Airframes
Benevolens Magister
As usual, I only went to the show on the Sunday, which was just as well, as torrential rain on the Saturday curtailed a great proportion of the flying, with only two or three serials actually taking off.
I set of later than usual on Saturday, driving through dark skies and heavy rain, arriving on the usual Fowlmere campsite at around 18.30 hrs, just as the rain stopped and the sun came out !
This set the scene for the next five days of my time at Duxford and in Norfolk, with temperatures soaring to 30+ degrees C, and just a soft breeze.
I parked the Tin Tent in exactly the same location I was allocated for 'Flying Legends' in July and, being alone this time, I decided just to stay at the van and watch the show for a change, rather than roam over the airfield and sit at the flight line taking pictures.
Met some really nice people, including two British ex-Paras, a German ex-Para, and a Canadian ex-Para and his lovely wife and kids, as well as a quite attractive blonde girl who had flown in, and sat and chatted for over an hour.
Being more than 450 meters from the display axis, photo opportunities were slightly limited, and I had a few focusing problems with the longer-range shots, but still managed to get a few reasonable pics.
I had hoped to see the Sea Vixen display, but noticed that it was no longer listed in the flying programme, and wasn't included in the announcements over the PA system.
The only other 'no show' was the Yak-3, which landed part way through the flying displays, but then stayed on the ground. In addition, some of the resident aircraft were away at the Southport airshow, and other displays, returning as the flying display ended.
The theme of this year's show celebrated the 80th anniversary of the formation of RAF Fighter Command and, with Duxford being an important and historic fighter station, especially during the Battle of Britain, and later as the home of the 78th FG, 8th USAAF, the title of "Meet the Fighters" was quite appropriate.
So, enough of my ramblings, and I'll start to post pics of the highlights, with a few 'tasters' of what's to come.
The first two pics, taken at around 09.30 hrs, show the Tin Tent parked for comfort and a reasonable view, and the crowds as they were at that time, growing by the minute, with ... er ... another of the many 'alternative exhibits' that seemed to smile as they strolled past !
I set of later than usual on Saturday, driving through dark skies and heavy rain, arriving on the usual Fowlmere campsite at around 18.30 hrs, just as the rain stopped and the sun came out !
This set the scene for the next five days of my time at Duxford and in Norfolk, with temperatures soaring to 30+ degrees C, and just a soft breeze.
I parked the Tin Tent in exactly the same location I was allocated for 'Flying Legends' in July and, being alone this time, I decided just to stay at the van and watch the show for a change, rather than roam over the airfield and sit at the flight line taking pictures.
Met some really nice people, including two British ex-Paras, a German ex-Para, and a Canadian ex-Para and his lovely wife and kids, as well as a quite attractive blonde girl who had flown in, and sat and chatted for over an hour.
Being more than 450 meters from the display axis, photo opportunities were slightly limited, and I had a few focusing problems with the longer-range shots, but still managed to get a few reasonable pics.
I had hoped to see the Sea Vixen display, but noticed that it was no longer listed in the flying programme, and wasn't included in the announcements over the PA system.
The only other 'no show' was the Yak-3, which landed part way through the flying displays, but then stayed on the ground. In addition, some of the resident aircraft were away at the Southport airshow, and other displays, returning as the flying display ended.
The theme of this year's show celebrated the 80th anniversary of the formation of RAF Fighter Command and, with Duxford being an important and historic fighter station, especially during the Battle of Britain, and later as the home of the 78th FG, 8th USAAF, the title of "Meet the Fighters" was quite appropriate.
So, enough of my ramblings, and I'll start to post pics of the highlights, with a few 'tasters' of what's to come.
The first two pics, taken at around 09.30 hrs, show the Tin Tent parked for comfort and a reasonable view, and the crowds as they were at that time, growing by the minute, with ... er ... another of the many 'alternative exhibits' that seemed to smile as they strolled past !
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