28/8/2022 Little Gransden Air & Car Show

It's the third time I've gone to the Little Gransden Air & Car Show. I'm late to the party as it's been going for 30 years now, but I really enjoy the more informal atmosphere of this 'off the beaten track' event in the wilds of Cambridgeshire compared to the bigger commercial airshows elsewhere. I've recently got a Beeline satnav for the bike and this place in the middle of nowhere is a really good test for it. The phone app gives a choice of a 'Fast' direct route or a 'Fun' more scenic route - which takes longer. As my bike is less suited to motorways I've chosen the latter option and it's given me a really enjoyable and interesting ride along quiet country roads - passing places of historic aviation interest along the way: Hatfield (former de Havilland aircraft airfield and factory), Rush Green airfield, and RAF Henlow. The old WW2 airfield Gransden Lodge is also nearby, but Little Gransden airfield itself is a post war landing strip with no wartime history.

There is a wide variety of vintage aircraft present. The all grass airfield is too small for jets, but the lack of more modern aircraft adds to the charm of the event. The runway was too short even for this Russian Yak 11 which was due to take part in the air display but had to stay grounded as the wind direction and strength were considered too marginal today. Maybe the wind was blowing in from Ukraine?

The Yak did as least manage a fast taxy demonstration run down the runway. Fortunately it was in better shape than last time I saw it here after a forced landing due to engine trouble in 2019.

Unlike the old runways at nearby Great Gransden the runway here is far too short to allow a Lancaster bomber to land, so we only get a flypast from the RAF's example.

Fortunately the runway length here is not a problem for a Hurricane of similar WW2 vintage to the Lancaster.

Of an earlier vintage is this German Bücker Jungmeister in Spanish civil war markings.

There is no shortage of ancient biplanes at this show - the Diamond 9 display team slow the pace down with their de Havilland Tiger Moths.

For reasons you can see here I didn't really bother taking pictures of aircraft actually in the air - where all the best stuff was going on. A little digicam or phone camera is pretty useless for airborne shots - you just get big pictures with small dots. Unless you have a proper SLR with a telescopic lens it's a waste of time.

Training aircraft are also represented by this colourful American air force Stearman.

Also very colourful is this US built Stinson Reliant in Royal Navy markings.

Aerobatic displays aren't really my thing usually, but this show tends to have one or two things that get my attention - like this formation team with their synchronised on/off smoke.

Made all the more interesting by the dramatic cloud formations and lighting - one good aspect of the weather not being so great for an air display today.

This year 'Russian' aircraft are rather topical due to Putin's warmongering and most historic display aircraft in Russian markings have had changes made - such as changing the Russian markings for Ukrainian ones. The Yak 11 here today seems to have escaped that trend so far...

I have only shown a small selection of the interesting aircraft that appeared at this year's show as some only appeared in the air like the Vampire, Spitfire, and Yak 3 (now in Ukrainian markings) - and also the very rare sight in the UK of a modern Lockheed Aurora from the Royal Canadian Airforce doing a single rather distant flypast. Others like the Miles Gemini and Harvard I left out as they appeared at last year's event or the 2019 show. You can find more (and better) pictures from this year's event as well as a list of all the aircraft here.

This is a car as well as aircraft show - no Mustang aircraft on display this year, but plenty of Mustang cars! There was a good display of vintage Norton motorcycles as well. Although it was the aircraft that were my main focus of attention this supercharged MG car did catch my eye.

Time to depart after a good day out, but I expect I'll be back again next year...

And time to take the scenic route home on today's chosen method of transport - while proving that you don't have to go fast on a motorcycle to have fun - although it helps!