This year’s Duxford Battle of Britain air show marked the end of public celebrations for the RAF Royal Air Force’s centenary. In July, together with other pilots from Denmark, I attended The RIAT airshow at RAF Fairford and The Flying Legends in Duxford. Both were spectacular, and I wanted to experience The Battle of Britain in Duxford later in September as well.
The air show started at 12:45 on each day, and during the mornings from 09:00 until 12:00 one could buy a ticket to the Flight Line Walk, and to see all these beautiful aircraft on the ground. The lined up Spitfires on the photo above flew in a formation of 18 at the end of the show.
To the delight of the visitors, some of the aircraft were transported through the public areas:
Duxford was officially opened on the September 1918, many of its buildings of that time were constructed by the German prisoners of war. In the 1930s the station became a key fighter base. The Duxford’s squadrons played a critical role during The Battle of Britain. With time, Duxford became synonymous with the best of the RAF. Today, RAF Duxford is owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is the site of the Imperial War Museum Duxford, and the American Air Museum. It also houses The Fighter Collection and the Historic Aircraft Collection, two private operators of airworthy vintage military aircraft. The Control Tower of Duxford:
Wandering through the historic core of the airfield visitors could relive the fashion, food and music on the home front of the 1940s:
The Ground display was enormous. Hawker Nimrod II (first from the left) and Hawker Nimrod Mk I (second from the left):
The Hawker Nimrod II singe-seat biplane fighter was built in 1934 and joined 802 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm in 1936, probably ending up as an instructional airframe. The half-buried corroded remains were discovered on a rubbish dump in Kent in 1972. It made its first post-restoration flight at Duxford in 2006. It is the sole example of a Nimrod II left in the world.
The Nimrod Mk I S1581 (second from left on the photo above) was the third production aircraft to be built, serving aboard HMS Glorious from 1933 till 1938, when it was written off. The remains were eventually purchased by Aero Vintage who restored the aircraft. The first post-restoration flight took place in 2000. The last operational Nimrods were withdrawn from service in May 1939, although the very last one – used to make weather checks – served until January 1942.
Bristol Fighter F2B (photo below) was a two-seat fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, entering service with The Royal Flying Corps in March 1917:
It was armed with a fixed forward-firing Vickers machine gun, and a Lewis gun for the observer in the rear cockpit. The F2B got off to a disastrous start to its operational career due to faulty tactics, but once it was operated like a single-seat fighter it became a formidable and effective fighting aeroplane. So successful was the design that the F2B remained in production until 1926 and didn’t retire from military service until 1932.
The one that participated in the Duxford air show was built in 1918 and was with 208 Squadron in Turkey in 1923. After a lengthy storage, it was restored by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is the only airworthy original example in Europe.
From left to right: Miles Magister M14A from 1939, Miles M14A Hawk trainer 3 from 1941, and Avro Tutor from 1931 (the sole survivor of its type):
The Miles Magister was the first low-wing trainer to be adopted by RAF. Of wooden construction with plywood covering, the Magister proved to be an excellent trainer. Deliveries began in 1937 and it served throughout the war. More than 1200 examples were built. After the war many Magisters were scrapped, and today there are only four airworthy examples in the world.
Bristol Blenheim Mk I on the right, and a Hispano HA-1112 M4L Buchon on the left:
At the outbreak of the WWII the RAF had more Bristol Bienheims than any other type – over 1.000. These aircraft bore the brunt of the early daylight bombing operations. Few Bienheims had survived by the 1970s, and there were no flying examples left. A 12-year long restoration project was brought to fruition in 1987 when a Bienheim took to the skies again, but tragically, a month later, the aircraft was wrecked in an accident. Undaunted, another restoration saw the Bienheim in the air once more, flying with great success for ten years until a landing accident at IWM Duxford in 2003 caused significant damage. After another lengthy restorationm this time as a Bienheim Mk I, this iconic 1930s light bomber made its first post-restoration public display in 2015.
Besides unique aircraft, there were other interesting things to experience. Suffolk home guard:
Inspiring talks (James Holland):
The Lancaster stand:
16 Tiger Moth aircraft opened the Battle of Britain air display. They flew in a formation as the characters “100”, to honour the 100 years of RAF:
Battle of Britain memorial flight (photo below) – Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane. The Avro Lancaster is the most famous and successful RAF heavy bomber of WWII. It carried out daring missions, and was also one of the most dangerous places to be in the entire war. It had a crew of seven from the pilot to the gunners, and the life expectancy of a new recruit was just two weeks.
It was damn cold, +10C, and raining throughout the weekend, but the show went on, and the visitors were happy.
P-51D Mustang “Miss Helen” from 1944:
Miss Helen is the last original 352nd Fighter Group P-51 known to exist. It’s uncertain exactly how many missions this aircraft had, but it’s known for sure that it was on a mission escorting B-17 bombers to Dresden on April 17th 1945, along with another 51 Mustangs. Miss Helen has several confirmed kills to her name.
B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B on landing on the photo below. It is the only airworthy B-17 left in Europe.
In front of the landing B-17, on the ground, two Yakovlev aircraft. They were designed as a short range, low-level operations aircraft. Like many Soviet aircraft before and after, they were robust and easy to maintain, and well-liked by pilots and ground crew.
Sally B is based at the IWM in Duxford. It flies at airshows in the UK and across Europe as well as serving as an airborne memorial to the US Army Air Forces airmen who lost their lives in the European theatre during WWII.
The aircraft was delivered on 19 June 1945, too late to see active service in the war. After being used for training and research purposes, it was moved to Britain and restored to wartime condition. A dedicated team of volunteers and one of the largest supporters clubs of its kind in the world – the Sally B supporters club – look after this aircraft. Sally B is flown by volunteer experienced professional pilots.
That was a very short summary from the two exciting days at Duxford: Battle of Britain air show 22-23 September 2018.
Sources of information I used to write this blog post:
The official IWM Duxford magazine from the show
Wikipedia
https://www.worldnavalships.com/directory/airframeprofile.php?FrameID=23338
https://www.flyinglegends.com/aircraft/p-51d-mustang-miss-helen-g-bixl.html
http://www.sallyb.org.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z23svcw