Shuttleworth Festival of Flight Air Show
At the centre of the Shuttleworth Trust’s new look air display season is the two-day Festival of Flight. This event brings together the whole Shuttleworth experience for two very full days of entertainment utilising the Museum, Aerodrome, Swiss Garden and Old Warden House. It is very much a Festival too with a feast of entertainment with more ground shows, live music and the biggest flying display of the year.
Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports from the first day of the festival. All photography by the author.
Old Warden is no stranger to multi-day events. Indeed, there have been various flirtations with two day shows over the years. However, the Festival of Flight is on a very different scale making full use of the Shuttleworth grounds to offer two very full days of entertainment. Around the hangars there were plenty of aviation organisations exhibiting their wares. One standout contribution came from Junkers Aircraft showcasing their modern ultralight recreation of the Junkers A50 Junior which was mid-way through a European tour. There was of course an impressive showcase of vintage vehicles too plus stunt shows in the arena area above the paddock.
The Swiss Garden and Shuttleworth House remained opened through both days two. Even though the flying on both days only finally came to close at 9pm, there was entertainment until late into the evening with live music around the House. This is very much event designed to be enjoyed over two days as it would be impossible to see all of it in just one day. This appeared to have hit home with many as the camping area on the Estate grounds looked very full.
That mantra was reflected in the flying display too with many aircraft slated to appear on just one of the two days. While this could look frustrating on paper, such was the promised quality of each days flying that no-one would be disappointed unless they really, really wanted to see a particular aircraft. Many of the real showstopper aircraft, particularly those from overseas, were booked to fly on both days.
The flying displays were very full and like some of the other major flying displays in 2025 split into a main four-hour afternoon display and a shorter, but evocative evening display just ahead of sunset. While the entire weekend basked in very warm temperatures, the wind was less kind on Saturday being particularly brisk, particularly during the early part of the afternoon making for a slightly disjointed start to the flying display.
Saturday did see a sizable contribution from the modern-day Royal Air Force. They kick the flying off with a single, a slightly high, flypast from a Boeing Chinook HC6A from 28 Squadron based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire. The Festival of Flight coincided with National Armed Forces Day and the Chinook was tasked with performed several flypasts around the UK including Old Warden. Having operated the Merlin HC3 for many years, 28(AC) Squadron is now the RAF’s Chinook Operational Conversion Unit.
Following on from the Chinook came the first of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s contributions to the Festival of Flight, a display from Avro Lancaster B1 PA474. Sunday’s display saw the BBMF return, this time with a pair of fighters. Sunday should have also seen the first Old Warden appearance of the year by the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, but alas it cancelled its weekend commitments on the Friday due to operational reasons.
Saturday did see the return of the Red Arrows to Old Warden in beautiful clear skies. Old Warden Park is the perfect setting for the team’s display which seemed that more dramatic set over the trees that surround the aerodrome.
Over the two days, nearly all of the Collection’s aircraft that are currently airworthy flew whether in solo displays, or mixed formations. Saturday saw the return of the barnstorming routine from the based pair of Miles Magisters and the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk. The racers were never far from the action either with the de Havilland Comet flying on multiple occasions and joined by the Miles Hawk Speed Six.
The cast of visiting displays was superb. Saturday saw a masterclass of aerobatics from Christophe Simon flying a Mudry CAP10B. Christophe draws inspiration from many displays from his French homeland, not least the Rafale Solo Display. The result is an incredible few minutes of flying with Christophe constant rolling, looping or stall turning the little, modestly powered monoplane without leaving any gaps. More classic aerobatics came from the duo of Pitts S1 and S2 Specials flown by Jean-Michel Munn and Stu Goldspink. Stu also flew his delightful Stampe SV4 alongside an unusual combination of Polikapov Po2 and Ryan STM-S2 representing international1930s and 1940 trainer aircraft. Adding to the aerobatic collective on the Sunday were Bob Grimstead in his Fournier RD4D and the Flying Comrades Team over from Duxford while further pre-war elegance was represented by Lilham’s Bucker Jungmeister, Richard Menage’s FW44 Stieglitz, Steve Jones’ DH83 Fox Moth, the Sopwith Dove and a Nord Pingoun.
