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  Duxford Summer Airshow 2024 "D-Day 80"
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Text:

Urs Schnyder

Pictures:

Urs Schnyder & Michael E. Fader


 

 

(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)

(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

The week preceding the airshow was marked by really bad weather. Normally you can visit Duxford on the Friday before the Airshow and get some good pictures during rehearsals. Not this time however. The bad weather prevented many participants from the Continent from attending the airshow. Late Friday afternoon there wasn’t a single aircraft on the line up along the taxiway.

This was the first time I can remember that there was no flight line walk for the press on Saturday morning for the simple reason that there was no flight line at all. The strong wind also caused the parachute drops to be cancelled. The same applied to the Hawker Fury.

The tragic accident of the Battle of Britain Flight the week before also meant that all its aircraft were grounded and could therefore not take part. Another strange occurrence was the Sea Fury that had commitments elsewhere according to the speaker. I would have thought that if it featured in the program its owner should honour that commitment. So the day was a grey one as you can see from the pictures. At least it didn’t rain, but it was cold! Nevertheless, there had been close to 40’000 tickets sold by Friday evening.

   

Rafale

   
 

Who would have thought a few years back, that a French Air Force jet would be the only participant from any armed Forces at an English Airshow. And so it was. It opened the program in style and with an appropriate noise level. Thankfully the machine was painted in the French colours which made it easier to spot in the grey sky.

 

(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)

   

Aerobatics

   

Four aerobatic displays, by two solo machines and two teams were part of the program. The XtremeAir Xa42 did not appear on the flying list but was featured in the official programme so it was a stand in for one of the cancelled parts. The Jet Pitts S-25has two additional jet engines fitted next to the cockpit that give it additional power which it uses to good effect.

Team Raven was founded in 2014 and is now made up of six highly experienced pilots flying the Vans Aircraft RV-8 and RV-4. Last and this year they even ventured across the Channel to display at the La Ferte airshow in France. The flying comrades with their Yak-18T, the Yak-50 and Yak-52 can now be considered a staple at any Duxford airshow

   

Jet Pitts (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Jet Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Jet Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Jet Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Jet Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

Team Raven (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Team Raven (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Team Raven (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Team Raven (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Team Raven (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

Flying Comrades (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Flying Comrades (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Flying Comrades (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Flying Comrades (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Flying Comrades (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

Red Bulls

   

A reliable supporter of Duxford airshows for man years, Red Bull brought their immaculate Douglas DC-6B and B-25 to the show. They just managed to sneak in late on Friday. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was prevented from making the trip to Duxford because of the bad weather across Europe. The DC-6 was of course the highlight of the airshow.

   

(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 Urs Schnyder)

   

Wingwalker

   

The Wingwalkers of the AeroSuperBatics have now been active for 40 years on the airshow circuit. Their Stearman biplanes are modified from the standard model by having ailerons on both wings and a stronger engine to compensate for the drag when the girls are tied to the upper wing. The focus is more on synchronized flying and movement by the girls then on moving around the aircraft as is done by other wingwalkers.

   

(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)

(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Warbirds

   
 

Duxford means of course Warbirds. While the newly restored Hawker Tempest was unfortunately unserviceable, the Fighter Collections Spitfire XIV recently repainted in its original Indian Air Force colours took to the air. Also from the Fighter Collection was the Curtiss pair of the P-36C and P-40F.

The B-17G Sally B was paired with a P-51 Mustang which itself is a rare bird. It was originally built under license in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Company. It was flying in Australia for 20 years before being shipped to the UK. It is now painted as an aircraft of the US 362nd Fighter Squadron. Last but not least we had Duxford´s own Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia

 

Supermarine Spitfire XIV(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

Supermarine Spitfire XIV(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 Michael E. Fader)

Curtiss P-40F Kittyhawk (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)

   

Curtiss P-40F Kittyhawk (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)

Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

D-Day

   

D-Day was of course also the motto of the airshow. There were three very different formations representing it.

First were the often overlooked L-Birds. Six Piper Cubs did fly in formation in three- and twosomes. They were used for many different tasks but usually for Artillery spotting and Army Cooperation.

The fighter Element was a formation of two Spitfire Mk IX and a P-47 Thunderbolt that kept the sky over the Normandy beaches clear of the enemy. The appearance of the Fairey Swordfish in full invasion stripes raised some questions, but they were indeed used to lay smokescreens over the approaching fleet. The Swordfish was a late addition to the airshow, no doubt to offset the many cancellations, as it didn’t appear in the program list.

Unfortunately the mass parachute drop by nine C-47 had to be cancelled as the wind was too strong. There was only a flypast by four C-47 that made two passes before again retiring to North Weald where they were based. This marked the end of Saturdays Show that was badly affected by the weather. It was better on Sunday, but unfortunately we had other commitments on that day.

   

(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)

(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

We’d like to thank Sandy Davidson from IWM for providing press facilities.


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last update 9. July 2024

Written 5. July 2024

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