Duxford on Saturday and Sunday was very pleasant, with approximately 40 vintage aircraft performing in the flying display and generally good weather, apart from the strong crosswind on Sunday. The full show is available to watch on watch.planestv.com, but here are some highlights:
B-17 "Sally B" performed her first show of the year, flying with P-47D "Nellie B".
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The Great War Display Team did a fine job of recreating a WWI aerial melee. This is likely the final season in which it's possible to see their Avro 504k, which will be transferred to a museum as a static exhibit early next year unless a sponsor can be found.
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It wouldn't be a Duxford Airshow - much less a 50th anniversary one - without a Spitfire tailchase. It was quite a small tailchase last weekend, with just three Spitfires, but, unlike the larger tailchases, it was fully aerobatic.
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My personal highlight of the weekend: the three-ship classic jets sequence bringing together two Strikemasters and a Vampire FB.6, the latter temporarily wearing Italian Air Force roundels to mark their centenary. Thre three jets performed a fully-aerobatic sequence, ending with a lovely vertical split.
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One of the few non-warbirds at the show was Rich Goodwin, in only the third outing for his jet-powered Pitts. Rich is still working out how to get best use out of this machine at airshows, but even this early display routine is mightily impressive.
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