Duxford, May 5th

RE: Moggy’s Airshow Report

Well Moggy…fortunately for Ashley, she was wearing her Duxford fleece on top of her Duxford polo shirt…and she still nearly froze to death 😉 Hope to see you at Flying Legends 🙂

RE: Moggy’s Airshow Report

Bloody hell it was cold.

Spasmodic drizzle.

Helicopters, lots of them. They flew forwards, then they flew sideways, then they flew backwards, then they twizzled round in little circles. Then the next one would do the same, only for longer. Big ones, little ones, some with two fans, one with a blotchy paint job. That one could go backwards too. In fact they all could. The big one had a door at the back. It could fly past with it open, and it could fly past with it shut.

And jets.

Nothing wrong with paraffin burners in their place, but get a Tornado running it’s APU for the 45 minutes before its display slot and you can’t actually hear any of the glorious noise emanating from the prop jobs. It was like watching a silent film of wonderful aircraft, but more frustrating ‘cos you knew that those Merlins were making wonderful sounds.

And the RAF needed two of the things there in order to be sure they could fly one. The reserve aircraft ran its APU until the display aircraft had actually rotated – just in case.

Absolute d*g’s b*ll*cks marvellous co-ordinated display by the Tigercat and Bearcat.

Guy in the 504K, completely ignored by the alleged ‘commentators’ executed a faultless ‘falling leaf’ into the crosswind. Honestly the first time I have ever seen it done. Well done that man.

Interesting grouping – Devon (Dove) Pembroke (Prince) and Radial Provost. Almost worth the suffering, but not quite.

Left long before the end.

Did I mention it was cold?

Doughnuts now at GBP 2.50 for six. Was GBP 1.00 for seven not that long ago.

Oh, and it drizzled.

And the BBMF weren’t allowed to take off from Coningsby because of the x-wind (fair enough). They might have turned up by the end, but I was long gone by then.

Thirty two quid, 100 mile round trip, about 10 quid’s worth (er.. cost) of food.

Not one of my better decisions.

Spent most of the day at the FlyPast enclosure carefully inspecting lady’s ears in the hope of spotting Ashley’s Spitfire earings. Had she been wearing a Duxford polo shirt as promised she would now be dead from hypothermia..

Only got my face slapped two or three times

Moggy

Mrs Moggy hated it too. Roll on Shuttleworth

RE: Ashley’s Airshow Report

Spot on Damien – you did make the right decision ! Having said that
the FlyPast marquee was well positioned and in some respects the commentary wasn’t that audible so it did have it’s plus points.
The helicopter display at the beginning was good but I think the R.A.F might be under the mistaken belief that they operated Puma’s in the Falklands war – they didn’t ! The Argentinian’s did so maybe it was a tribute to them!
Maybe I was spoilt as a kid but judging from what is available now in the airshow world and the what they could do – they cannot top
a Great Warbirds West Malling show circa 80’s in terms of enjoyment.
Formation aerobatics with warbirds is good but the reality of war
was that these aircraft came in fast and low as a pair or ‘finger four’ and generally straffed and bombed – what better sight could the be that Ray Hanna in MH434 with the ‘enermy’ in his sights!

Ashley’s Airshow Report

The show opened with Falklands tribute from the Chinook and the Merlin, plus two other “eggbeaters” but I can’t remember which they were (sorry, I know things with wings better! 😉

Next up, we had Carolyn Grace in her T.9 Spitfire…another great display from Carolyn…

Then it was the Tigercat and Bearcat’s turn to wow the crowds…and I was certainly impressed…

As a tribute to RAF Bomber Command, Sally B and the Blenheim took to the skies…again great displays from both aircraft…sadly, I felt my enthusiasim for the Blenheim was not shared by a considerable number of the crowd who seemed to ignore it completely…never mind “my” Blenheim…I was watching you girl 😉

Then a Tornado GR4 from XV Squadron from Lossiemouth displayed…a good display, but perhaps not the best display from a Tornado I’ve ever seen…

Next the Dragon Rapide entertained the crowds…although I think all eyes in the Flypast/Friends of Duxford Enclosure were on the attempts to start the Shuttleworth Collection’s Tutor…when the engine finally roared into life, it was matched with an equally appreciative roar from the Enclosure! Then Tutor then took to the skies with the Bristol Fighter and Avro 504K and all three pilots coped exceptionally well with the high winds in my opinion…

Likewise, the Olympus Tiger Moth Team also battled the high winds admirably…by this time I had given up trying to listen to the appalling commentary…can anyone tell me, are these Tiger Moths former Diamond Nine performers?

