Duxford Flying Days "The Americans" July 2022

[Alpha Delta 210]

Hello again!

 

My wife and I had a lovely time at Duxford today. I was told that it was a sell-out and that 6000 tickets were available, 4800 of which went free of charge to IWM Members, with the staff member adding that as a result, IWM would not make any money! I hope that the shop and cafe income made up for the lack of ticket sales!

 

The harsh light and heat haze made for tricky photographic conditions!

 

 

Before the show, "Porky II" formated on a Classic Wings Dragon Rapide for a "Wing to Wing" experience

 

 

The U.S. Air Force 48th Fighter Wing's new heritage F-15E Strike Eagle flew through before the show. The jet celebrates the Wing’s 70th year of flight operations, as well as the USAFE’s 80th anniversary and the US Air Force’s 75th anniversary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking. I hope you enjoyed them!

 

 

[Parabat]

Brilliant pics, what a great day out. Those are some great planes love the pic of the lone Mustang coming in to land.

[Paul J]

I wonder how many people tried to get tickets only to be told they were sold out (on account of 3 quarters of them were given to staff...🤔)

[Alpha Delta 210]

9 hours ago, Parabat said:

Brilliant pics, what a great day out. Those are some great planes love the pic of the lone Mustang coming in to land.

Thanks, Parabat. I'm pleased you enjoyed my record of what must have been the best "Flying Day" to date! The most poignant moment for me was seeing Sally B do a couple of passes with her little friends.

 

9 hours ago, Paul J said:

I wonder how many people tried to get tickets only to be told they were sold out (on account of 3 quarters of them were given to staff...🤔)

Hi Paul. I hope you're well.

 

I ordered my tickets on Wednesday this week, but I'm not sure at what point it became a sell-out. 

 

IWM Members are not staff, but individuals who pay a subscription to IWM to "enjoy a host of benefits including free entry to HMS Belfast, IWM Duxford, Churchill War Rooms – plus much more."  https://www.iwm.org.uk/membership

[Paul J]

Ah. But it still leaves little for your general show goers who are not members.

And what's this I hear about Duxford  and housing development????

 

Lovely photos by the way.

[Paul821]

3 minutes ago, Paul J said:

And what's this I hear about Duxford  and housing development????

What do you hear? The only committed development is a hotel behind Airspace, as far as seems to be known there are no "housing developments" planned.

 

@Alpha Delta 210 great set of photo's, I nearly missed the F-15 as I was not near a tanoy and was looking at one of the stalls. when it came across. THis was the result on the first pass:

 

 

I was slightly more composed when it did the heads on pass 

 

but I still had not had time to adjust the focal length on my 70-300 lens so this was taken at 70mm

 

after a bit of adjustment in Photoshop Elements I got to

 

 

Camera if a 12 year old Nikon D3200.

 

As to the show itself, my wife and I are members, but I would not have minded paying a small amount to enter on this day, but I think the IWM has lost it's way with membership as if you are over 65 it's now cheaper for some events to come in on a concession than a members ticket. 

 

For me the highlight were the Grasshoppers, Moth & Harvard with a display team like that who needs the Red Arrows at a show? I would have liked to see the, rumoured, Mig /Fury pairing but that did not happen. Overall a good afternoon out, but I must be becoming rather too blasé about airshows, as if you had told me, even 25 years ago, I could see three Curtis Hawks, B-17 + 2 x P-51 and a Spitfire + P-47, not to mention a Mig15 at a show in the UK I would not have believed you. Now I do tend to watch the Airshow more through my glasses that through the viewfinder.

 

One thing it was good to see were that stalls from local Aviation museums, local USAF bases and the vehicles. I got some good reference shots for my Airfx USAF Bomber Refuelling set.

[Alpha Delta 210]

2 hours ago, Paul J said:

Ah. But it still leaves little for your general show goers who are not members.

And what's this I hear about Duxford  and housing development????

 

Lovely photos by the way.

Thanks Paul. My wife (who has no interest in aviation) and I really enjoyed the event  - a great way to spend a sunny summer afternoon!

 

I have no knowledge about housing development plans in the area - I hope that the airfield isn't under threat. 

2 hours ago, Paul821 said:

What do you hear? The only committed development is a hotel behind Airspace, as far as seems to be known there are no "housing developments" planned.

 

@Alpha Delta 210 great set of photo's, I nearly missed the F-15 as I was not near a tanoy and was looking at one of the stalls. when it came across. THis was the result on the first pass:

 

 

I was slightly more composed when it did the heads on pass 

 

but I still had not had time to adjust the focal length on my 70-300 lens so this was taken at 70mm

 

after a bit of adjustment in Photoshop Elements I got to

 

 

Camera if a 12 year old Nikon D3200.

