50 Golden Years of the BBMF, IWM Duxford
2007 sees the 50th Anniversary of a much loved display act and British institution, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. An anniversary like this couldn’t simply pass for the new RAF Events Team who put together a superb day of celebration with the help of the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight always has a incredibly busy season with around 850 appearances around the UK in 2007. This isn’t just the big air displays and state occasions; a highly diverse range of differing events are covered by all manner of displays and flypasts. The winter of 2006 and 2007 has seen a great deal of activity for the engineering teams involved with the flight. The Lancaster has undergone a major service and overhaul and a change of scheme while the flight’s two baby Spitfires have also emerged in new schemes for the 2007 season.
The day was certainly one to remember with two unique formations that will certainly leave the RAF in the mind of the people at the event. The first was the incredible demonstration of 70 years of progress with the Spitfire IIa in close formation with a Typhoon. But perhaps the most emotion stirring was the massed formation of the BBMF fleet. While there have been bigger formations of warbirds at Duxford, this was perhaps the most special as it almost certainly won’t be repeated. There was also the rare sight of the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team jumping from the BBMF’s Douglas Dakota III.
All photography by Paul Johnson/Flightline UK.
