Duxford Flying Day: Thank You Dads
The third IWM Duxford Flying Day coincided with the Father’s Day weekend and despite the challenges of low cloud presented a varied selection of Duxford based aircraft for the afternoon flying display.
Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports. All photography by the author.
As with the Shuttleworth Collection’s Evening Airshow the day before, Duxford’s ‘Thank You Dads’ Flying Day battled with some stubborn low cloud. The cloud meant that forming any complex combinations or formations was off the table, particularly with some of the more potent aircraft. Instead, the short six item display was rearranged with a succession of flat solo displays by some of Duxford’s resident aircraft.
On the ground, there were a number of aircraft brought out of the hangars including some of the Fighter Collection fleet, the de Havilland DH83 Fox Moth which is a temporary resident for some of the summer season plus the British Antarctic Survey’s de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.
The opening three displays all had an American radial theme. First to fly was Plane Sailing’s Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina which was an impressive sight under the gloomy overcast in its bright white scheme reflecting a Halesworth based OA-10A Catalina flying the USAAF. There then followed a short training theme with displays from the North American NA-64 Yale and North American Harvard IV ‘Wacky Rabbit.’
The display then moved back to British aviation heritage with an elegant routine from Mark Miller in the de Havilland DH89a Dragon Rapide. The finale to the short display was Battle of Britain pairing featuring the Historic Aircraft Collection’s Hawker Hurricane XII flown by Dave Harvey before Stu Goldspink rounded off the day with the Imperial War Museum’s own Supermarine Spitfire Ia.
Six more Flying Days are scheduled to take place throughout the summer months with the upcoming ‘Behind the Scenes’ event scheduled for Saturday 3rd July.
