Battle of Britain

The last section of this great Air Show was called “Target London”. Scramble!

It was almost overwhelming standing there with all those Merlin engines on full power and all those Spitfires getting airborne. It did not take long until they returned.

Count them – there are 17 Spitfires! My guess is this was a celebration of what happened on 15 September 1940 – Battle of Britain Day – when the large Duxford Wing met the German Air Force just as it was about to attack London.
During the days before September 15 of 1940 Luftwaffe had made a number of fighter-only sweeps that encountered little British resistance. The pilots attacking on September 15 1940 had then been told that the RAF  was now down to its last 50 fighters. On that day the Luftwaffe aircrew were however first continuously attacked on the run over Kent by 11th group and as they reached London a further formation of 60 RAF aircraft from 12th group met them! The psychological impact of this was of course significant. Here I give you a small impression of what it was like. The airspace filled with Spitfires:

After a few fantastic 17-ship overflights…

…the formation broke up, but…

…it was far from over. For a long time the air over Duxford was filled with Spitfires…

…diving and turning…

…climbing and turning…

…and it was just terrific. A very short clip to describe it;

A presentation of a few of the 17 aircraft taking part:

Two Spitfire MkIa…

This is the “Grace Spitfire” (ML407) Iy. It was built in early 1944 as a Mark IX single seat fighter. It was in front service with several allied Squadrons – New Zealand, Free French, Polish, Belgian and Norwegian. In 1950 it was converted to the two seat configuration for the Irish Air Corps as an advanced trainer.

The “SM520” was built in 1944 as a single seat Mark H.F.IXe high level fighter. It came to South Africa in 1948, was involved in an accident and disposed to a scrap yard in Cape Town. It was found in 1981 and stored, purchased in 2002 and after that  restored and converted to a Trainer 9 two seater.

The “SL633” is a Spitfire Mk IXe. It was delivered to 312 (Czech) Sqn at Manston in August 1945 and is today in a full Czech scheme as JT-10.

Above is a Seafire Mk III “PP972”. It made its first post-restoration flight earlier this year.

This is a very powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon-engined version of the Spitfire, the Mk XVIII. It was built in 1945 and all of its service was post-war and mostly overseas.  After many years on ground it returned to flight in 2000. It was sold to Swedish operator Biltema in 2009 and involved in a sad accident in Norway, killing its pilot. It returned to the UK for restoration and flew again in 2013, now in post-war silver markings of Hong Kong-based No 28 Squadron, RAF.

This is a Seafire F Mk XVII. The SX336 was built in 1946 and in operational use until 1954. Recovered from scrap in 1973, rebuilt to airworthiness and today painted in her original Fleet Air Arm colour.

The Spitfire Mk.Ia “N3200” was flying during the “Battle of France” and was shot down during the evacuation of Dunkirk. After 46 years in the sand it was being re-discovered in 1986. Restoration started in 2000 and first flight was 2014, now flying in the same livery she wore when she was with 19 Squadron flying from Duxford.

Finally – perhaps the most famous of Spitfires. It is a Mk IX, built in 1943 at Vickers, Castle Bromwich. This Spitfire is remarkably original, having never been subject to a re-build.

This aircraft was leading the 17-ship Spitfire formation and was the last of them landing…

…ending this superb Air Show with some beautiful solo aerobatics.

Thank you!

The second last section of the Air Show was called “Counting the Cost”.

“Sally B” is the UK’s last remaining airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress.

Here you see her passing with open bomb bay doors. This year 2015 sees the 70th birthday of Sally B but also the 40th flying season in the UK.

“Sally B” is permanently based at Duxford.

It was truly great…

…to see her fly!

It was around 4:30 pm that fine Sunday 19 September and we were at section 8 out of 10. Something different…

…and called “The Coming of the Second World War”. This shows something of what was in the air of pre-WWII.

In those days it would have been a Piper Cub but we were given a Super Cub (introduced 1949) and it was towing two gliders, first…

…a Slingsby Kirby Kite. a single-seat sport glider produced from 1935. It was used by the Royal Air Force as a training aircraft for assault glider pilots but also to assess the ability of the Chain Home radar system to detect aircraft largely constructed of wood. Only few survived and this is one of them!

