Old Buckenham Airshow 2024
July closed with Old Buckenham Airshow in the heart of the Norfolk countryside. ‘Old Buck’ has been a well-established airshow venue for many years, but post-pandemic has grown significantly to become one of the UK’s biggest airfield-based events with a flying display lasting more than five hours and regular sell-out audiences. The 2024 flying display reflected Old Buckenham’s Second World War history with an impressive collection of warbirds joined by some airshow favourites and some heavy metal from the modern-day Royal Air Force.
Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports. All photography by the author.
The military airfield at Old Buckenham was constructed during the Second World War and housed the United States Army Air Force’s 453rd Bombardment Group, part of the 8th Air Force. The current day airfield sits on the threshold area of one of the Second World War runways with much the bigger airfield reclaimed by agriculture. Even on non-airshow days, Old Buckenham Airfield celebrates its Anglo-American links with much of the airfield infrastructure carried famous American street and bridge names. The airfield also is home to two different museums plus the ‘Liberator Restaurant.’
The airshow celebrates the links between the UK and USA even more with a particular focus on the military links. This year saw the current day United States Air Force attend the airshow for the first time with members of the RAF Feltwell, Lakenheath and Mildenhall Booster Clubs selling memorabilia in their own special area in the showground. Alongside them was an impressive collection of military vehicles plus all the usual traders and the Royal Air Force and Emergency Services exhibition areas.
Ahead of the afternoon’s main events, a new feature for 2024 was a display of radio-controlled models with supporting pyrotechnics. It was certainly spectacular with the small models of Skyraiders and Texans dwarfed by comically large fiery explosions. However the event then jumped into its traditional Commemoration Service at Old Buckenham’s beautiful memorial to the 453rd Bomb Group. The jump from a rather cartoon-like portrayal of combat into a short but sombre memorial service was a little strange.
The end of the service marked the start of the main flying display with the arrival of Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Sally-B. The 453rd Bomb Group may have been a B-24 unit, but the sight of Europe’s only airworthy B-17 cavorting around the cloud dappled skies over Old Buckenham is incredibly emotive no matter how many times you’ve seen it before.
The B-17 was just the start of the warbird action which continued throughout the afternoon. Immediately after the B-17, attention switched to the Royal Air Force with a classic pairs routine by the Imperial War Museums Supermarine Spitfire Ia N3200 flown by Steve Jones and the Old Flying Machine Company’s Spitfire LFIXb MH434 piloted by Brian Smith. Later in the afternoon there was also a ‘dogfight’ display featuring Fighter Aviation Engineering’s beautiful North American P-51D Mustang ‘Jersey Jerk’ and the Aircraft Restoration Company’s Hispano HA1112-M1L Buchon plus solo displays from Stu Goldspink in Republic P-47D Thunderbolt ‘Nellie-B’ and George Haye in his Spitfire XVIe ‘The Suffolk Spitfire.’
Some of the real delights of the Old Buckenham flying display came from the lighter historic aircraft. James Noble gave one of his first public displays in his classic Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet. Seeing such an aircraft was a reminder of past airshows in the East Anglia region which were graced by Gerry Honey’s Stearman team which was based at Old Buckenham. Isabell Rutland gave a flowing aerobatic display in CK Aviation’s Noorduyn Harvard IIb while Peter Kuypers and Nigel Willson flew an elegant tailchase sequence in a pair of Beech D17S Staggerwings.
For those arriving from the west to Old Buckenham, the chances are you drive through Thetford Forest near RAF Mildenhall and Lakenheath. It was in this area of countryside that the outdoor scenes of the classic BBC wartime sitcom ‘Dad’s Army’ were filmed. Today, the town of Thetford is home to the Dad’s Army Museum which has the original J.Jones Butcher’s Van used in the filming of the series. Throughout the day, the museum were part of the showground displays but the Van and a group of re-enactors also featured in the flying displays fending off and eventually downing a marauding Messerschmitt Bf108 Taifun flown by Nigel Willson.