The warbird content was truly exceptional. The Aircraft Restoration Company’s Bristol Blenheim 1F is a highlight anytime it appears at Old Warden. Piloted by Jon Gowdy, on Saturday it was joined by the Shuttleworth Collection’s Supermarine Spitfire Vc for some formation passes before both aircraft performed their own solo displays.
The Commemorative Air Force’s Douglas R4D-6S ‘Ready 4 Duty’ concluded its series of visits to Shuttleworth shows appearing as a solo item in the flying displays. They have been very welcome visitors to the displays over the first half of the season with their cabin tours and exhibition of Second World War US Navy artefacts as well as appearing in the air at the Military and Festival of Flight Air Shows. Their tour continues until the end of July with visits to the Royal International Air Tattoo and the Old Buckenham Airshow.
There were many ‘stand-out’ displays during the afternoon, but one of the most memorable was that from the ‘Warbird Display Team’ consisting of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-13 Boomerang and Yakovlev Yak-3U. The team are based Belgium with the aircraft owned and flown by Remko Sijben and Rick Van der Graaf. They presented an exciting few minutes of flying simulating a dogfight between the two powerful fighter aircraft complete with smoke and some very dynamic crosses! It was also the first time the CA-13 Boomerang hasp appeared at a UK show. Bob Davy’s Yakovlev Yak-3UTI-PW also took part in Sunday’s flying.
The finale to Saturday’s daytime display brought together the Shuttleworth Collection’s Supermarine Spitfire Vc, Lilham Aviation’s Supermarine Spitfire IX and Flying Legends GmbH’s Chance Vought F4U-5NL Corsair for a scintillating few minutes of ‘heavy-iron’ flying. The pairing of the two Spitfires was particularly apt as they both wear the colours of RAF Czechoslovakian Squadrons, Nos 310 and 312. The Corsair is no stranger to UK shows, but this was the aircraft’s first flying appearance under its current German ownership. Bernie Diehl closed off this fine sequence of warbird flying with a very smooth solo display in the rugged carrier fighter which currently wears the colours of VMF-513 ‘Flying Nightmares’ of the US Marine Corps, a unit this aircraft served with during the Korean War.
Sadly, another European visitor was unable to fly in the bumpy conditions on Saturday, though did get into the air during Sunday’s evening display. This was a beautiful reproduction Neiuport 23 from the Swiss based Nieuport Memorial Flyers.
On Saturday there was a stunning opening to the evening portion of the display with the Shuttleworth Collection’s Avro C19 Anson paired with the Dassault MD312 Flamant from French based Amicale Alenconnaise des Avions Anciens. The two post-war crew training and liaison aircraft looked sublime with their silver fuselage and wings illuminated by the golden light. However, the moment of Saturday’s display came right at the end of the day with the Shuttleworth Collection’s Comper Swift leading the exquisite de Havilland DH71 Tiger Moth reproduction owned and flown by Steve Jones. This was the aircraft’s public flying display debut and a particularly fitting way to round out the first day of flying. The DH71 is a fascinating aircraft built to research high speed flight and as a engine test bed. Only two were ever built and achieved speed and altitude records in various configurations.
There is little doubt that in the space of just two years, the Shuttleworth Festival of Flight has cemented its place as one of the highlights of the UK display season. Whether such events are the ‘greatest’ is down to pure personal experience, but I would certainly rank the Festival of Flight alongside the likes of Sywell 2024 and many of the Flying Legends Airshows. Whatever you thought of the Festival of Flight, it is certainly a stunning flagship event and showcase for the Shuttleworth Trust.
