Flying Legends Air Show

Duxford, July 12th, 1997

Phil's Duxford excursion continued. This is the final page of six. To see the whole set (114 images) go here . Here are the last of the action images, and some final pictures in late afternoon sun.

Action

The following images didn't really fit into the categories on the previous pages - firstly there is DH89a G-AKIF, which along with companion G-AIYR provided joyrides before and after the air show. The other images show scenes from the various flypasts during the airshow. The final massed flypast, involving around 26 aircraft was spectacular - but I found the process of getting all those aircraft back on the ground even more spectacular. The sight and noise of all those aircraft landing and taxying around the airfield gave an interesting impression of what Duxford might have been like fifty-some years ago.

After the Show

After the show I took the opportunity to catch up with some people I had been in contact with via the Internet. Courtesy of some of the folks at the Fighter Collection, I had the privilege to go for a guided walk along the flightline. The images below show some of the aircraft from a little closer, in the late afternoon sun.

First up are two Hurricanes. The first is the BBMF IIc (PZ865) G-AMAU 'Last of the Many' and the other is Mk.XII (BE417) G-HURR in the colours of 402 SQN. Next is Bristol Blenheim MK1 (L8841) - if you look closely there is an aviating Teddy-Bear sitting in the nose. Black Six appears to have been a popular photographic subject - I certainly would have liked my photo taken in the cockpit. Next are the Lysanders G-BCWL and OO-SOT with the FAA Historic Flight Swordfish (W5856) as backdrop. Then there are two more images of FG-1D NZ5648, now owned by the Old Flying Machine Co. The Fighter Collection FM-2 Wildcat (Bu86711) N4845V is seen refueling. Another picture of Swordfish (W5856) shows the big biplane folded up and being towed away for the night. The BBMF Lancaster (PA474) also stayed for the night, and we walked right underneath it (providing some more images for the Lancaster Close-Up ). I was amazed how people suddenly appeared from all over the place, asking if they too could get up close - our guide took some photos for some of the requesters, but we thought it best to move on - quickly! The last image seems appropriate for 'the end'. This is a rear view of F7F-3P Tigercat (Bu80425) showing the slim cross-section of this elegant aircraft

By this stage it was around 6.30pm, so after thanking our guide (you know who we mean ;-) my partner and I headed for the car. Strangely enough we departed pretty much at the end of the queue. All in all, it was a pretty satisfactory sort of day (and I even got sunburnt - in England!).