Duxford 27th May 2012
Review and all photography by Simon Fenwick
Full gallery of photographs can be viewed on Google+
The first of the Duxford Arishows for 2012 was blessed with surely the best weather to have been seen at the Cambridgeshire airfield for many a year. With scorching sunshine and cloudless skies, the 17,000+ visitors were treated to a stunning opening to the year.
The show celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in great style with participation reflecting on the Royal Family’s links with aviation and Duxford itself. There was a particularly strong representation from the Royal Air Force, as well as debuts from a couple of foreign airshow acts. Added to this was the usual strong mix of Duxford residents taking to the air for their first show of the year.
The show celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in great style with participation reflecting on the Royal Family’s links with aviation and Duxford itself. There was a particularly strong representation from the Royal Air Force, as well as debuts from a couple of foreign airshow acts. Added to this was the usual strong mix of Duxford residents taking to the air for their first show of the year.
As well as those taking part in the flying display itself, there were additional aircraft on static display including a pair of BAC Jet Provosts, which while they were lined up on the ‘jet pan’ made a good comparison of the development of RAF trainers with the Meteor T.7 from the Classic Aircraft Trust and the patriotically painted Tucano T.1. It was a shame that the Hawk T.1 was missing due to commitments at Southend and that the Piston Provost that was on display on the grass couldn’t have joined the line-up.
It is good to see the Eurofighter Typhoon back on the display circuit this year after having to curtail the season in 2011 due to operational commitments. Provided by 6 Sqn at RAF Leuchars and displayed once again by Sqn Ldr Scott Loughran, the Typhoon gave a suitably noisy and agile start to the display with plenty of power and reheat – as if the air wasn’t hot enough already!
After its truncated season last year due to costs, next on the bill was the perennial favourite ‘Sally B’. Operated by B-17 Preservation and a resident of Duxford for many years, the team exists purely on donations and with costs rising – particularly for fuel and insurance – and aim to keep this much loved tribute to all American airmen who served in Britain in WWII, flying for long as they possibly can. The display, which has seen a couple of slight changes, finished with the traditional flypast with smoke from Nos. 1 & 2 engines. This not only harks back to the days when so many Fortresses returned with substantial damage, but is also in tribute to the many thousands of supporters around the world who donate so generously to keep ‘Sally B’ in the air.
Next was a pair of North American Harvards from The Fighter Collection and Aircraft Restoration Company, flown by Anna Walker and John Dodd. In 1952, the Duke of Edinburgh was given the title Marshal Of The Royal Air Force upon becoming the Queen’s Consort on her accession to the throne. With that title, he thought it best that he should at least learn to fly and despite some misgivings from Winston Churchill, agreement was given. Under the instruction of Flt Lt Gordon of The Central Flying School, Prince Philip commenced his training on the Chipmunk (of which more later) before moving on to the Harvard. He commented at the time “I suppose it is the first occasion when a Harvard flew around with a trainee pilot and the Five Star insignia of a Marshal of the RAF on its side!” He was awarded his RAF wings following 65 hours of advanced training.
Following on from the Harvards it was the turn of The Fleet Air Arm. The Royal Family has a long tradition of Royal Navy service. Prince Andrew famously flew Sea Kings in the Falklands 30 years ago with 820 Naval Air Squadron and flying from HMS Invincible. In 1984 the Prince converted onto the Lynx and was posted to HMS Brazen as Flight Pilot. He served in the FAA until 2001. Displaying in recognition of this was the Lynx HMA.8 from 815 NAS at RNAS Yeovilton.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight were next with their crowd rear arrival. Following formation passes, the three aircraft – Avro Lancaster B.1 PA474, Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX PM631 and Hawker Hurricane IIc LF363 – gave their individual displays. During this Jubilee year, the Flight is possibly more heavily committed than ever and towards the end of June, the Lancaster will be providing a special flypast over Green Park in London to mark the completion and dedication of the bomber Command Memorial.
Elementary Flying Training dates back to the earliest years of The Royal Air Force and its forbears, The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. Famous among the aircraft used were the Avro Tutor, De Havilland Tiger Moth and De Havilland Canada Chipmunk. The ‘Chippie’ was replaced in service by the Scottish Aviation Bulldog and that has now gone as well. In its place is the Grob Tutor. It is used by University Air Squadrons, Air Experience Flights, the Central Flying School and at RAF Cranwell for all aspects of elementary training of RAF pilots before going on to the Tucano for the advanced portion of their course. It was in a Tutor at RAF Cranwell that the then Prince William soloed after just nine hours of training. This year’s display aircraft is provided by 16(R) Sqn at Cranwell.
