I hope the OP doesn’t mind me adding a few images of my own, but it was such a superb (spectacular/wonderful/insert adjective here) weekend that I feel I have to throw a few photographs out there!

You can read the three reports from Global Aviation Resource (written by Paul Fiddian, Huw Hopkins and I) at the links below to find out more about our five day trip, with hundreds of photos from the event.

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/reports/2011/airshows-europe-hahnweide-oldtimer-fliegertreffen-part-1/index.php

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/reports/2011/airshows-europe-hahnweide-oldtimer-fliegertreffen-part-2/index.php

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/reports/2011/airshows-europe-hahnweide-oldtimer-fliegertreffen-part-3/index.php

1. The Sikorsky S-38 was one of the highlights – first time I’ve seen it fly. Here she is arriving with a low pass on Thursday.

2. MeierMotors’ bare metal Yak 11 from Bremgarten is a beautiful machine.

3. It could almost be Where Eagles Dare…

4. There were an amazing six Junkers Ju-52s in attendance – here they are arriving in formation on Friday.

5. Where else can you get that angle on an arriving warbird? Dan Griffith on short finals in Stephen Stead’s Spitfire MkXVI.

6. Another Bremgarten resident was this Yak 9.

7. The cloudscapes offered some lovely photographic opportunities.

8. I hadn’t seen a Schlepp since North Weald 99!

9. Mikael Carlson was one of the highlights of the weekend in the Bleriot/Thulin XI.

10. The airfield remains open until long past midnight, with a free night-shoot and light show, as well as live music, a hangar dance and of course, plenty of hot food and drink.

11. A windowless double decker bus was positioned at crowd centre to enable visitors to get a panoramic view of the packed flightline (some 300+ aircraft).

12. One of the highlights of anyone’s airshow season!

13. Six Storch in formation, what a wonderful sight – including Peter Holloway’s aircraft, arriving at Hahnweide following a 12 hour flight.

14. There were a fair few people there!

15. Another highlight of the weekend – Catalina and S-38.

16. Air-to-ground from a Broussard on Sunday. I also had a flight in an An-2, just brilliant.

17. The Flying Bulls’ P-38 Lightning, always a delight to see. Their Mitchell was also in attendance and the two formated on each day.

18. More of the Me-262.

19. Mikael Carlson’s Bleriot, one of the best displays I’ve seen all season.

I thought it was very good. There are countless programmes, books etc covering the Spitfire’s history and development; it was nice to see a fresh approach taken, with the emphasis being on the impact the Spitfire had on the people of the time and the high regard that it was held in.

There will always be presenters about who can stand around talking about how great an aircraft it was. Before long, those who can recall flying or seeing the thing in combat will be long gone. In my view, it’s essential that our generation record as many of their stories and thoughts as possible, before it’s too late.

If you didn’t get at least mildly choked up at Betty and Joe’s story, Lardner-Burke’s son reading his mother’s letters or the Hornchurch school children, now elderly gentlemen, still honouring the pilot who saved their school, then you have very little soul!

Good to put a face to a name yesterday, David!

Hope you don’t mind, thought I’d ping up a few of my own rather than start a new thread. 20 odd more can be found in the blog entry I wrote for Global Aviation Resource, together with some blurb on the evening (link below). It was vintage Duxford in every sense.

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/bloggar/elliottmarsh/entries/a-spitfire-summer-at-duxford/

The Sikorsky S-38 replica N28V was flying Northbound just west of EHTE in The Netherlands about 30 minutes ago. Anyone who knows where she’s heading? Wasn’t there a website from the owner somewhere?

Not sure where it is at this very moment, but it’s due at Hahnweide in Germany for the Old Timer airshow on Friday.

Seen an undercarriage collapse of some sort mentioned on Twitter (hence the comment in the UKAR link above) and by a couple of reliable sources, but nothing “official” said in public.

OFMC were flying at the London City Airport Fun Day, as was the Cosmic Wind. Pilots were Paul Bonhomme (P-51D) and Steve Jones (MH434). Paul flew two very nice displays during the afternoon.

A top day all round!:cool:

Current RAF serviceman, former Team Merlin manager and current RAF Presentations Team member Gareth Attridge wrote a blog about this at The Hangar a couple of days ago. Essential reading if you can spare a couple of minutes.

There’s a lot more to the story than the sensationalist media would have you believe.

http://thehangar.tv/profiles/blogs/paying-respect-to-our-fallen

http://friends-of-tfc.blogspot.com/2011/06/spotted-out-of-office-window.html

A photo on TFC blog.