The second glider is a Slingsby Petrel. It was a single-seat competition glider built by Slingsby Sailplanes as a development of the German DFS Rhonadler just before World War II. The prototype first flew in December 1938 but the Petrel was still a competitor at the 1953 British National Championships.

An old glider pilot myself i really enjoy seeing these veteran gliders in the air!

The Calidus Autogyro may seem a little odd in this display but it was here to remind of the Cierva C 30 autogyro’s built by Avro, used by the  RAF and and flying at Duxford in 1940.

Another performer in this section was this DH87B Hornet Moth…

…built in 1936 and many (like G-AELO here) were used in military service during World War II by the RAF as a liaison aircraft.

Section seven was called “Evolving Tactics” and gave us…

…a Harvard lV (1747) and…

…a T6 Harvard (AJ841) that was earlier this year repainted as a former RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) MKII Harvard.

Add a Noorduyn Mk.IIb Harvard (FE695)…

…and you have a nice three-ship formation to remind of the advanced training pilots had before moving on to Hurricanes or Spitfires.

Next was another section named “Celebrating Victory”. This time the section was divided into three parts. First…

…a very special two-ship in tight formation, consisting of…

…one Spitfire Mk Vb (AB910) from Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and…

…a Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 from 29 (R) Squadron, RAF Coningsby. This special Typhoon has been painted to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. It also bears a red devil emblem in honour of the only RAF Fighter Command pilot awarded a Victoria Cross in the conflict.

Flt Lt James Nicolson was awarded the Victoria Cross because of an incident where his Hurricane was damaged, he was wounded and was in the process of bailing out when an enemy aircraft appeared in front of him; -“So he climbed back in – shot down the enemy aircraft – then continued with his bail out.”

Next was the “Aerostars Acrobatic Display Team”…

…with 4 Yak 50 in a…

…splendid show…

…flown with timing…

…and precision!

Finally we were given a demonstration on…

…how you can handle a Boeing Chinook helicopter…

…and walk away afterwards.

Hi everybody, enjoying the show?

“-Yes, sir!”

The fifth section of this fantastic Air Show was called “Counting the Cost”. Maybe to remember all the young men that lost their lives during the battle? All aircraft flying in this section belongs to the “Battle of Britain Memorial Flight”.

LF363 is a Mk IIc and the last Hurricane to have entered service with the RAF. She appeared in the film “The Battle of Britain”. It is painted to look like Hurricane Mk 1 P3395 ‘JX-B’, flown by Sgt Arthur Clowes, No. 1 Squadron.

This is the famous “last Hurricane ever built”. The Hawker factory actually were so keen to preserve it, they purchased it back from the Air Ministry and kept it in storage at Langley. It is today painted to replicate Hurricane Mk IIC HW840, coded ‘EG-S’, of 34 Squadron, South East Asia Command during 1944, the personal aircraft of Canadian pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jimmy Whalen DFC. “Gear up” after take-off.

This is Spitfire LF IX “MK356”. It went into service in March 1944 and was flying beachhead cover patrol the day after D-Day (7 June 1944) attacking 4 Me 109’s.  It spent many years as a “gate guardian” and played a role as a static airframe in the film “Battle of Britain” in 1968. In January 1992 a complete restoration was begun and in November 1997 the aircraft flew again. Notice how the pilot is about to close the canopy after take-off.

Here is Spitfire Mk Vb “AB910”. It was delivered in August 1941 and continued to fly operationally up to July 1944 including cover patrols over the D-Day invasion beach heads on 6th June 1944 and afterwards. It was donated to the BBMF in 1965 and has recently been through a complete refurbishment by the Aircraft Restoration Company at Duxford. It is now painted in the colour scheme of a 64 Squadron Spitfire at the time of ‘D-Day,’ with full invasion stripes.

These four aircraft joined in a fine five-ship formation lead by Spitfire “TE311”. It is a Mk XVI with “clipped” wingtips, which alter the classic Spitfire silhouette. It was built in 1945 and was mainly used for training but was grounded between 1954 until 2012.

It was a beautiful and dignified flight by five aircraft.

I think there were a few tears in the eyes of the audience…

Next section of the Air Show this day was called “Celebrating Victory”. I think we need a pair of Spitfires for that…

Two Spitfire Mk Ia took off. This one is marked as a Spitfire from the No 71 “Eagle” Squadron“ with the American fighter pilots who joined the Royal Air Force in the early 1940s, before the USA officially entered the war in Europe in 1942.