In 1935, King George V attended a very large Review of The Royal Air Force. The ground portion of the review was carried out at Mildenhall where the King inspected the aircraft (all 356 of them!) before departing for Duxford which was to be the venue for the flypast and salute. The flypast comprised aircraft from a total of 20 squadrons and included Heyford bombers, Hawker Harts, Hawker Audax, Hawker Demons, Bristol Bulldogs, Hawker Furys and Duxford’s own 19 Sqn with their Gloster Gauntlets. In tribute to that Royal Review of 77 years ago, Charlie Brown and Stu Goldspink gave a wonderful display in the Historic Aircraft Collection (HAC) and Fighter Collection Hawker Nimrods Mk.I and Mk.II. Not to be left out, the HAC Hurricane Mk.XII joined in by ‘beating up’ the airfield having first led the Nimrods in a formation pass.
The next item to display came from the RAF in the shape of the King Air. This aircraft, based at Cranwell, took over from the Scottish Aviation Jetstream and provides training the basics of multi-engine flying before going on to advanced exercises in low-level and formation flying. The King Air display always finishes with a bit of a party piece with its ‘Khe Sanh’ ultra steep approach, followed by a very short landing and reverse.
The RAF’s Tucano Display Team from Linton-on-Ouse have a reputation for providing a display aircraft with eye-catching colour schemes. For example the Battle Of Britain liveried examples from 2010. To celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, they have really gone to town with a highly patriotic scheme in red, white and blue and featuring the ‘EIIR’ marking on the underside. This year’s pilot is John Bond and his display really shows the colours to full advantage. The Tucano combines the characteristics of a trainer with those of a light jet. It is used for basic fast jet training by 1 FTS where students fly 120 hours before progressing onto the Hawk. Prince William spent five weeks flying the Tucano at Linton where he was described by his instructor as a ‘natural’ pilot.
The first of the overseas displays at Duxford was in fact a double debut. Although the Belgian Air Force F-16 has often been seen at Duxford shows, this was the first displays by new pilot, Capt. Renaud ‘Grat’ Thys and also the first time that the new special markings had been seen in public. ‘Grat’ made full use of the cloudless skies which gave him ample height for his full display, with the reheat adding more temperature to the afternoon, and he also made liberal use of flares which looked spectacular against the deep blue.
Paul Bonhomme and Steve Jones really made a name for themselves as the Red Bull Matadors when they were flying their Sukhois. They were renowned for their ultra close flying and mind numbing aerobatics. They have now moved over to the Sbach 300 freestyle aerobatic aircraft which is powered by a 315hp Lycoming engine and has a phenomenal 450 degrees per second roll rate. With slideslips, multiple twists and of course a smoke heart, this is professional aerobatic formation flying at its very best.
Bringing the Royal Flying theme right up to date was the Westland Sea King HAR.3A from 22 Sqn at nearby Wattisham. Following his training on the Tucano, Prince William decided to go the rotary winged route and convert to helicopters. This was done at Shawbury, the home of the Defence Helicopter Flying School before he then moved to RAF Valley with the aim of becoming a full time Search & Rescue pilot. In fact, as these words are written, it has just been announced that he has qualified as a captain on the aircraft and will now be commanding his aircraft on rescue flights. The machine from Wattisham arrived during the morning of the show and was parked at full readiness should a ‘shout’ occur. During the afternoon, the crew gave a role demonstration – carried out in considerably easier conditions than many of their real rescues.
The first British jet fighter. The only Allied jet to be used in combat during WWII. These are just two facts pertaining to the Gloster Meteor. To those can now be added a couple more relating directly to the aircraft that was next to display. Meteor T.7 WA591 from the Classic Aircraft Trust at Coventry is the oldest British jet flying anywhere in the world and is also the world’s oldest airworthy jet. This beautiful machine, which is flown so perfectly by Dan Griffith, was restored over a period of some 17 years by The Meteor Flight and is now lovingly looked after by the team at Airbase. Blue skies, silver jet with yellow bands and the sound of a pair of early type jet engines…perfection!
