September 15, 2024 at 9:14 pm
My wife and I attended this display yesterday (Saturday 14/9/24) as we’ve done since it was introduced, with perfect weather this was the best one so far, more like the much missed Flying Legends, than ever! A highlight among many was the four ship Hurricane formation slot, for a change they stayed in formation for almost the whole of the display, perhaps more of these special formations could do the same, instead of a couple of passes, split up and proceed to tear the sky up on their own!
Pity that the Fighter collections Gladiator couldn’t make the Mercury formation, over the years we’ve had so few opportunities to see the two Gladiators together. Amongst many other highlights, it was great to see Sally B in a rare formation with the BofB Lancaster, 13 Spitfires on the flight line, the unique Swedish Saab B17 – albeit with a relatively short display, modern grunt from the attention grabbing performances of the RAF’s F35B and Typhoon, a spirited display by the WW1 contingent including the unique – in flying terms – of an original DH9 bomber flying amongst the spectacular pyrotechnics and a gaggle of replica aircraft featuring the fantastic highly accurate Vintage Aviator recreations of the B.E.2e and the Albatross D.V from the Stow Marie’s collection and all finished off with a superb Balbo by the Spitfires and Hurricanes.
Major downside for me was the no-show of the Tempest Mk.ll – having missed it at the Sywell show earlier this year, not even on the flight line, I may have missed the announcement, but no mention of it not participating! Whilst I’m on the small downside, in the gold pass enclosure – a rare treat for us – we were treated to a fifth airworthy Hurricane (V7497) on display in the enclosure whilst a sixth airworthy Hurricane (Historic Aircraft Collection) was on display through the open doors of one of the Hangars, maybe neither was serviceable on the week-end, but how good would six of the breed have looked on the flight line, too greedy? maybe, but much as I love the Spitfire, I can’t be the only one who thinks that its about time Duxford put in a maximum effort to gather as many of the airworthy Hurricanes in this country and Europe which currently, on a good weekend might amount to a full squadron of them! Shuttleworth my favourite place in the world, managed Seven – almost 8 – not so long ago and While I’m on this theme, the Buchon – sadly only a singleton at this years display – is a worthy substitute for representing the opposition, but there are a few airworthy Daimler Benz engined Messerschmitt airframes around, are any efforts made to attract a few of them to Duxford? Or are there any issues with this, that I may not be aware of? Discuss?
By: uletslowly - 20th September 2024 at 11:00
It’s a shame about the Tempest Mk.ll – I was also hoping to see it on the flight line. Do you think they’re planning something bigger for next year in terms of Hurricane and Buchon gatherings?