Soon two other aircraft turned up – American F15E Strike Eagle from the 492nd Fighter Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath.

The four aircraft formed a loose formation…

…giving us only a distant view of that impressive American fighter. The F15’s left after a short time while…

…the two Spits stayed on…

…to give us a perfect performance…

…in a very tight formation…

…and we all appreciated the Celebration of Victory!

The third section in the Air Show schedule was “The coming of the Second World War” and it had several “subsections”.

First was a brilliant formation flight showing the trainer aircraft used in the days before and during the war. 

The “G-SVIV” is a Belgian Stampe SV4-C. The “G-BSAJ” is designed in 1933 by a Swede (!) called Anders Anderson. He worked for Bücker Flugzeubau in Berlin and the aircraft was called Bücker Jungmann. It became very successful and was built under licence in Switzerland, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Japan. This example was built in Spain as a CASA 1-131-E3B.

Here is an American Boeing PT-17 Stearman performing solo, as was…

…the Jungmann, and…

…the Stampe.

Finally the De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth II. This one built in 1944.

The next “sub-section” gave us two Hawker Nimrod. 

The Hawker Nimrod was a British carrier-based single engine, single seat biplane fighter aircraft built in the early 1930s by Hawker Aircraft.

You can see the arrester hooks (v-shaped, under the tail) used when landing on ships.

Finally, two aircraft from the early days of the Second World War.

The American Curtiss H-75 first flew in 1935. This aircraft was sent to the French Air Force in 1939. It took part in the war in France and later in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Today it wears an authentic Armée de l’Air standard three-tone scheme and the Lafeyette Escadrille Sioux Indian head motif. This is the only airworthy example!

This Gloster Gladiator Mk II was delivered in 1939. 

It is a beautiful aircraft. My sons’ grandfather flew it in the Swedish Air Force!

The second point on the Air Show was “The Outbreak of the Sexond World War”.

It was a beautiful formation flight of a Bristol Blenheim and three Hurricanes. In the picture top you see Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk Ib “Z7015 7-L” flying to the left of the Blenheim. It belongs to the Shuttleworth Collection.

At the bottom of the picture above is a Hurricane Mk XII “P3700 RF-E“. It was rebuilt in the 1980’s from many Hurricane parts found in Canada but today belongs to Historic Aircraft Collection and is permanently at Duxford.

Finally, behind the Blenheim is a Hurricane Mk I “R4118 UP-W” and this aircraft had 49 combat sorties and five enemy aircraft destroyed. It was shot down in the Battle of Britain but is today the only Hurricane from the Battle of Britain still flying.

The formation flying was perfect…

…but later they split up…

…to show us some fine…

…individual flying.

And did I forget to mention the Blenheim?

It is the only flying Blenheim in the world!

The RAF had more Blenheims in service than any other aircraft when World War Two began!

This aircraft was originally a Canadian built Bolingbroke. The Bolingbroke was the Canadian-built version of the Blenheim IV . It was restored to flying condition in 1993 but crashed while attempting to land at the Duxford airfield in 2003.

As it was again restored the idea came up to make it a Bleinheim Mk I. This was possible through the use of a restored nose section from a Mk I. This nose section has a very interesting story…

Time to land and we…

…say thank you pilots – that was great!

The “Battle of Britain Anniversary Air Show” 19 September 2015 was divided into ten different parts, each with its own theme and each part will have its own post in my blog.

Two silhouettes in the sky start the first part; called “The Battle of Britain Begins”.

These two Spanish built Hispano HA-1112 Buchon are painted and marked as German Messerschmitt 109’s.

They were “attacking the field” to symbolize the German determination to defeat the RAF in order to make the invasion of Britain possible. On the ground fighter pilots were at standby and as the bell rang they scrambled for their aircraft.

Soon a Spitfire was airborne to defend us…

…and above us we saw the battle begin…

…with a Spitfire…

…attacking the two Me 109’s…

…using its maneuverability… 

…to get behind the enemy…

…and if you are a pilot of a Me 109 seeing this in your mirror…

…you are in trouble!

A Messerschmitt Bf 108 also came for an attack…

…but the RAF also had the Hurricane…

…and the air battle continued…

…while we were on the ground watching it – stunned! What a start of a great air show…