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Legends Duxford's Flying Legends Airshow 7/8 July Doubles team Damien Burke and Gary Parsons dodged the rain showers and ignored the tennis...words served by Damien, pics by both.
As if the weather wasn't bad enough, Legends also had to compete for the attention of the great British punter with Tim Henman and his antics at Wimbledon, the on-off-on again semi-final being a hot topic in the commentary booth. Saturday's weather was mostly dreadful, although the constant rain throughout the morning finally gave way to drier conditions in time for the flying to start - however, decreasing visibility and the onset of more rain curtailed the display at 16:00, preventing the 'balbo' from happening, but at least most of the participants had put up a good show until then. Sunday morning at Duxford wasn't looking good. Saturday's awful weather looked to have settled in to stay and an early morning arrival found the airfield practically deserted compared to previous years. Thankfully the rain moved off, the cloud base gradually lifted throughout the morning and a strange bright circle could be seen hanging in the clouds. Rumour had it this was called 'the Sun'.
Time please With the flightline now being cleared, it was time to
pick a spot to watch the show from. But first, a quick recce as there appeared to be a '
Kicking the show off at 14:00 was a unique formation of Grumman aircraft - not only did the resident Bearcat, Hellcat, Wildcat, Avenger and Tigercat take to the air, but we were also treated to the first UK appearance of the very rare Grumman F3F and G32A (a two-seat F3F), specially imported from Chino just for the Flying Legends show. It was hard to believe these two tubby little biplanes had been in crates only a week before! Taking off, it was easy to spot the family resemblance to the Wildcat - similar landing gear arrangement for a start. The noise, however, was distinctively different. Once all the Grummans were up they came back for the formation pass, which was a hell of a way to kick off the show. Two Corsairs and the RNHF Sea Fury
took to the air next while the F3F and G32A ran in for their
display. A precise formation display ensued from Thirty-all While Stephen taxied in, the Corsairs and the Sea Fury returned, zooming in and blasting the crowd with the sort of noise only these big fighters can produce. A quick pairs display from the Corsairs was followed by an excellent solo display from the Sea Fury, which looks superb in its Korean war markings.
Saturday had sadly not seen any sign of the BBMF, the
weather grounding them at Coningsby. Sunday, thankfully, was now brightening up nicely and
the Lancaster could be seen circling in the distance. Running in while the Sea Fury
taxied, the Lanc was soon joined by one example each of Hurricane and Spitfire, and they
all gave their usual somewhat sedate displays. It's worth noting that it's only really at
Legends that you Deuce The Tigercat was back in the air, joined by the Dutch Historic Invader Association's A-26C, and they along with the Skyraiders and Yaks kept the sky nice and busy. One thing definitely noticed amongst all this action, though, was seven Spitfires taking to the air. Sadly one came back in pretty quick, with an undercarriage problem - pilot Steve Hinton brought her back in gently and safely. The remaining six were now evenly split into Merlin and Griffon-engined examples, three of each. The six now came back for what was, for me, the highlight of the show - the Merlin examples carried out a tailchase the other side of the runway while the Griffon ones performed much closer to the crowd - coming within feet of those of us at the far end of the airfield - or so it seemed! That much Spitfire, going that fast, certainly looks like its overhead, even when it isn't. Noisy, adrenaline-pumping magic - and the sun even came out! Advantage Duxford
Grumpy the B-25 took to the air
while the B-17s finished their display, joined by B-25 'Sarinah', a repeat visitor from
last year. While the B-17s taxied in - the only chance to get them both in the same photo,
and even then it was a fleeting opportunity - Merlins once again made their presence felt.
This time it was four Mustangs taking to the air, Robs Lamplough's gorgeous 'Miss Helen',
Rob New balls, please If you've never been to Legends - GO! That said, if you've never been, you may not have ever seen anything like the balbo that they end the show with. This is a mixed formation of as many aircraft they can get in the air - the limiting factor normally being the number of available pilots, rather than aircraft! This year on Sunday they managed twenty-seven, and while they were forming up away from the airfield, Stephen Grey kept us occupied with a dazzling display in his Bearcat. If there was ever a man enjoying himself in a cockpit, this was it!
The final balbo was tighter than usual - instead of a long trail, one group was put to the side and the rest brought a little closer together, more photogenic than usual and just as awe inspiring. If it wasn't for the engine noise you'd be able to hear a pin drop - it really is a moment where time stands still and you just enjoy. All too soon though it was over and the balbo began to break up, becoming smaller with each pass as different aircraft peeled off to land. As I was walking back to the car - hoping for a quick getaway - the commentators (who had been mostly out of my earshot, so I can't comment on the quality of their gabbling this time) put on some music - Somewhere Over The Rainbow - in memory of the friends who couldn't be there this year. A fitting end to another fantastic Flying Legends show.
And oh yes, the OFMC's Breitling Fighters turned up a few
minutes later. Late! Better get yourselves some decent watches, eh boys? Postscript: Yak-9 F-AZYJ was heavily damaged during a missed landing at its home base of Dijon-Darois. As he was coming back from the Duxford airshow on Sunday, the pilot, Albert Hage, intentionally pushed the aircraft off the runway to avoid obstacles. During this manoeuvre the main landing gear was damaged, destroying the propeller and causing major damage to the engine and airframe. Due to the severity of the damage we may not see it back in the sky for several months. (Info from Hervé Da Silva)
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A quick run down the
flight line walk found one of the living legends - Bud Anderson - a WWII Mustang ace. Bud
brought down more than sixteen Luftwaffe aircraft in his time in Europe, and went on to
fly in Vietnam. The Scandinavian Historic Flight's P-51D is painted to represent Bud's
personal aircraft, 
new' Catalina skulking down by the M11 end of the airfield. This
turned out to be Super Catalina Restorations' ex-Greenpeace example, newly painted in
Coastal Command colours. They'd been up until late on Friday night finishing the painting,
and had hoped to fly her in the show, but sadly ran out of time. Still, she looks good and
will be flying any day now. But back to finding a spot to watch from - rather than go for
the usual spot down by the M11 end, we thought we'd try the opposite end of the airfield
instead. It would be quieter, being further away from the flightline, but hopefully not
having the light against us would help with photography. This turned out to be a good
move, although on Saturday 'light' was a misnomer.
Fifteen-love
pilots Steve Hinton and Stuart
Goldspink - they were certainly better performers than expected! Following them, the
remainder of the Grummans came back to display while their older sisters landed. TFC owner
Stephen Grey was back at the stick of his favourite - the Bearcat - after several years
battling illness, though as camera shy as ever. 
realise how conservatively the BBMF fly, because just about everything
else gets thrown around the sky with much more energy - like the two 
With Old Warden's
Gladiator and a pair of Hurricanes taking to the air, the three Merlin-engine Spits came
in for a symbolic missing man formation, the middle of the trio pulling up into the
clouds. While the Spits all taxied in, it was the turn of their less famous counterparts -
the Hurricanes. The 
Davies' 'Big Beautiful Doll', 'Nooky Booky IV'
(JCB Aviation, visiting from France) and finally 'Old Crow'. Sadly one P-51 remained
on the ground. But never mind - it was really hotting up now, with more and more aircraft
taxiing out to take off in preparation for the show's finale - the balbo.
Game, set and match
You cannot be serious...