18/9/2021 Battle of Britain Air Display @ Duxford

So I'm back on the bike for my second ride up to Duxford this summer, and my third air display in Cambridgeshire this year - this is the sort of thing I really want a motorcycle for. Although it's pretty good for travelling to work as well when the weather is OK. This is one of the big air displays of the year - unlike the much smaller more informal event I attended at the beginning of August. So of course there are a lot more aircraft flying -  unfortunately not including the world's only airworthy Bristol Blenheim pictured here - a very rare aircraft in it's own right.

Going back further in time is this First World War SE5A.

Foward to 1940 and the Battle of France with this Curtis Warhawk.

However, the theme of today's display is the Battle of Britain - an event which this airfield played an important part in. This early Mk 1 Spitfire is particularly significant today for two reasons: The first RAF Squadron to ever be equipped with Spitfires was based here at Duxford, and this actual aircraft took part in the Battle of Britain. 

Naturally the Spitfire and Hurricane feature heavily in today's display.

Only a few years ago to see four airworthy Hurricanes lined up together would have been unbelievable.

Germany is also represented.

There is a wide variety of Spitfires present from the Mk 1...

...to the Mk V...

Later the addition of a twin stage supercharger produced the faster Mk IX...

...and this rather special 'Russian' Mk IX

I've been wanting to see this interesting and recently restored Spitfire. It's colour scheme is unusual but  authentic. This actual aircraft was supplied to the Russians during WW2, and naturally they painted over the RAF markings with red stars. It crashed on the Eastern Front and it's wreck remained there virtually undisturbed until recent years. It was recovered and brought back to the UK to be restored, and has only recently taken to the air again. Click here for more information and much better pictures of this rather special Spitfire.

Now the most famous Spitfire in the UK is this Mk X reconnaissance version - also known as 'The NHS Spitfire' and seen many times all over the country paying tribute to our health service as they have fought their own battle against Covid-19 - sometimes paying with their own lives. Thank you NHS.

The Mk X Spitfire was the fastest of the Merlin engined variants and is capable of well over 400 MPH.

The Spitfire was further developed when the larger Rolls Royce Griffon engine replaced the Merlin - giving the Spitfire over twice the power that the early marks had. Seen here in a Mk XIV.

This was the fastest wartime fighter variant, but was 

quite a handful both in the air and on the ground!

There are some atmospheric sights to be seen on the ground that hark back to the dark days of WW2, but aircraft in museums or parked on airfields can only convey so much...

It's when these aircraft are fired up that emotions really start to stir. Nothing matches the excitement of these machines being brought to life.

Individual aircraft, pairs, and small formations of aircraft including vintage helicopters perform displays throughout the afternoon, but the highlight of the big shows at Duxford tends to be the finale 'Balbo' formation. Normally I don't attempt any photography of anything actually flying with my tiny camera - who want's to see pictures of little dots in a big sky? But I did make an effort for this.

11 Spitfires and 4 Hurricanes flying together in formation isn't something you are likely to get a chance to see anywhere in the World.

After that unique formation things wind down for the day, but there are still things to see on the ground and in the museum hangers while waiting the the crowd to disperse and the ensuing exit traffic jams to die down. There were actually plenty more aircraft flying that I didn't feature here, like the vintage helicopters, and the B-17 and some other aircraft they I only saw from a distance as I was arriving - it wasn't all Spitfires and Hurricanes - they just happened to the the things which interested me most.

You can even take a pleasure flight over the airfield if you are feeling flush.

Although maybe not in the B17.

Or Catalina.

But you can get to see some of the aircraft that took part in the display from much closer as they are wheeled back from the flightline through the crowd area to their home in the hangers.

All in all a great day out, and the weather was almost perfect. A nice motorcycle ride home as the sun sets is a great way to end the day.