Duxford Airshow 2014 (September) Review

CWHM & BBMF Lancasters

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This year's Duxford Airshow proved to be very popular due to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's (CWHM) Avro Lancaster displaying on Sunday. This caused a high volume of traffic and several car parks were allocated for the exclusive use of ticket holders this year.

Saturday had a few different display aircraft including the Avro Vulcan, BBMF Dakota, three Folland Gnats, Breitling Wingwalkers, Piper L-4 Cub, and there was to be a flypast of an RAF Tornado GR4 which unfortunately cancelled. As well as the CWHM Lancaster, Sunday saw the BBMF Lancaster, Boeing 727, Dragon Rapide, and the Red Arrows.

As usual there is plenty to see and do at Duxford before the actual display starts at 2pm. The extensive museum is free to look around and there are plenty of stalls to visit.

Junkers CLI

Fokker Dr.I

RAF BE2c

RAF SE5a

Sopwith Triplane

To commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War we had the 'Great War Display Team' consisting of eight WW1 replica aircraft: - 'Fokker Dr.I x3', 'Junkers CLI', 'Royal Aircraft Factory BE2c', 'Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a x2', and a 'Sopwith Triplane'.

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British two-seat biplane which was in service with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) from 1912 until the end of World War I, and around 3,500 were built. This particular replica BE2c was commissioned in 1969 by the makers of the film 'Biggles Sweeps the Skies' and was built and flown in just 16 weeks by vintage aircraft specialist Charles Boddington at Sywell in Northamptonshire.

Great War Team

RAF SE5a

RAF SE5a

Fokker Dr.I x2

Fokker Dr.I

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's (CWHM) 'Avro Lancaster Mk.X' displayed alongside the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) 'Avro Lancaster B.1', and two BBMF Spitfires.

These are the only two Avro Lancasters flying in the world today and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum flew their prized Avro Lancaster to England on August 4th for a 2 month tour. It crossed the North Atlantic from its home in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada via Goose Bay, Greenland, and Keflavik in Iceland, prior to arriving at RAF Coningsby which is home to the BBMF. It has displayed at several UK airshows alongside the BBMF Lancaster and BBMF fighters.

The CWHM Avro Lancaster was built at Victory Aircraft, Malton, Ontario in Canada in July 1945. It suffered a serious accident in 1952 and was fitted with a new wing from a Lancaster that had flown in combat over Germany. It served as a maritime patrol aircraft until it was retired in 1963. Following a complete restoration it flew again on 24th September 1988 and was painted in the colours of KB726-VR-A flown by Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski of Royal Canadian Air Force No.419 (Moose) Squadron. Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski won the Victoria Cross on 13th June 1944 when his Lancaster was shot down in 1944 by a German night fighter. He managed to free the tail gunner who was trapped in the rear turret of the blazing and out-of-control bomber. The tail gunner survived but sadly Andrew Mynarski died from his severe burns.

Lancasters

BBMF Lancaster

CWHM Lancaster

Lancasters

B-17 Sally B

Another Second World War bomber displaying at Duxford was the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 'Sally B'. The B-17 bomber was the mainstay of the USAAF daylight bombing campaign over occupied Europe. Sally B is the only B-17 still flying in the UK and serves as the USAAF's official flying memorial to the thousands of young Americans who gave their lives during the conflict.

We also saw four Spitfires take to the skies including a Spitfire Mk.Ia (P9374,G-MK1A, ARC/HFL), Spitfire Mk.Vb (EP120, G-LFVB, TFC), Spitfire Mk.Vb (BM597, G-MKVB, HAC), Spitfire T.IX (IAC-161, G-CCCA, ARC), as well as a Hurricane (HAC).

Hurricane

Spitfire

Spitfires

Spitfires

Spitfires

The Fighter Collection displayed their Grumman F8F Bearcat, Grumman F6F Hellcat, and Goodyear FG-1D Corsair together. The Corsair was a carrier capable fighter serving in the war in the Pacific and the Korean War. It has a distinctive inverted gull-wing to accommodate the very large propeller. They also displayed their Curtiss Hawk 75 and Curtiss P-40F Warhawk. In 1939 about 400 Curtiss Hawks were supplied to the French Air Force with the type credited with the first Allied victory on the Western Front in World War 2. The P-40 Warhawk was first flown in 1938 and remained in frontline service throughout World War 2. This particular P-40F Warhawk is one of only two aircraft in the world with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine.

Cats/Corsair

Corsair

F8F Bearcat

F6F Hellcat

P-40 Warhawk

We saw two North American T-28 Fennec (Radial Revelation/Groupe Fennec) aircraft. The Fennec (or Trojan as it was initially called) was a primary trainer for the United States Air Force and served throughout the 1950s. Many of these aircraft were later purchased by the French Air Force and converted to ground-attack aircraft and used in the close support role in Algeria. The French renamed this aircraft as the 'Fennec' which is an Arabic word for a 'North African Fox'.

The Consolidated PBY Catalina (Plane Sailing) was an American flying boat used for anti-submarine warfare, patrol bombing, convoy escort, and search and rescue during World War 2. In its anti-submarine warfare role it sank forty U-boats. This particular Catalina was built in Canada in 1943. During the war it served with the Canadian Air Force in the anti-submarine role. After the war it served on survey, search and rescue, and fire-fighting duties before ending up at Duxford in 2004. It wears the markings of the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron based at Halesworth in Suffolk.