 

As to the show itself, my wife and I are members, but I would not have minded paying a small amount to enter on this day, but I think the IWM has lost it's way with membership as if you are over 65 it's now cheaper for some events to come in on a concession than a members ticket. 

 

For me the highlight were the Grasshoppers, Moth & Harvard with a display team like that who needs the Red Arrows at a show? I would have liked to see the, rumoured, Mig /Fury pairing but that did not happen. Overall a good afternoon out, but I must be becoming rather too blasé about airshows, as if you had told me, even 25 years ago, I could see three Curtis Hawks, B-17 + 2 x P-51 and a Spitfire + P-47, not to mention a Mig15 at a show in the UK I would not have believed you. Now I do tend to watch the Airshow more through my glasses that through the viewfinder.

 

One thing it was good to see were that stalls from local Aviation museums, local USAF bases and the vehicles. I got some good reference shots for my Airfx USAF Bomber Refuelling set.

Hi Paul. Thanks for the kind words, I'm pleased that you enjoyed my record.

 

Great recovery with Elements on your Strike Eagle shot! I head some transmissions on the scanner and then eventually heard an American accent call "inbound", otherwise I wouldn't have known about the fly through because the tannoy at the AirSpace end wasn't working (and hasn't been for years!) 

 

[Latinbear]

Great set of shots AD. You've done an excellent job despite Duxford's notoriously poor orientation for photography. Seeing the MiG must have been a bit of a treat. 

[Alpha Delta 210]

21 minutes ago, Latinbear said:

Great set of shots AD. You've done an excellent job despite Duxford's notoriously poor orientation for photography. Seeing the MiG must have been a bit of a treat. 

Thanks very much, Latinbear. I'm pleased that you enjoyed them! The conditions were indeed somewhat "challenging"!

 

The MiG was great to see and hear (what a howl on start-up)! It should have flown with a (Sea) Fury to represent the Korean War, but it went solo for some reason.

[alt-92]

Nice shots of the Curtiss trio, including the individual ones. 
I like that P-36 in polished alu especially.

[Alpha Delta 210]

19 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

Nice shots of the Curtiss trio, including the individual ones. 
I like that P-36 in polished alu especially.

Thanks very much. It was great to see the Curtiss trio in formation, in fact I enjoyed all the formations!!!🤣

[wallyinoz]

nice shots, I see what you mean by the harsh light, its always been a bit of a bugger at Duxford, though Yeovilton is the worst (actually Avalon in Australia is the worst I have ever dealt with.. 40+degree heat to boot!)

 

 

[Alpha Delta 210]

1 hour ago, wallyinoz said:

nice shots, I see what you mean by the harsh light, its always been a bit of a bugger at Duxford, though Yeovilton is the worst (actually Avalon in Australia is the worst I have ever dealt with.. 40+degree heat to boot!)

 

 

Thanks - I think the temperature "only" reached 28° on Saturday!

 

When I have time, I might have a bash at reprocessing them to improve the colours.

[canberraman]

Another excellent event Leigh - you are packing 'em in this year!  Great photos despite the notoriously difficult aerial shots where the sun is in your face much of the day.  Wish I had gone now

 

Mark

[Alpha Delta 210]

29 minutes ago, canberraman said:

Another excellent event Leigh - you are packing 'em in this year!  Great photos despite the notoriously difficult aerial shots where the sun is in your face much of the day.  Wish I had gone now

 

Mark

Thank you very much, Mark. You missed the best "Flying Day" that I have attended.

 

I think Duxford is the worst air show venue for photography in the UK! That said, most of the visitors seemed to be simply enjoying the excellent flying, rather than photographing, which my wife was encouraging me to do as well!

 

The only down sides for me were the north-side parking and the poor commentary and faulty loudspeaker at the AirSpace end - thank goodness for my scanner, which kept me informed!

[112 Squadron]

Thank you for sharing these excellent pictures.

[Alpha Delta 210]

6 hours ago, 112 Squadron said:

Thank you for sharing these excellent pictures.

Thanks very much for the kind words, 112. I'm pleased you enjoyed them.

 

I'm back at Duxford this coming weekend, so standby for more excuses about non-ideal photographic conditions!🤣

[alt-92]

10 hours ago, Alpha Delta 210 said:

back at Duxford this coming weekend

You too mate?   Ferry-time on Friday for me, then a couple of days afterward to hop by Hendon. Haven't been there since 1986.

[Alpha Delta 210]

3 hours ago, alt-92 said:

You too mate?   Ferry-time on Friday for me, then a couple of days afterward to hop by Hendon. Haven't been there since 1986.

I'm hoping to spend some time there on Friday for some rehearsals and maybe the Czechs on the ground before the show....