Battle of Britain Airshow, Duxford, 2019.

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Good ones Terry. Never understood the 7/8 scale thing unless it's ideal for certain modern engines. Hardly seems worth the material saving otherwise.
 
I think it's something to do with PFA * and CAA rules in the UK, so that they can be built as a 'light aircraft', looking like, eg a SE5, without the relative complexity of the real thing. I'm going off memory here, having discussed this with owners back in the mid 1980s.
(* Popular Flying Association, the regulating 'board' for such aircraft, which has now changed its name, but I can't remember to what ! )
 
Makes sense thanks. We have those 7/8 scale replicas over here too and the Canadian Nieuports that flew over Vimy two years ago were also of reduced scale.
 
Next slot was a pleasant surprise, with three Sea Furies
However, it was at this point where things went base over apex, as the sky darkened, with damp, grey clouds as background, which was not good when shooting, unknowingly, at 100 ISO, instead of 400 !!
However, after messing about with brightness and contrast etc, I've managed to rescue some reasonable shots, shown here and in the next post.
The first two shots below are the same frame, before and after adjustment, and the dull conditions can be seen in most of these pics.


 
The Sea Furies again, returning to land and taxi in, and a general shot down the field, looking east, showing the weather conditions at the time.
The last four shots, including the prototype Hawker Sea Stuka, where taken with the second camera, the Nikon D5200 and 18-55mm lens, on the correct settings

Back when I've sorted and rescued some more images.




 
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forgot about that last pic !

when i read Sea Stuka i was thinking what is silly bugger talking about
 
Awesome shots there Terry, great job, wish we could see a Hawker Hurricane show up at Airventure. Its been a long time since I saw one there flying.
 
That's cos it's cold in Canada - slows down the brain cells !

On with the ( somewhat soggy ) show, and the B-17 and P-47 merging into the cloud. Some of the pics taken later in the sequence (not shown here) look like they were taken in fog, especially the silver P-47, which looked like a ghost ship, barely discernible.
Misty Mustang shots yet to come .........


 
Two pairs of Mustangs took off for their display, but I only got barely reasonable shots of the second pair. The first two would have provided a really good pic - if it had been sharp. Hopefully, Karl managed to get the shot.
At this point, it got rather wet, with drizzle and scudding low cloud, and the second pair of Mustangs did a circuit and returned to base, probably wise considering the visibility, or lack of it.
The other two did a shortened display and then also returned to land. As will be seen in the pics, the aircraft were in cloud haze most of the time, making photography difficult, but probably not as difficult as the conditions experience by the pilots, who deserve credit for their efforts.

Back sometime tomorrow with more from the show.




 
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ok seems i put in a pretty dismal performance with the camera at Duxford, though i did manage to grab a few decent pictures.

i will add my favourites in no particular order if thats ok Dogsbody ?

first up some Hurricanes, i was very happy to see these 4 as its been over a year since i saw a Hurricane in the air !

 
The "Mercury Formation" was next, although again a shortened display, due to the weather and poor visibility, as can be seen in the photos.
The title is, of course, derived from the type of engines used for these aircraft, the Bristol Mercury radial, and the formation consisted of two Westland Lysanders, a Bristol Blenheim Mk.1F and a Gloster Gladiator. a truly unique sight, and sound.
The 'SOE' Lysander and Gladiator are from The Shuttleworth Collection, at nearby Old Warden aerodrome ( featured in the latest posts in my "Travels of Tel's Tin Tent' thread ), whilst the Army Cooperation Lysander and the Blenheim are based at Duxford.

More to follow, with lots to show yet.


 

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