T-28 Fennec

T-28 Fennec

T-28 Fennec

Catalina

Catalina

Displaying together were the de Havilland Beaver, Boeing Stearman, and the de Havilland DH89A Dragon Rapide. The Beaver was a rugged short-takeoff-and-landing utility transport built by de-Havilland Canada from 1947 to 1967 with 1,657 built. The Stearman was used as a primary trainer by the US Army Air Corps and the US Navy and were built during the 1930s and 1940s with over 10,000 produced. The Dragon Rapide was a 1930s British short-haul biplane passenger airliner.

DH Beaver

Stearman

Dragon Rapide

Hunter T7

Hunter T7

A Hawker Hunter T7 (WV372, Cranfield Hunter Limited) also displayed at Duxford. The Hawker Hunter was a British fighter jet which was also later used as a fighter-bomber and in reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. It was introduced in 1954 and served with numerous Air Force's around the world. This particular Hunter is a two-seat side-by-side trainer built in 1955 as an F.4 fighter. A year later it was badly damaged when the jet pipe detached from the engine causing a fire. It was repaired and converted to a T.7 trainer. In 1959 it served with the RAF in West Germany and the UK before being transferred to the Royal Navy in 1984, and then retiring in 1996.

An interesting display aircraft was the Boeing 727 (G-OSRA, 2Excel Aviation Limited) which is Boeing's only three-jet airliner. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963 and production ended in 1984 with 1,832 aircraft being built. There are still around 100 of these aircraft still in commercial service. 2Excel Aviation Limited have two of these aircraft (G-OSRA & G-OSRB) which are ex-FedEx Boeing 727s and used as oil spill response aircraft.

Hunter T7

Hunter T7

Boeing 727

Boeing 727

Boeing 727

Two BAC Jet Provost T5 (J Bell/Jet Aerobatics and C Boyd/Hunter Flight Academy) displayed together. The Jet Provost was a Royal Air Force military jet trainer aircraft produced from 1958 to 1967 with 741 built. It proved to be a very capable trainer and was later developed with more powerful engines and also included an armed and beefed-up version of the T5 which was called the BAC 167 Strikemaster. The Jet Provost was eventually replaced by the Shorts Tucano in RAF service from 1989 to the present day. The RAF Tucano T1 is a two-seat turboprop basic trainer built by Short Brothers in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a licence-built version of the Brazilian Embraer EMB-312 Tucano. The 2014 display Tucano is flown by Flight Lieutenant Dave Kirby and his aircraft has a special livery featuring poppies and the legend 'Lest We Forget' to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Jet Provost

Jet Provost

Tucano T1

Tucano T1

Sea King

The bright yellow Westland Sea King HAR3 is used to provide 24-hour, year-round Search and Rescue and is based in six locations around the UK as well as the Falkland Islands and Cyprus. There are controversial plans to retire the now ageing Sea Kings and privatise Search and Rescue around the UK. In March 2013 it was announced that the Department for Transport had signed a contract with Bristow Helicopters Ltd to provide search and rescue helicopter services in the UK with operations commencing progressively from 2015. They are expected to be fully operational by 2017 and will use AgustaWestland AW189 and Sikorsky S-92 helicopters and operate from 10 locations around the UK.

Another interesting aircraft in the display was the small but very lively Levier Cosmic Wind. It was built by Lockheed's chief test pilot Tony Le Vier and a group of Lockheed engineers and flew in 1947. Only three were built with a few more completed as homebuilds and it was made for the Goodyear Trophy races. It remained competitive in Formula One Air Racing for many years. This particular aircraft (Bellerina G-ARUL) is one of the original first three built and was exported to the UK in 1961. It triumphed in the 1964 King's Cup Race and is now a regular air show performer.

Sea King

Sea King

Cosmic Wind

TRIG Team

TRIG Team

The TRIG Aerobatic Team fly two Pitts Special S1-D biplanes. The Pitts Special were used by many display teams and dominated the 1960s-1970s World Aerobatic Championships. The TRIG Aerobatic Team leader is Richard Grace, the son of display pilots Carolyn and Nick Grace, and sometimes flies the families well-known Spitfire. The second pilot is Dave Puleston who also sometimes displays the Grace Spitfire.

Sunday ended with the Red Arrows in their nine BAe Hawk jet trainers. This year is the 50th season of the Red Arrows and to celebrate this they have a Union flag painted on the tailfin of their aircraft. The leader is Squadron Leader Jim Turner in Red 1 who is now in his third and final season. Red 2 is Flight Lieutenant Stewart Campbell, Red 3 is Flight Lieutenant Joe Hourston, Red 4 is Flight Lieutenant Oliver Parr, and Red 5 is Flight Lieutenant Steve Morris. Red 6 and synchro leader is Flight Lieutenant James McMillan and Red 7 who is synchro 2 is Flight Lieutenant Mark Lawson. Red 8 is Flight Lieutenant Martin Pert and Red 9 Flight Lieutenant Mike Child. Red 10 is the supervisor for all practices and displays as well as coordinating the summer display season. He also does the Red Arrows display commentary.

Red Arrows

Red Arrows

Red Arrows

Red Arrows

Red Arrows

Thank you to the 'Imperial War Museum Duxford' for putting on another excellent air show this year.

Next year's Air Show dates are as follows:
Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th May 2015 - VE Day Anniversary Air Show.
Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July 2015 - Flying legends Air Show
Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September 2015 - The Battle of Britain Anniversary Air Show

               Article and photographs by Dave Key - www.military-airshows.co.uk