One of the afternoon’s surprise highlights was the ‘G.I. Flight’ featuring three Piper L4 ‘Grasshoppers’ and a de Havilland DH82a Tiger Moth. The flight celebrates some of the lighter aircraft used by the United States Army Air Force that are often overlooked. The Piper L4 were very important during the Battle of Normandy and following operations during the liberation of Europe where they were used as aerial observation posts for the artillery as well as liaison aircraft. The Tiger Moth seems an unlikely type for a USAAF display but a number of aircraft were transferred from the Royal Air Force when the Americans first deployed to Britain for communications, liaison and transport duties. These aircraft were a stop gap until more American equipment arrived via the Atlantic convoys and therefore retaining the RAF serials but had American stars applied over their RAF roundels.
Some post war US Army heritage was included in the display with the lovely North American L-17A Navion flown by Simon Tilling. The Navion had an interesting history in US Army service being used for liaison, casualty evacuation and even as a forward air controller platform during the Korean War. Sunday’s display saw more post war military history with a trio of de Havilland Chipmunk T10s joining the display.
As well as the military displays, Old Buckenham also celebrated its current guise as a thriving centre for general aviation. Paul Freeland gave really pleasing aerobatic display in his SIAI-Marchetti SF260. The last time we saw Paul display his display was non-aerobatic, but he had since upgraded his display authorisation and has developed a very smooth, flowing routine.
The display also featured three of the UK’s newest aerobatic duos. The Titans Aerobatic Team have a slightly different look for 2024 with the familiar XtremeAir XA42 flown by Phillip Ansell joined by Patrick Willson flying a Yakovlev Yak-50 in place of the Decathlon. It gives the team a very different look but they still fly a really impressive display of close formation and solo aerobatics. The Mono Display Team first appeared in 2023 flying a pair of Taylor Monoplanes. Like the Titans, the team of Bruce Buglass and Ben Gilmore have changed their display since last year replacing one of the monoplanes with a Steen Skybolt biplane. The Skybolt certainly gave the team more presence in the sky as they flew around together. Most impressive were the non-aerobatic corkscrew manoeuvres which saw the little Taylor monoplane dance around the smoke left by the Skybolt.
The Electric Arrows gave their public debut at Old Buckenham last year and returned this year with a very sharp performance of formation and opposition flying. The team of Sam Whatmough (Sparky 1) and Alex Rainier (Sparky 2) fly the Pipestel Velis Electros from NEBOAir which are the first certified electric aircraft. They are ideal for pilot training where lots of short flights are required – even the Royal and United States Air Forces have evaluated them as a possible future route for primary training. Old Buckenham is at the forefront of electric powered aircraft in the UK with its own solar charging station for electric aircraft and it is also home to the NUNCATS project which is developing the electric Skyjeep for operations in Africa.
Classic barnstorming came from the Turbulent Team with their quartet of the Druine D31 Turbulents. They are the longest running display team in the UK and always draw laughs and gasps from the audience with their flour bombing, balloon bursting and limbo flying. One display that always surprises the audience is Rich Goodwin and his Jet Pitts. Rich continued to master the monster he has created which has stunning performance quite literally rocketing into the sky and hovering motionless (very loudly) over the airfield.
Once again however, it was the Royal Air Force displays that really caught the crowd’s imagination. Both the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team and the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 displays have become regulars at Old Buckenham and are guaranteed to get eyes looking to skies. But Saturday’s audience was treated to some very special with an appearance by the RAF’s Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning Role Demo from RAF Marham in North Norfolk. Marham was a holding its own Families Day on the Saturday sharing some of the display acts with Old Buckenham. In return Old Buckenham benefited with the appearance of the RAF’s latest strike fighter which gave a nearly full performance. Use of the F-35B’s powerful lift fan and vectored thrust was ruled out due to condition of the runway and surrounding ground. It was quite the coup for Old Buckenham as it was the first time the role demo had been seen away from a military airfield.
It was another outstanding year for Old Buckenham with some great weather and superb flying. Like many events, Old Buckenham having to adapt to enhanced security requirements and there were some very over dramatic reactions on social media and on forums earlier in the year. However, any fears were completely unfounded with very smooth security checks on Saturday which saw a capacity crowd and Sunday being a near sell-out. Looking at social media after the weekend it seems those that did attend enjoyed their day out as well which is the most important thing.
