|
Text: |
Urs Schnyder |
|
Pictures: |
Urs Schnyder & Michael E. Fader |
Despite all the heat and good weather in June and July, the weather did its best again to be a spoilsport. Thick clouds and strong winds prevailed, but thankfully there was no rain during the actual flying display.
Despite this, there seemed to be a big audience that was however unevenly distributed, with dense crowds on the western side near the land warfare hall, while on the east there was a lot of free space. There were about 29’000 people visiting the event.
The Crowd (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
De Haviland Dh9 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Westland Lysander (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Look a like of Laurel and Hardy (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
A Routemaster as a Pub (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
The Girls from the Wingwaker (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
James May at the Flying Legends (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
The Red Arrows
The Red Arrows only performed on Saturday. Because of their display schedule the display started at 12 which was two hours before the start of the actual airshow. Due to the low cloudbase and the proximity to Stanstead airport they were limited to a rolling show only.
Their early display turned out to be an advantage as all the smoke that they had produced had time to disperse by the time the actual airshow started.
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Red Arrows BAe Hawk T.1 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Reenactors
Since quite a few years there are Reenactors placed between the taxiway and the aircraft during the flightline walk. Some of these even have a camp set up on the airfield during the airshow, where they live.
Quite many of them come from the US, just to take part in Flying Legends. They originate from many different countries but now live in the US. Because of this, it is usually US Forces uniforms that dominate the scene. They take pride in the fact, that their uniforms and equipment are original and not modern replicas. Because of this, some of them invest quite high amounts of money into their outfits.
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader
Supermarine Spitfires
By tradition, all Flying Legends airshows begin with a display of Spitfires. Shortly before 2 p.m. they all took off in quick succession and started to form up into a 12 ship formation. Exactly at 2 p.m. they did their first formation pass over the airfield. This they do a few times before splitting up into two sections for the famous tailchase. They basically fly in two big circles on the northern and southern part of the airfield so as not to get into each others way.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XI (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk T.9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk I(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XI (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XI (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVIIIe (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVIe (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIVe (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk T.9 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXb(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVIe (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
The Movie Stars
For the first time since the filming of the Battle of Britain Movie in 1968 there were five Buchòns in the air together over Duxford. Many of the flying examples of this fighter came from the collection of Connie Edwards, a Texan who flew them during the filming. In return for his movie work he obtained 17 of the Buchòns that were used in the film. They were all stored on his Ranch in Texas and their condition was very good after all these years due to the dry climate. They only had gathered a lot of dust. Seeing that many of them flying together was really something special.
Five CASA Bouchon (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "5" ((Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Five CASA Bouchon (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
CASA Bouchonn "white 9" (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
CASA Bouchon "white 9" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "5" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "yellow 10" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
CASA Bouchon "red 11" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
CASA Bouchon "yellow 7"(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "5" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "5" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
CASA Bouchon "red 11" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
CASA Bouchon "red 11" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
CASA Bouchon "red 11" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "yellow 10" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "yellow 10" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Casa Bouchon "yellow 10" (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
CASA Bouchon "white 9" (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
B17 Bomber and escorts
Sally B is now in its 43rd display year in the UK. The years have taken its toll however and new engines are needed if she is to continue flying. When starting up and flying, you can see clouds of burned oil indicating worn out engines.
It was the P-51 Mustang that finally provided escort for the Flying Fortresses all the way to the target deep inside Germany and back. The P-47 D having a shorter range was only capable of escorting the bombers part of the way. By that time the American pilots were generally better trained and had better equipment than the Germans, thus turning the balance.
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
North American P-51D Mustang (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
North American P-51D Mustang (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder
Thunderbolt & Mustang (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
North American P-51D Mustang (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Thunderbolt & Mustang (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss Aircraft
All four Curtiss fighters together in the air hadn’t been seen for a while. The last two years there were problems with the Curtiss P-36C and also the P-40C. The type that did most of the flying was the rare P-40F, no doubt due to its reliable Merlin engine.
Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Curtiss P-36C Hawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss P-36C Hawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss P-36C Hawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss P-36C Hawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss H75 Hawk (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Curtiss H75 Hawk (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss P-40F Kittyhawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss P-40F Kittyhawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Curtiss P-40F Kittyhawk (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)