10/9/2022 Battle of Britain Airshow @ Duxford

 Off to an airshow for the third weekend running - this is exactly the sort of thing I need a motorcycle for. The weather forecast is good - which is particularly important if I'm going on the bike. So I am somewhat dismayed when it absolutely pisses down when I am about five miles from my destination! Particularly as I am wearing my new lightweight 'summer' leather jacket which isn't really a proper motorcycle jacket in spite of it's styling instead of my usual heavier duty armoured item from Lewis Leathers. I am also wearing my new 'summer' Goldtop gloves from the Bike Shed which due to being ventilated I don't expect to be waterproof. Much to my surprise the top half of me remains dry through the deluge! My legs fare less well, but I'm not too bothered as it's not cold and my jeans have already started drying off in the breeze before I arrive at the airfield. Note the partly soaked gloves, and also that the ground at Duxford shows no sign of rain even though me and the bike got a good soaking only a few minutes before.

As usual there is a wide variety of old aircraft at this show, and although it is billed as the 'Battle of Britain' airshow there are many other interesting and rare machines on display as well as the ones you would expect.

Sadly not flying was this very rare Hawker Fury from the 1930's

Also from the 1930's but seeing action in WW2 was the Gloster Gladiator.

It's certainly very unusual to see not just one but two Beech Staggerwings together.

Another very rare sight is this Curtis Hawk. Pre-dating the Battle of Britain planes like this one in French markings are similar to those that fought in the Battle of France.

At one point the Hawk comes uncomfortably close to it's former deadly enemies...

Before it's formidable adversaries encounter their own deadly foes...

...as a Lysander circles overhead.

Actually these 'Messerschmitts' aren't quite what they seem. They are actually post war Spanish built Buchons. They are a license built Bf 109, but ironically powered by a British Rolls Royce Merlin engine - the same motor that powered the Spitfire and Hurricane! Like most survivors of the type they took part in the epic 1969 film 'Battle of Britain' - some of the biggest scenes of which were filmed at this very airfield.

Continuing the France in 1940 theme the 'Messerschmitts' are overflown by a Lysander and the world's only airworthy Bristol Blenheim.

Another taste of France in 1940.

France 1940 adversaries but never seen together on the ground. Very rare to see two Westland Lysanders together.

The world's only Mk1 Bristol Blenheim - unlike last year actually seen in the air this time.

More Spitfires than you could shake a (joy)stick at - although I don't know why you'd want to shake a stick at them?

And 4 airworthy Hurricanes isn't to be sneezed at either.

And here's another one that didn't actually fly today.

And one that did.

But if Spitfires are your thing, then Duxford today is the place to be: Spitfires from the earliest Mark 1s...

To Mk Vs.

Various Mk IVs and Mk XVIs

And not all Spitfires wore camouflage - this silver one has recently flown right round the world!

There was actually a single silver Spitfire flown operationally over France during WW2, but that's another story... This silver one is a Mk IX, but the blue Spitfire is a very rare Mk XI photo reconnaissance variant - the fastest of the Merlin engined Spits at well over 400 MPH.

And faster still were the later Griffon engined models like this Mk XIV - the earlier Rolls Royce Merlin V12 motor had a capacity of a mere 27 litres, but the later Griffon engine was much larger at 37 litres and produced over 2000 BHP which could propel a Spitfire to over 440 MPH.

After seeing a 'Russian' Spitfire here last year - this year we get an American one.

Yes, both the USA and the Russians actually used Spitfires in WW2 as well as the British!

Continuing the American theme but turning the tables - here is an American Grumman Wildcat Naval fighter in Royal Navy markings - the British called it the Martlet when used on Royal Navy aircraft carriers.

And two more American carrier based fighters: A Grumman Bearcat and a Vaught Corsair - both fast and formidable machines.

And a home grown carrier aircraft: A Hawker Sea Hurricane - the navalised version of the famous Battle of Britain fighter. This is the only one left in the whole world.

And hiding over on the left is another earlier British carrier based fighter - a Hawker Nimrod. This is basically a Navalised version of the Hawker Fury shown earlier. The 'Nimrod' name was later reused for the Hawker Sidley Nimrod - a 4 jet engined maritime reconnaissance aircraft based on the pioneering 1950's de Havilland Comet airliner.

This show isn't just about the Battle of Britain or even just about World War 2 aircraft - there is plenty of other stuff happening too. Naturally my attention was drawn a load of old WW2 vintage motorcycles!

And back in the air the Diamond 9 team in their Tiger Moths put on a rather slower paced formation display compared to the other aircraft flying today.

A comparison of American and Russian WW2 fighter aircraft. The P-51 Mustang is in the colours of the famous Tuskegee Airmen - recently immortalised in a feature film. Due to Putin's current war in Ukraine any Russian marked aircraft are not very popular with the public these days - so this Yak 3 has had it's red stars overpainted by Ukrainian markings to show support for that country. The Spitfire in Russian markings that appeared at this show year ago is conspicuous by it's absence in 2022...

This de Havilland Vampire is the only jet aircraft at this year's Battle of Britain display. Although this type didn't enter service until after WW2 the prototype first flew in 1943.

The only modern aircraft to appear were a bit of a surprise last minute addition to the bill - a pair of currently serving helicopters from the Czech air force - a Mi-35 Hind and a Mi-171SH Hip.

These fearsome looking machines were certainly an interesting addition to the show with a rather special historical paint scheme on the Hind.

Smoke on.

The British weather threw a spanner in the works towards the end of the flying display and it rained for about half an hour. This delayed the show's usual 'Grand Finale' and it was quite strange as for some time I was standing in bright sunshine while still getting rained on! The lighting became rather weird, but the sun/rain combination did produce a nice rainbow!

And so eventually the weather cleared enough for the now traditional show closer - the massed flypast of fighter aircraft. This year it consisted solely of Spitfires and Hurricanes - 20 in all.

And so ended a great afternoon of flying. I think I have managed to picture virtually every aircraft that flew (apart from the mighty B-17 - which I pictured last year and other years in the past) although mostly shown on the ground due to my lack of a telephoto lens - without which you would just be seeing small distant dots in a big sky. 

As I walked around looking at the parked aircraft after the show in my brown leather jacket and flying (actually motorcycle) boots carrying my brown leather effect motorcycle helmet and matching 'WW2 vintage' looking goggles I was surprised to be mistaken for one of the pilots who had been flying in the display! If only! To be fair, my helmet and goggles did look very similar to the ones many of the actual pilots had been wearing today and my helmet/goggles had been attracting quite a lot of attention. I guess the WW2 style USAAF 'crusher cap' I was wearing only added to the effect, but although it might seem a bit 'cosplay' I was actually dressed in a highly practical manner for my activities during the day - riding a motorcycle, and my 'aircrew' cap was actually very good for protecting my head from both the sun and rain so very suitable for use on a windswept airfield. At least I had removed my smoked aviator shades by then so didn't look a total poser! 😎😂 After receiving comments from members of the public like "Well done!" for my perceived flying prowess I could only sheepishly mumble 'Thanks' and give a wave of acknowledgement... 😳 If I stopped and took the time to try and explain that I wasn't actually a pilot it would probably only have spoiled their moment so... 😇 To be honest it did make me feel good though, and little did anybody know that once upon a time I was training to be a pilot and have a few hours at the controls of various real aircraft in my pilot's logbook, and although I never got as far as getting my pilots licence I do have some experience and do actually know how to fly a plane. I still really miss those days.

Note - not actual pilot! 😂

I wish...