East Kirkby Airshow 2025
The East Kirkby Airshow is the biggest event of the year at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre (LAHC) and raises much needed funds for the centre and the restoration of Avro Lancaster VII NX611. Held on the small grass airstrip next to the historic buildings and hangar that make up the centre, the annual airshow features a wide range of historic and civilian display acts from across the UK.
Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports. All photography by the author.
East Kirkby Airshow may be small, but it is an incredibly popular event in the Lincolnshire area nearly always selling out its 5,500 capacity ahead of the show weekend. Held on the first weekend of August, it often falls into the RAF display team mid-season ‘block leave’ period so is reliant on civilian operators for its flying displays. That is no hinderance however with the organisers always pulling together an eclectic mix of historic and other civilian displays.
The unique aspect to the show is the chance to see Avro Lancaster ‘Just Jane’ and de Havilland Mosquito NF11 NJ711 perform taxy runs around the grass arena. Lancaster NX611 is currently undergoing a major restoration to make it fully airworthy. As such, the Lancaster airframe available for taxying is something of a hybrid of various Lancaster sections from NX611 and KB976 plus the old tailfins from the BBMF aircraft. This allows the LAHC to work on the final restoration year-round with NX611’s wing sections and rear fuselage being worked on at the time of the show to being them into airworthy condition. The pair performed taxy runs throughout the afternoon around the flying displays culminating in the unique sight of both taxying together at the end of the day. They have recently been joined by the ex-RAF Museum North American B-25 Mitchell. This aircraft is close to being live once again and will be available for taxy rides. It will also eventually become an airworthy aircraft but will also form an important stop gap when NX611 is unavailable during her final stages of restoration.
The warbird theme continued into the flying. Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Sally-B continued the bomber theme and paid tribute to the United States Army Air Force airmen involved in Second World War allied air campaign over Europe. The display also included representation of the conflict on the Eastern Front with Bob Davy performing some sweeping passes in his Yakovlev Yak-3U-PW.
Mark Bennett’s stunning Supermarine Spitfire IX LZ842 was one of the star attractions. This is a very early Mk IX Spitfire and has been restored beautifully by the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar to as close to stock condition as possible. It has been painted in its authentic 232 Squadron markings from the Mediterranean theatre where it flew on operations over Malta, North Africa and Sicily. It was elegantly flown at East Kirkby by Andrew Monk
There was further representation of the RAF in the Mediterranean with T6 Aviation Ltd’s CCF Harvard IV which was paired with Peter Kirkpatrick’s Hawker Hurricane I for the final flying display of the afternoon. Both David Petters and Andy Goodall flew very compact routines keeping the warbirds close in to crowdline both in formation and their subsequent solo displays.
The historic flavour was not just restricted to the warbirds. Boeing test pilot Richard Pillans gave a wonderful account of the beautiful Bell Model 47H-1 which has joined the display circuit this year. Owned by Richard Zammit, this very attractive example of the civilian derivative of the famous ‘Whirlybird’ helicopter is one of the oldest helicopters flying in the UK.
By contrast to the gentle display by Richard was than given by Peter Davies in his Calidus Autogyro. Peter has been showcasing the unique abilities of the autogyro and delighting crowds for many years. But his display at East Kirkby was particularly eye-catching with some very punchy turns and quick stops which kept the aircraft well within the confines of the grass arena in front of the crowd. Add in some patriotic flag waving and the Lincolnshire crowd were on their feet as he taxied back to his parking slot!
More flag waving came from the Tiger Club Turbulent Team and their four Druine D31 Turbulents. Their display of classic barnstorming which includes limbo-flying, flour bombing and balloon bursting is always a crowd favourite – particularly at a small venue like East Kirkby which seems add just that bit more drama to their routine.
Another Tiger Club aircraft drawing attention was the Mudry CAP10B flown by Christophe Simon. Christophe’s displays have won many accolades since he started displaying and it not hard to see why. His 2025 routine is a relentless flurry of loops and rolling aerobatic figures which in part take inspiration from some of the best French Air Force displays.
But surprise of the day were the Jet Para Hawks. These were a team of three paragliders, but instead of the usual small petrol engine powered a propellor, were thrust into the air by packs containing similar jet engines to those used by radio controlled models. Able to display down to ground level they captured the imagination of the crowd with their agility plus some very dramatic flying including a spectacular spiral dive by two of the team and also lifting some very long and colourful streamers into the air; and all to the incredible racket of their jets! You certainly could not miss them.
Completing East Kirkby’s display line-up were two aerobatic duos, the Firebirds and the Flying Comrades. The Firebirds of Nigel Reid and John Dodd fly a pair of Vans RV4 home-built touring aircraft. They are perhaps best known for their twilight displays with their aircraft illuminated by coloured LEDs and fireworks streaming from their wingtips. Their daytime routine is just as entertaining with the pair performing close formation and synchronised aerobatics in a very well-polished routine. By contrast, the Flying Comrades flew the much more potent Yakovlev Yak-52, a cold war military training aircraft that has proved very popular as an aerobatic aircraft and lead-in warbird training aircraft. We are more used to seeing the team as a trio, but pilot Phil Hardisty and Alex Lewton flew a very pleasing routine in their colourful aircraft with some nice close formation work and solo aerobatics. In particular, Alex’s continuous loops that opened his solo were particularly eye-catching.
East Kirkby Airshow 2025 was a superb event full of character, a real showcase for just how enjoyable the smaller shows can be. The museum and its grounds were full to bursting with various exhibitions, live music as well as many local traders. Couple all that with a great choice of aircraft and you have the recipe for a great day out.
