Flying Legends 2019
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by
Date Location |
: The Fighter Collection
: Saturday/Sunday 13/14 July 2019 : Imperial War Museums Duxford, Cambridgeshire
United Kingdom |
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I didn't want to go this year I had too many other things going on But a good friend convinced me to do the long trip
I wasn't looking forward to the long drives at night When you get older - you appreciate the comfort of your own bed more and more
So... We hopped on the coach on Friday evening in Belgium
In Calais, France ... we took the ferry - and stretched our legs during the one hour crossing
At dawn we drove from the ferry into Dover
Three hours later we were the first coach to arrive at Duxford airfield
... but we were not the first persons to arrive
The gates opened at 8AM ... and we secured our seats front row
Then we took a look around
It's been several years since we visited the Conservation Hangar ... one of many hangars - open to the public - at the airfield
Most conservation work is being done on the mighty Victor
Seeing the old lady in the naked metal surely was an unusual sight
Old Bill - a remarkable World War I veteran bus
... built in 1911 - and still in working order
Plenty of other bits piled up to see in this hangar
... including the remnants of a RAF P-39
I was impressed by the size of the "little" Heinkel He-162
I took a few details pictures
Another hangar sheltered several other warbirds ... which were not participating in this years airshow (maybe they were punished ?)
It was a good opportunity to make pictures from very close by
... and see all kinds of details - which are not even in the best Hurricane model kits
A Nimrod and a Fury in the background ... grabbed our attention too
We wandered outside again... The R/C guys
Several historical displays
... even with a kind word of explanation
A movie star - a Spitfire replica
What you can do with a Jaguar...
Spirits promotion
You could sit in a real Spitfire
... for a modest fee of £20
... and have your picture taken
The second Nimrod - spending time outside
The Hawker Typhoon restoration team
If your wallet was in a good mood ... you could even take a flight in one of two Harvards/Texans
But £249.00 was a little rich for me
At noon the Red Arrows did their thing
They were only performing on Saturday (lucky us)
It reminded us to visit the flightline - at a £5 entry fee You can take good pictures of the stars of the show ... including 5 Buchons this year
There were four single seaters
... and one double seater It was the first time I saw one of these
The highlight of the show :
There were no less then 15 Spitfires
Note the tonal differences under the nose
The unique Blenheim Mk.I (... with Bolingbroke genes - as everybody knows)
The happy return of a Lysander !
And there was a major airshow premiere at this years show : A freshly restored DH-9
One of only very few in the world
And the only one that can fly (though due to technical problems - it did not fly on Saturday, when we were there)
American air power
There were only two Mustangs this year
The Hawk family (in the background, just so you know...)
And of course - one of the big stars of 75 years of D-Day
The Sally B ... the only Flying Fortress in Europe
For a small fee of £20 you could take a small tour inside the aircraft But we were too late, the flightline was about to close
A quick stop at the only model "shop" at the show Klassic Kits
£20.00 for these two kits
Several other vendors also had kits on sale
... with tempting prices even !
£9.00
Of course there were also a lot of book vendors
No time to check them all out
But I found some evening literature
... 3 books for a tenner
Another book vendor
... with a lot of free stuff, mostly older magazines
And cheap kits
Flypast and Aeroplane Monthly
... with DVD's on promotion
The promo booth of the Red Arrows
And you could find some models on sale as well
The show was about to start - around 14h
It was cloudy - rather dark
So for the first time in my life ... I played with the ISO settings of my camera Looking slightly better (or so I thought - images became grainy)
The Spitfires opened the show
The sound of 12 Spitfires flying overhead... just magnificent (The 3 early mark Battle of Britain Spitfires would fly seperatly later on)
The Buchons followed soon...
The Sally B in all her glory...
The Mustangs coming back in...
The mighty P-47
Appreciating the Lysander
The P-40 about to take off...
Angels in the sky
A sight you don't see every day
Sea Fury taking off...
At the end of the show there was a wing walkers display
Followed by a tour of the C-47's
Then most planes took off again
For the balbo
Which was the end of the show Returning to the coach at 18h ... for the long drive back home
Taking the 22h ferry in Dover
I was back home on Sunday morning at 4AM Very tired ... but every second of discomfort was again worth it ! I apologize for the lousy pictures due to my old camera - and the grey weather
... but at least we could watch the whole show this year - and we didn't have to shelter from a burning sun
All comments, corrections and suggestions are welcome Thank you
Previous reports on Flying Legends :
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William De Coster / Belgium
Page created : 05 August 2019 |