Battle of Britain Airshow, Duxford, 2019.

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Airframes

Benevolens Magister
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Aug 24, 2008
Cheshire, UK
Karl and I met up at our usual campsite on Saturday, 21st September, in clear blue skies and hot sunshine, ready for the second day of the show on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the weather was not so good the next day, starting out marginal, with cloud, and then a short spell of warm sunshine, which eventually deteriorated as the day progressed, becoming dull and damp, with a torrential rainstorm at one point, before settling into a grey, damp and dull day as the flying continued. As a result, two slots were cancelled, including the T-33 and MiG 15, and some 'acts' were cut short due to visibility.
At one point, aircraft seemed to merge with the grey background, and photography ranged from tricky to nigh on impossible but, according to The Law of Sod, when the show ended, the skies cleared and the sun came out !!
Added to the difficult photographic conditions was some 'finger trouble' on my part , which resulted in a fairly high percentage of what could have been good shots being spoiled, although in some cases just about usable if adjusted for brightness and contrast. At some point, without realising it, I'd apparently changed the ISO setting on the D 3300 / 300mm lens down to 100 ISO, which lead to many images later in the day looking almost like B&W negatives !
I only discovered this after checking the camera on my return home, being puzzled at the results when seen on the computer screen, and can only assume the accidental adjustment was made whilst using the menu on my camera to show Karl how to adjust the various focus and metering options ; my stupid, stiff fingers must have got in the way !
As well as the above problems, in many cases our location on the field, very close to the Land Warfare Hall at the western end, certainly wasn't the best, as the aircraft were a fair distance away for the best action and angles. Oh well, better luck next time !
Anyway, I managed to 'save' some pics, and most of those from early in the show aren't too bad, if a little mundane, which at least allows a reasonable selection to be posted here.

This Battle of Britain airshow not only commemorated the Battle itself, but also the 50th anniversary of the BoB movie, much of which was filmed at Duxford in the summer of 1968, with the movie's premier on 15th September, 1969. Consequently, the show opened with a 'recreation' of the airfield attack sequence, when the 'Messerschmitts' strafed the Hurricanes on the airfield in France, shot at the south west corner of Duxford airfield, with the same Buchons being used for the airshow, albeit at a higher altitude than the film sequence, and with a camouflaged tent and flag as the 'target', rather than replica Hurricanes.

On with the pics, with more to follow once I've sorted, and hopefully improved, some more.



Pics 1 to 3. A Danish departure for another show elsewhere, taking off, with smoke, and banking away immediately after take off.
Pics 4 to 7. The Buchons take off to prepare for the airfield attack sequence.
Pics 8 to 10. Approaching and peeling off for the attack.
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Thanks chaps.

The attack sequence, and Spitfires and Hurricanes taking off to chase the Buchons. Having been professionally involved with pyrotechnics for some years, I wasn't particularly impressed with the quality, or timing, of those used for this display, even allowing for safety and debris considerations.


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Thanks Geo and Paul.

The opening 'act' landed and taxied in, as the clouds gathered and the sky darkened, causing a slight delay for the next performance, with the BBMF Lancaster and Spitfire PR19 inbound, coming next.




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Thanks very much chaps, it's appreciated.
Although there are some reasonable shots, I have yet to see any that I would class as anything special. There were a few that could have been superb, but spoiled by not being fully in focus, due to low ISO speed.
Working on the next batches now, and should have some posted later today.
 
The Bremont Great War Display team put on a good show, with airfield 'bombing', machine gun fire and "Archie" (flak), in a fairly stiff wind and darkening skies.
Although replicas, with the SE5 and Be2 being 7/8th scale and, as far as I know, the Sopwith and Fokker triplanes being full size, they looked the part, and engaged in some 'entertaining' dog fights.
This and the following post show some of the action.


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