From early jet to early pistons and a Royal four-ship display comprising Mark Miller in his Dragon Rapide, Jon Corley in the Classic Aircraft Trust’s Anson, John Dodd in ARCO’s Chipmunk and the Henlow based ‘Parrot’. The Dragon Rapide type was the first aircraft to become a part of The King’s Flight and was flown by Prince Edward into Duxford in 1935 for the Jubilee Review mentioned earlier. That aircraft registered G-ADDD was painted in the colours of the Brigade of Guards and formed the basis of the colour scheme for many Royal Flight aircraft from that time on until the Flight was disbanded. The Anson, known affectionately as ‘Faithful Annie’ was in production from 1935 until 1952 by which time 11,000 had been built of various types. The aircraft on display is an Anson T.21 and is now the only example of a military version that is airworthy in the world. It was flown by both Bomber and Fighter Commands and used by Communication Flights. The Chipmunk in RAF Training colours served to illustrate the famous basic trainer that took over the role from the Tiger Moth while ‘The Parrot’ has real Royal history. It was in this aircraft, called ‘The Parrot’ due to its dayglo red livery, that during its time with The Royal Flight, it was flown by The Duke Of Edinburgh. Its service with the Flight ended in 1964 but it was subsequently reassigned when it was used to teach Prince Charles to fly. During its royal flying time it was fitted with a special red warning light above the windscreen which it still carries to this day. It was sold by the RAF in 1974 and after spending many years being used as a glider tug, it was restored to its former glory and since 2001 has been operated at RAF Henlow by the Henlow Chipmunk Group.
Celebrating another rather large event that is happening in Britain in 2012 was Gordon Brander in his Bücker Bü-133C Jungmeister carrying the colours of the 1938 Berlin Olympics. The Games in that year included Competition Aerobatics as part of the competition and the Jungmeister was one of the favoured aircraft used.
The final overseas representative was an item making its debut on the UK mainland. This was the team of Socata TB30 Epsilon equipped Cartouche Doré from the French Armee de l’Air. The jet team, Patrouille de France, has been seen several times at Duxford but this was the first time that Cartouche Doré had been over for a display. The team began life in 1989 to celebrate the Epsilon aircraft reaching 100,000 flying hours in the French Air Force. The unofficial team was such a success that they were invited to give further displays and they became an official unit of L’Armee de l’Air in 1995. They fly a graceful sequence of manoeuvres which are often very tight in formation, along with some more adventurous pieces. To this reviewer, although the display was excellent, there was one thing missing…Smoke! Against the clear blue sky, it was sometimes hard to pick the team out but it was well worth seeing them for the first time.
The final RAF item of the afternoon was the Bae Hawk T.1 from 208(R) Sqn at RAF Valley and flown by Flt Lt Phil Bird. This will be the final year of the Hawk display as the T.1 is being replaced by the new T.2. Phil was flying a standard ‘black’ Hawk as the specially painted example is not due to fly until June, but from the advance pictures it looks to be a stunning scheme. His display this year shows off pretty well the full spectrum of the abilities of the Hawk as a fast jet trainer, with fast and slow parts to the routine.
Before coming on to the final display of the day, it is worth mentioning a few other aircraft that could be seen either on the ground or making departures. Foremost amongst these was Duxford favourite, the P-51D Mustang ‘Ferocious Frankie’ which went off to display at Southend before Alister Key carried out one of his trademark low and fast run and breaks on his return. Also seen departing from the static display was the Auster WE569 and Nigel Lamb in his rarely seen Pitts Special carrying the markings of The Breitling Angels.
Bringing the show to a close in beautiful late afternoon light was a trio of Spitfires which gave a nice tight series of formation loops before breaking into a great tailchase. These were TFC’s Spitfire Mk.V EP120 flown by Pete Kynsey, the Old Flying Machine Company’s Mk.IX in the hands of Paul Bohmomme and ‘The Grace Spitfire’ Tr.9 which unusually was not flown by a member of the Grace family, but by Brian Smith.
There was however one final surprise. Following her display earlier in the Harvard, Anna Walker had nipped over to nearby Fowlmere where she got into her Piper Cub and towed aloft a special banner to close the show. Resplendent across the Duxford skies was the legend “IWM Duxford Salutes EIIR”.
A fitting climax to what was not only the first of Duxford’s 2012 shows, but is often the first show of the season for many of those attending. Pretty much a perfect start to the year!
A fitting climax to what was not only the first of Duxford’s 2012 shows, but is often the first show of the season for many of those attending. Pretty much a perfect start to the year!
