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Duxford Spring Air Show May 2010

Great news. They're back! The Duxford Airshows that is, for the 2010 season. This years Spring Air Show had as its theme aircraft of the RAF and was centred around the launch of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the coming air show season. Unfortunately events conspired to considerably reduce the planned flying programme because of restrictions imposed due to the volcanic ash cloud returning  to the skies overhead. This effectively meant that the majority of the planned participation by current RAF jet aircraft, notably the Typhoon, had to be cancelled at the last minute along with the Memorial flights Avro Lancaster. It says a great deal about the professionalism and background organisation of the team at Duxford that despite this major setback they were still able to put on a flawless display that was still full of interest and without any obvious gaps or pauses.

Many of the old regular favourites were displayed including the Duxford based B-17 'Sally B', which is now the only flying example of a B-17 in Europe following the grounding of the French based 'Pink Lady'

As might be expected in this, the 70th anniversary year of the Battle of Britain, several Spitfires and Hurricanes were displayed. A planned display by 4 Hurricanes in the air at once had to be cut back to 3 aircraft at the last minute due to an engine problem with one of them, but three in the air at once still proved to be a wonderful sight (and sound)

The origins and early days of the RAF were well represented by an excellent display by the Shuttleworth Collections Se5a and Bristol Fighter followed by the Historic Aircraft Collections Hawker Nimrod.

Luckily not all the more modern jet aircraft had to be grounded by the conditions. Some of the great 'classic' jets took to the air including the very distinctive Heritage Aviation owned Hawker Hunter with its amazing bright colour scheme. Quite a sight and later on this also took to the air to do several flypasts with another classic the North American F-86A Sabre which in itself is very rare as it is the Worlds only airworthy 'A' model.

Of course the Duxford Air Shows aren't just what  happens in the air during the display itself. There is always a huge amount to see that is of interest on the ground as well. Of particular interest to me this time were several of the 'traders' that had very notable veterans signing books and prints for collectors and enthusiasts. Amongst these was a book launch by probably the worlds most collected aviation artist Robert Taylor where he was signing copies along with 3 very distinguished Battle Of Britain veterans. This was hugely popular with queues outside the marquee so much so that disappointingly I did not have time to get a copy myself!

Another massively popular signing session was put on by Vector Fine Arts where they had brought together nearly 20 Battle Of Britain veterans to sign items with all money raised going to the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. Again the very large queues proving how popular these type of events are. What a great opportunity to meet these heroes (in the true sense of the word) and shake hands with Battle of Britain veterans. Truly inspiring and unforgettable!

All in all a fantastic day out where once again Duxford proved that no matter what unpredictable circumstances are thrown at them, Duxford and all the people involved will always put on a world class event.

Check out Duxfords own website http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/ for all their latest news on forthcoming events.

For a great selection of Limited Edition aviation Giclee prints go to www.thehoughtoncollection.co.uk