IWM Duxford Air Shows and Flying Days 2023

[Adam]

Added to this Sunday's line up: an RAF Atlas C.1 flypast on Saturday only.

Watch the show live on PlanesTV!

• Friday, 12:00-17:00 - Practice day, free to view on YouTube
• Saturday, 11:50-12:50 - Pre-show broadcast, free to view on YouTube
• Saturday, 11:50-18:00 - Airshow day 1, exclusively on watch.planestv.com
• Sunday, 12:30-18:00 - Airshow day 2, exclusively on watch.planestv.com

[Adam]

Duxford on Saturday and Sunday was very pleasant, with approximately 40 vintage aircraft performing in the flying display and generally good weather, apart from the strong crosswind on Sunday. The full show is available to watch on watch.planestv.com, but here are some highlights:

B-17 "Sally B" performed her first show of the year, flying with P-47D "Nellie B".

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The Great War Display Team did a fine job of recreating a WWI aerial melee. This is likely the final season in which it's possible to see their Avro 504k, which will be transferred to a museum as a static exhibit early next year unless a sponsor can be found.

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It wouldn't be a Duxford Airshow - much less a 50th anniversary one - without a Spitfire tailchase. It was quite a small tailchase last weekend, with just three Spitfires, but, unlike the larger tailchases, it was fully aerobatic.

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My personal highlight of the weekend: the three-ship classic jets sequence bringing together two Strikemasters and a Vampire FB.6, the latter temporarily wearing Italian Air Force roundels to mark their centenary. Thre three jets performed a fully-aerobatic sequence, ending with a lovely vertical split.

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One of the few non-warbirds at the show was Rich Goodwin, in only the third outing for his jet-powered Pitts. Rich is still working out how to get best use out of this machine at airshows, but even this early display routine is mightily impressive.

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[Adam]

A final few clips.

Another very memorable display: Mercury Formation, combining TFC's Gladiator (its first flying display appearance in several years) with ARCo's rarely-seen Blenheim. Both aircraft then performed energetic solo displays.

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The trainer display was a true only-at-Duxford performance, featuring seven trainers spanning from the 1920s to the present day. The Shuttleworth-based Tutor and Magister made rare excursions from their home base, joined by the ubiquitous Tiger Moth and a more modern RAF-liveried Bulldog, Chipmunk and Firefly. Bringing up the rear, the future of flight training, the brand new and fully-electric Velis Electro. Their sequence included some entertaining almost-in-formation passes, plus a brief chance to appreciate the aircraft in smaller groups or individually, often with several elements displaying simultaniously.

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The Fury/Mustang duo went down a storm, with a few formation passes, a short aerobatic tailchase, and then solos from each. The whole sequence was extremely photogenic, taking place in attractive evening light and including a great many topside passes.

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The show saw the debut of the newly-restored L-12 Electra Junior from Sywell, an aircraft that performed covert photo reconnaissance for MI6 while disguised as a civilian airliner pre-WWII. Incredibly, it wears the exact same registration today as it did during those missions! It flew alongside a PR Spitfire.

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The Red Arrows closed the show, displaying on Sunday evening only. They seemed to struggle a bit with the high winds - as we all were, by that point.

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[Flightline Uk]

Revised line-up for the Americans Flying Day on 28th July:

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress – Sally-B
Supermarine Spitfire XVI – The Suffolk Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire Vc – Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
Supermarine Spitfire PRXI – Aircraft Restoration Company
Piper L4 Grasshopper – Private
Piper L4 Grasshopper – Private
Piper L4 Grasshopper – Private
Piper L4 Grasshopper – Private
Hispano HA1112-M1L Buchon – Aircraft Restoration Company
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt – Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
Cessna 170B – Private
Lockheed 12 Electra – Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
Curtiss P-36C Hawk – The Fighter Collection
Curtiss P-40C Warhawk – The Fighter Collection
Curtiss P-40F Warhawk – The Fighter Collection
Grumman F8F Bearcat – The Fighter Collection
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair – The Fighter Collection
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina – Plane Sailing
Fokker DR1 – Ford
Nieuport 17 – John Gilbert

[Flightline Uk]

2023 sees the Imperial War Museum mark 50 Years of Duxford Airshows. While it has already held two very successful ‘Flying Days’ this year, the Summer Air Show was the first full flying display of the anniversary season. As well as a delightful mix of displays from across the UK circuit, there was some superb warbird action in the four-hour display including the public display debut of Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd’s Lockheed 12A Electra Junior, one of the most significant restorations of recent years. A full image gallery and review can be found HERE.













































































https://www.air-shows.org.uk/2023/06/re ... ir-show-2/

[Adam]

