You’re a Legends first-timer Kev?Good god you’re in for a treat! Prepare to have your breath taken away for an entire afternoon. 🙂
On the subject of the S.E.5 and other WW1 types,you have to consider thier operational needs and limitations.The light wieght WW1 stuff doesn’t really mix very well in the company of the WW2 stuff-the prop wash from something like a Mustang has the potential to demolish a whole row of SE5’s!The marshalling of these earlier types therefore takes some planning if they’re not to be damaged by the more powerful stuff.The more powerful stuff there is at the show,the fewer ‘safe havens’ you have for the older stuff.
WW1 aircraft also have negligable cross-wind tolerance,so there is a strong chance that they may not be able to display when you’ve spent gooodness knows how much booking them.A slight crosswind and the money goes down the drain.
You could perhaps also argue that Duxford isn’t the best setting for these earlier types.Old Warden or Brieghton is IMHO a more appropriate place to display them,partly because they’re not so large and show the aircraft off to better effect.Take the Bleriot replica at Biggin for example.It sounds like a nice idea to add it to the mixture of the show,but from what some people have told me,only a small proportion of the crowd got to see much of it.
So,to sum up,to my mind it makes more sense to book more aircraft of a kind that are more likely to be able to display,and display impressively,than leaving room for earlier types which might not even get off the ground.
It may not sound like it,but I love early aviation history as much as any other,and I love to see early aircraft flying,but I do feel that they get a bit lost at the bigger shows.
Sign In
