well-coordinated display, the fastest display team of the weekend with noise, colour and some interesting manoeuvres.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

The Spitfire MK 1a N2300, belongs to the IWM and was an original aircraft flown by 19 squadron at Duxford during the second World War. A display at Duxford would not be complete without an appearance by a Spitfire.

The Duxford Air Show 2018

 

All images courtesy of Bob Franklin unless otherwise stated.

Another excellent weekend spent with the IWM at Duxford, the weather was good to us with a hint of storms in the distance. And as usual the team created and air display with just the right mix of participants to keep the large crowds happy.

 

Duxford Air Festival 2017

One of the first air shows of the season, the spring show at Duxford, as usual over two days, celebrating one hundred years of aviation at RAF Duxford. As usual, Duxford drew a varied selection of aircraft from the UK, but also had some interesting aircraft from overseas. Because of high winds some of the smaller aircraft and the Falcons parachute team were unable to display on Saturday. One of the favorite things at Duxford is the flight line walk which enables the public to get up close and personal with the aircraft and get that special shot, and as an added bonus this year, there was one of the Osprey tilt rotor aircraft from RAF Mildenhall parked very close to an Apache helicopter from RAF Wattisham, both aircraft were open to the public with crew members in attendance.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

Image courtesy of Chris Cannon.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

Image courtesy of Chris Cannon.

 

The Parachute Regiment's Freefall Display Team, the Red Devils, jumped from a Britten-Norman Islander on Sunday, thankfully without having any problems with the wind, landing along the crowdline to give more people a chance to see them. During the display Cpl Mike French jumped with the Regimental Flag and LCpl Chris Sharman descended with a 2,000 Sq Ft Union Flag and, of course, taking the salute at the end of the display.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The main fast jets were the Rafale Solo Display from the French Air Force, Capt Jean-Guillaume "Marty" Martinez, in his second year as the Rafale solo display pilot, gave a fast moving action packed display, never out of the view of spectators.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

Another highlight was the Sea Vixen. 'Foxy Lady' The Duxford Air Festival's Saturday display was consequently its inaugural public appearance of the year and the first display of the season. The display by Cdr Simon Hargreaves was superb, but unfortunately the aircraft suffered a hydraulic failure when it returned to base at RNAS Yeovilton and made a wheels-up landing. The aircraft had damage to the underside, and was inevitably not able to return to display at Duxford on Sunday. But the pilot's skill in getting the aircraft back on the ground limited the damage and he was able to walk away unharmed.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The RAF's sole appearance was the first public display by the new Typhoon FGR4 display pilot, Flt Lt Ryan Lawton, as always, the Typhoon is a popular participant with plenty of smoke, afterburners and noise.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

Another first for Duxford was the Norwegian Spitfire Foundation's Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman, the first appearence of this aircraft at a UK airshow, it is always nice to see something new at Duxford.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

Richard Grace and Dave Puleston in their yellow and black Pitts S-1D Specials are the Trig Team. Their close-formation aerobatics are always fast moving and a display that is worth watching.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

Other aircraft displaying at the show included the Great War Display Team, Strikemaster/Jet Provest pair, and the Breitling Wingwalkers to name a few.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

Items of special interest were the DeHavilland Comet, Percival Mew Gull and Percival Mew Gull Replica.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

As usual, some of Duxford's residents were in the display, namely, Sally B the Flying Fortress, the Mustang (Miss Velma), the Museum's Spitfire Mk 1a and Plane Sailing's Catalina.

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

The Duxford Air Show 2017

 

With something in the region of five hours of flying and displays, and all the other attractions at the IWM at Duxford, a nice turn out for the first show of the season at Duxford.

All images courtesy of Bob Franklin unless otherwise stated.