Image courtesy of Phil Catleugh
Duxfords Summer Airshow - Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th July 2021
With the last two day show being held in September 2019 a lot of people were wondering if things would ever get back to normal.
With the weekend of the Summer Airshow getting closer, the Government's decision to relax some of the restrictions was a breath of fresh air for Duxfords management team allowing them to open the airfield up almost how it was pre Covid 19.
With reasobile weather conditions and the threatening rain holding off they were away with the flying.
Below are some of the aircraft taking part in the show over the weekend.
First on the flying program was the RAF Typhoon FGR4 flown by Flt Lt James Sainty from RAF Coningsby, the sheer power demonstrated by the Typhoon makes it a favorite at any show coupled with a brand new colour scheme all we needed was the sun to come out.
The next items were vintage Tiger Moth Biplanes.The Tiger nine display team. The team members come from all over the country and bring themselves and aircraft together to perform some very sedate manoeuvres and formation flying, The Tiger Moth made its first flight in 1931 and here in 2021 the aircraft are still going strong.
Now we come to the pair of Strikemasters, the only other jet aircraft at Duxford this weekend. These beautifully restored aircraft were originally flown by overseas air forces and were a version of the Jet Provost used by the RAF in the training sole for many years.
Slowing things down just a little we have the US fighters the P47 and a pair of P51 Mustangs, followed shortly after by the Flying Fortress Sally B
One of Duxfords resident aircraft is the Catalina, always a popular item at any of the shows, a very sedate display with those large radial engines reverberating around the airfield.
The Grumman Wildcat, another aircraft with a large radial engine, this weekend flown by Dave Southwood is another resident at Duxford.
The Spitfires,an all time favorite at Duxford. The Spitfire has a long association with the airfield as they were based here during the war. The aircraft carried out several flypasts and finished with the Spitfire tail chase.
The Blades, based at Sywell in Northamptonshire are a well known display team and are quite unique in that they are all flown by ex RAF Red Arrows pilots.
The Aerosuperbatics Wingwalkers always put on a good show, and have been regulars at Duxford for many years, with the noise from the two radial engines coupled with the smoke, what more could you ask for.
Closing the show both days were the RAF Red Arrows, always welcome at Duxford. Only displaying with eight aircraft due to one of the pilots feeling ill but nonetheless the usual polished display and wowing the crowds as usual.
After many months of lockdown and restrictions let us hope better times are on the horizon and look forward to the September show.
All images courtesy of Phil Catleugh