A nice late summer day and an excuse for a good run on the bike. A motorcycle is by far the best way to travel to an air display anyway - unless you can fly in of course! No queuing to get in or out again afterwards - car drivers can sometimes spend well over an hour trying to get in to this place, and it can take a long time to get out again as well. On the bike I just cruise straight past all the queues, and there is are dedicated motorcycle parking areas very close to where the action is - in a car you will probably have to park some distance away on the field or even over on the other side of the main road. Obviously the journey to and from the airfield is (much) faster and more enjoyable on a motorcycle too - it's the nearest thing you can get to flying without leaving the ground. You might have the most expensive Porsche or Ferrari - but I'll get there quicker and have more fun doing it!
I didn't bother trying to take pictures of aircraft actually in the air as even with my digicam's 5X zoom they are still just tiny dots - it's a waste of time unless you have a HUGE telephoto lens. If I'm on the bike I'm only going to take what fits in my pocket - same as going to gigs - I hate carrying stuff around.
Duxford is well worth a visit even when there isn't an air display taking place - the museum itself is fascinating and it's easy to spend a whole day there looking at all the aircraft in the hangers, outside, and under restoration. The American Air Museum also on the site is spectacular and well worth seeing even on it's own. However, I have little time for all that on this occasion...
Unfortunately this F-86 Sabre wasn't flying - shame as in my opinion it's one of the
most beautiful jets ever built. I've been lucky enough to see it fly a few times though.
Corsair and Bearcat starting up.
It's more fun being close behind these aircraft when they start up - especially
when flames shoot out their exhausts!
Hellcat starting up.
A nautical theme...
Hurricane getting ready as a Hellcat takes off.
More Spitfires than you can shake a stick at!
A very rare Mk 1 Spitfire.
Mk V Spitfire.
Mk XII Hurricane.
Mk 1 Spitfire.
Another rare Mk1 Spitfire.
Mk XII Hurricane.
Not much in this Blog to interest my usual music fan readers, but one of those tiny dots
in the sky is a Fokker Triplane flown by Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson!
Those tiny dots are actually the Great War Display Team.
This is one of the main reasons I'm here today - to see the mighty Avro Vulcan!
Seen here in a rare formation with two Folland Gnats. This Vulcan is the only
British 4 engined jet left flying anywhere in the world - a piece of flying history.
It's a spectacular sight and sound. 2015 will almost certainly be it's last year flying...
The ever popular B-17G Sally B - as featured in the David Puttnam feature film 'Memphis Belle'.
Hawker Hunter T7.
After the storm...
It's nice to have a wander round afterwards as the crowds have dispersed.
A rare Curtis Hawk in early WW2 French markings.
If you hang around after the display has finished you can get very
close to some of the aircraft as they are put away for the night...
Only a couple of hours earlier this WW1 replica Fokker Triplane was
being flown by Iron Maiden's singer Bruce Dickinson - he actually owns it.
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