The American airshow, Duxford, May 2016. (1 Viewer)

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Airframes

Benevolens Magister
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Aug 24, 2008
Cheshire, UK
Karl and I met-up at the usual campsite at Fowlmere on Saturday, attending the second day of the show on Sunday.
Although the weather stayed dry, with a nice sunny day on Saturday, when we could watch aircraft overhead the campsite, it was dull and misty on Sunday morning when we arrived on the airfield, with a cold wind blowing from the north.
This eventually lifted soon after the start of the flying, but photography was a little tricky in the morning, and during the first part of the show, due to the lighting, and I had some focusing problems at times.
The show should have been opened by the Eurofighter Typhoon, but the cloud base was so low, that this was moved to a later slot, in order to take advantage of the visibility afforded by the increased altitude, and the Great War Display Team opened the show, with a Fokker Dr1, and two, 7/8th scale SE5A replicas.
I'll start off with some shots of part of the line-up on the static and flight line display, and add the flying sequences later, and no doubt Karl with add his pics, the first with his Nikon DSLR, as we proceed.
The new CAA regulations, following the accident with the Hunter at Shoreham last year, were evident, with the display axis being much further from the crowd line, and some displays being slightly more 'subdued' than normal, and this will be noticeable when I post the flying shots.

PIC 1. The former Luftwaffe Bronco target tug.
PIC 2. This Huey displayed alongside a 'Loach' from the same display team.
PIC 3. Resident TF-51.
PIC 4. The P-51D from the Norwegian Historic Flight, in its relatively new 112 Sqn colour scheme.
PIC 5. Resident P-40C in beautiful, polished aluminium.
PIC 6. Ryan, again in shiny bare metal.
PIC 7. Fokker Dr.1 in the mist.
PIC 8. One of the two SE5A replicas.
PIC 9. A new colour scheme for this Buchon, previously in the colours it wore for the BoB movie.
PIC 10. This Osprey, from Wattisham, was on static display only, but we were lucky enough to see it fire up and depart after the end of the show,


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Nice ones Terry despite the overcast. I've never liked the Buchon on Luftwaffe colors, it ain't right. I would have no problems seeing it in Spanish colors and calling it what it is, it's still a historical aircraft....maybe it's just me
 
It looked better in its 'BoB' movie colour scheme, and those with just the lower cowling panel in yellow don't look too bad, but the new scheme and yellow nose makes it look bigger and flatter at the front.
It looks fine in the air though, and at certain angles looks like a 'real' 109.
 
Thanks my friend - more to come tomorrow.
I have to go out to celebrate a friend's 50th Birthday tonight, s won't get a chance to sort and re-size more pics until tomorrow afternoon.
 
Just about to go to the pub to meet up, so I'll pass on your best wishes.
I might have a thick head in the morning ....................
 
Nice start Terry.

I will add pics when i have time though i didnt do very well in my first outing with the nikon.

I tried experimenting with different settings for ground shots and flying shots but forgot to change back the settings so a lot of my flying shots were blurred or out of focus.

I still got the odd decent shot though and its all part of my education with DSLR photography
 
Thanks chaps, and thanks for the first additions Karl.
That focus problem wasn't just your fault Karl, the lighting for ground to air stuff was tricky, especially for the first hour or so of the flying, and with the aircraft further away, the cameras were struggling to distinguish between the flat, dull sky and the subject in the murk - I have quite a few shots which are less than perfect because of it.
As mentioned earlier, the display axis was a lot further out, and although I haven't yet seen the new CAA rules, I'm guessing the axis has been moved out by at least 200 meters, enough to make a difference, even with a 300mm lens.This is noticeable when I compare some of the shots from the weekend, with previous displays, and more so with the subject on the outside of the circuit, where even the B-17 'Sally B' looks small, and nowhere near as clear compared to past shows.
But on with the show, and a selection of 'The Great War Display Team', who opened the show with a dogfight with the Fokker DR1 and the two replica SE5's.
Being small, these were particularly difficult to capture against the grey sky background and dull light, and their display was separated into sections for each part of the crowd line, with action over each runway threshold, and the center point.
They put on a good display in poor conditions, with a stiff crosswind too, the DR1 'attacking' the American SE5, and then being attacked in turn by the RFC example. It was interesting to see the manouverability and tight, but slow, turning circles of these biplanes, and the DR1 really demonstrated its remarkable climbing ability, particularly on take off.

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Thanks Andy and Wojtek.

Continuing the theme honouring the American presence in East Anglia during WW2, and marking the re-opening of the recently refurbished American Museum, resident B-17G "Sally B" returned to the field after a commemorative fly-past at the former USAAF base at Eye, and was joined by two Mustangs, the Norwegian Historic Flight's P-51D in the colours of 112 Sqn, RAF, and Duxford's TF-51D 'Miss Velma', when they did a couple of distant circuits (thank you, CAA - grr!!), before being 'attacked' by 'Bf109s' in the shape of the two Buchons.
The Mustangs then engaged in a turning dogfight, before 'seeing off' the 'Messerschmitts', a display that would have been much better in clearer weather, and more so if the display axis hadn't been pushed out so far - which is probably evident in the pics below.

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Great shots Terry
Whats the story with the B-17 flyby at Eye. That's where my dad was based flying on a B-24 crew
 

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