As a tribute to Royal Flying, the Pembroke, Provost and Devon displayed together…this Devon was actually flown by the Duke of Edinburgh in the 1950s…

Then it was the Jet Provost’s turn to display…an ok display, but I’ve seen better…

Then the REAL highlight of the day for me (and I suspect a lot of other people too) was the Breitling Fighters…a FANTASTIC display from the P-40, Spitfire, Corsair and P-51…an absolutely remarkable example of formation flying, particularly given that the formation was made up of four different types…well done Ray and the boys…you did Mark proud…

Then the show’s finale…a fine display from XX Squadron’s Harrier…always a crowd pleaser…

Now my thoughts on the show in general…I agree with the comments made so far about the commentary…it was appalling…I’ve never heard such bad commentary…and I shall pass your comments if you have no objections, along with mine to those concerned…

Of course I was disappointed not to see the BBMF, but I understand their reasons fully for not coming…the weather could have been a LOT better…

As a “Jubilee” tribute, I felt there were some notable omissions…where was the Hunter? Jaguar? Vampire? Canberra? Lysander? Gladiator?

Unfortunately, the show itself was marred for me by some badly behaved children in the Flypast Enclosure, and from comments made by other members, I was not the only one…However, I did meet a young Lancaster fan yesterday who more than made up for the brats in the Enclosure 😉

Overall, it was far from the best airshow I’ve ever been to…here’s hoping Flying Legends is a better show!

Ashley, Spitfire Polisher and Duxford Correspondent

RE: Duxford, May 5th

Did anyone else notice how bad the commentary was? Who were the guys doing it. Duxford… Please DO NOT book them again…

They were making soooooooooooooooooo many mistakes.

Here are a few

Caroline Grace’s aircraft was used in Deep Blue World????? Was it. I thought it was OFMC’s Mk IX and Rob Lamplough’s Mk VIII.

Only Spitfire Mk V’s were used in the filming??? See above point

The Blenheim has Bristol Pegasus engines….

The Blenheim was rebuilt by the Blenheim society

The Shuttleworth Avro 504 landed after its display to get some “go-go juice” before heading back to Old Walden.

The pilots who flew today all did a very good job considering the cross wind that was blowing a gale.

It’s a shame the BBMF could not leave their base due to cross wind limits.

The Breitling Fighters were worth the wait though…..

To sum up….. Not the best Duxford show and the worst commentators I have ever had the miss pleasure of listening to.

Philip.

RE: Duxford, May 5th

From what I read of other’s point of views the Breitling Fighters were given top marks, the others being the Wasp/Scout/Puma(?) Falklands formation.

Didn’t go so am not sure what else was there!

Mark

RE: Duxford, May 5th

Thanks guys.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

One thing we should be thankful for is that it all went off safely.

Regards,

kev35

RE: Duxford, May 5th

The display was hampered by a crosswind which limited the aircraft quite considerably. I havn’t seen a Duxford display for a number of years but this seemed somewhat lacking in ambition.

RE: Duxford, May 5th

The only thing worth seeing were the Breitling Fighters.
The rest of the show was like last years September show, which was a load of rubbish.
I have been going to Duxford shows for 20 years and the above mentioned shows were by far the worst.

RE: Duxford, May 5th

Ha! I flew in from the US some 5 hours ago, my brother did his usual amusing trick of ring me from his mobile (whilst at Duxford) to ask where I was!

Unfortunately he has the aviation knowledge of a peanut and could only identify a Chinook and Merlin HC Mk 3!!

regards

Tony

>Would it be possible for any of the people on the forum who
>are going to todays show to write a report on the show for
>those of us not able to get there? I, for one, would very
>much appreciate it.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>kev35