Added to today's line up:
F-15E Strike Eagle x4
MC-130J Commando and CV-22B Osprey
KC-135R Stratotanker

Plus the published lineup of over 20 warbirds: P-47, Spitfires x3, Electra, P-40s x2, P-36, Bird Dog, Grasshoppers x4, replica WWI fighters x3, B-17, TF-51, Corsair, Bearcat, Buchon, Harvard and Catalina

PlanesTV will be live, free on YouTube, from 12:30.

youtube.com/@planestv

[Flightline Uk]

First particpants confirmed for the 19 Squadron Flying Day on 12th August:

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina  - Plane Sailing
Supermarine Spitfire Ia - Imperial War Museums
Hawker Hurricane I - Hurricane501
Lockheed 12A Electra Junior - Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk - Phil Hardisty
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk - Alex Lewton
Mudry CAP232 - Diana Britten 

Also, the First participants for the Flying Evening on 26th August have also been announced:

Classic Jets and Cold War Era Types
de Havilland Vampire FB52 (F) Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron
de Havilland Canada Chipmunk T10 (F) Clive Denney

Warbirds
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress (F) Sally-B
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina (F) Plane Sailing
Fokker Dr1 (F) Paul Ford
Supermarine Spitfire XVIe (F) Suffolk Spitfire
Hawker Hurricane I (F) Bygone Aviation Ltd
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt (F) Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
Beech D17S Staggerwing (F) Peter Kuypers
Slepcev Storch (F) The Last Dogfight Display Team
Piper L4 Grasshopper (S) The Last Dogfight Display Team

Civilian
Airborne Pyrotechnics – Grob 109b x 2 (F) (TBC)
Flying Comrades – Yakovlev Yak-18T & Yak-52 x 2 (F)
Le Vier Cosmic Wind (F) Pete Kynsey

[Flightline Uk]

Battle of Britain Air Show (16th-17th September) update:

Royal Air Force
Red Arrows – BAE Systems Hawk T1 x 8 (F)
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – Supermarine Spitfire (F)
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – Hawker Hurricane IIc (F)
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – Avro Lancaster B1 (F) (formation with Sally-B)

Warbirds

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina (F) Plane Sailing Catalina Operations
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress (F) Sally-B (formation with BBMF Lancaster)
Hawker Hurricane XII (F) Polish Heritage Flight/Historic Aircraft Collection (TBC)
Fairey Swordish (F) NavyWings

https://www.air-shows.org.uk/2022/10/pr ... n-airshow/

[Flightline Uk]

Updated listing for Saturday's 19 Squadron Flying Day:

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina  - Plane Sailing
Supermarine Spitfire Ia - Imperial War Museums
Supermarine Spitfire Ia - Comanche Fighters
Supermarine Spitfire Ia -  Comanche Fighters
Hawker Hurricane I - Hurricane501
Hawker Hurricane I - Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
Gloster Gladiator II - The Fighter Collection
Curtiss Hawk 75A-1 - The Fighter Collection
Lockheed 12A Electra Junior - Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk - Phil Hardisty
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk - Alex Lewton
Mudry CAP232 - Diana Britten

[Flightline Uk]

The listing for the Battle of Britain Airshow (16th-17th September) is starting to grow:

Royal Air Force
Red Arrows – BAE Systems Hawk T1 x 8 (F)
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – Supermarine Spitfire (F)
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – Hawker Hurricane IIc (F)
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – Avro Lancaster B1 (F) (formation with Sally-B)

Warbirds
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina (F) Plane Sailing Catalina Operations
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress (F) Sally-B (formation with BBMF Lancaster)
Supermarine Spitfire Ia (F) Imperial War Museums/ARCo
Hawker Hurricane I (F) Bygone Aviation Ltd
Hawker Hurricane IIb (F) Hurricane Heritage
Hawker Hurricane I (F) Hurricane Heritage
Hawker Hurricane XII (F) Polish Heritage Flight/Historic Aircraft Collection
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt (F) Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd
Hispano HA1112-M1L Buchon (F) Aircraft Restoration Company
Fairey Swordish (F) NavyWings

https://www.air-shows.org.uk/2022/10/pr ... n-airshow/