REVIEW: Shuttleworth Race Day Air Show

The final UK air display of 2025 was the Race Day Air Show at the Shuttleworth Collection. The event pays tribute to the motor and air racing activities of Richard Shuttleworth bringing together vintage cars, bikes and aircraft. It was however another event affected by Storm Amy which forced several changes to the planned flying display. Despite this, a very full afternoon of flying was still put on by pilots from the Shuttleworth Collection and visiting aircraft.

Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports. All photography by the author.

Storm Amy, which had such a drastic effect on Duxford’s Flying Finale the day before, still had a sting in its tail for the Shuttleworth Collection’s final air display of 2025. Though the day was much brighter, there was still a brisk breeze blowing across Old Warden Aerodrome with the occasional strong gust. This ruled out several of the Shuttleworth Collection aircraft as well as those by visiting aircraft which brought about a significant re-jig of the flying displays.

One element of Race Day unaffected by the weather was another magnificent collection of historic race cars and motorbikes. Many of these came from the golden age of Grand Prix and road racing from 1900 to 1938. However, there were some eye-catching examples of more modern machinery including a  Formula 2 Briscar and the highly modified Land Rovers of the UK Armed Forces Rally Team. Most of the gathered vehicles took part in the ‘Shuttleworth Sprint’, which saw them stretching their legs down Old Warden’s main runway during the morning.

 

The afternoon flying displays got underway with a mock air-race around a circuit north-east of Old Warden’s main runway. It was quite breezy at the beginning of the display, so the field was depleted to just three biplanes, the Polikarpov Po2, the Blackburn B2 and the Parnell Elf. With just three aircraft, the race certainly didn’t match the spectacle of previous years though full credit should go to the pilots for completing the race in challenging conditions.

The first visiting aircraft then following in the form of the Cassutt Racer IIIM ‘Kermit’ and the Monnet Sonerai 1. These aircraft represented the world of Formula 1 Air Racing, a fast paced, low level pylon style of racing that was once very popular in the UK. It continues in the US and recently saw something of an international comeback under the guise of the Air Race 1 series.

 

The flying then switched back to historic flying first with a solo display by the Collection’s own Westland Lysander III and then the NavyWings Heritage Flight’s Canadian Car & Foundry Harvard IV. This aircraft was originally scheduled to be a static item but was added to the flying display to cover some of the items lost due to the winds. Impressively, the Harvard did not land at Old Warden instead operating directly from its RNAS Yeovilton base!

Further historic air races were marked with various combinations of Shuttleworth Collection aircraft such as the de Havilland DH82a Tiger Moth paired with the Desoutter I plus the Comper Swift flying in close formation with the Miles Hawk Speed VI. The King’s Cup Air Race was marked by a brief appearance of the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk which flew with another RAF Cold War trainer, the Percival Provost T1.

 

Further ‘visiting’ displays added further to the air racing flavour. The Old Warden based ‘Pitts Duo’ of Jean Michel Munn and Stu Goldspink represented the Biplane Classes at the Reno Air Races with their Pitts S-1S and S-2B Specials. Interestingly, one of the few fly-in aircraft to make it to Old Warden was a Pitts S-2A Special formally flown by the global trotting Breitling Angels team led by Nigel Lamb.

Memories of the Red Bull Air Race were rekindled by the Global Stars pairing of Mark Jefferies and Chris Burkett flying the Extra 330SC and Zivko Edge 540. Both aircraft have strong links to the Red Bull Air Race with the Edge 540 being the series’ most successful type. The Extra family of aircraft also had a long history with the series. The early races were dominated by Extra 300 aircraft and Nicholas Ivanoff fielded the Extra 330SR derivative during the mid-2010s, a factory-built aircraft closely related to the 330SC but with very different wings. Even when the series was dominated by the Edge 540, Extra 300Ls were used as the press flight aircraft as well as the standard type for the Challenger series. Mark and Chris flew a mixture of close formation and solo aerobatics before performing two low level slalom passes around some pyrotechnics.

 

The final two items of the air display really brought the UK season to a close in style. The first was a brand-new formation for Old Warden which saw the de Havilland DH88 Comet lead the collection’s own Supermarine Spitfire Vc and the Aircraft Restoration Company’s Spitfire PRXI for a couple of passes. The formation celebrated the 1934 MacRobertson Trophy Air Race, Supermarine’s success in the Schneider Trophy air aces plus the post war exploits of former RAF fighters in competitions such as the Lympne International Air Race.  This was Shuttleworth at its very best with three stunning aircraft set again a dramatic autumnal sky. Each aircraft then performed its own solo with perhaps the highlight being John Romain’s very smooth sequence in the Spitfire PRXI.

The final act of the afternoon was a full display from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. They had originally been slated to open the flying displays but were moved to the very end of the display to allow the winds to drop at their base at RAF Coningsby. Their appearance was very significant as it would be the last BBMF display led by Avro Lancaster B1 PA474 until at least 2027. The Lancaster will enter a major service later this year with the Aircraft Restoration Company at Duxford after which it will appear in the colours of a IX Squadron aircraft ‘Getting Younger Every Day” – LM220 WS-Y. The Lancaster was joined by two of the flight’s Spitfires, Spitfire XVIe TE331 and Spitfire PRXIX PM631 which performed their own tailchase once breaking formation for the Lancaster. The new BBMF display routine sees the Lancaster depart after the display climbing right over the crowd; a very fitting way to end Race Day.

 

It may have been a day shaped by an early autumnal storm, but the Shuttleworth Collection’s Race Day Airshow was a wonderful way to end the season with some very lovely flying, particularly towards the end of the display. Add in all the atmosphere from the vintage cars and bikes plus everything else the Shuttleworth Collection offers on an airshow day and there could be no better way to sign off the 2025.