Aero Legends Battle of Britain Airshow, Woodchurch
2026 saw Aero Legends take its annual Battle of Britain Airshow to the private airstrip at Little Engeham Farm just outside of the village of Woodchurch, near Ashford in Kent. This strip is just outside the area of land used as an Advance Landing Ground during the latter stages of the Second World War. At the core of this event were the fleet of warbirds operated by Aero Legends, but there were aircraft from other operators for an afternoon of flying displays over the heart of Kent.
Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports from the opening day. All photography by the author.
Little Engeham Farm is no stranger to air displays. It was home to the Woodchurch Warbirds fleet of P-51D Mustang, AT-6 Texan and Yak-11 operated by Rob Davies for many years. Until 2006, it was also home to the much-loved Wings and Things event which combined classic cars, military vehicles, a steam rally and a very full flying display. Since then, it has hosted other events such as the Weald of Kent Steam Rally which on occasion has hosted a flying display as part of the event. However, the 2026 Aero Legends Battle of Britain Airshow marked the first time Little Engeham Farm has hosted a full public airshow for twenty years.
Aero Legends previously hosted their annual airshow at Headcorn Aerodrome a few miles northwest of Woodchurch. However, this year the Aerodrome took full control of airshows at that location leaving Aero Legends to move its event to Woodchurch with a new date in early August. The ‘new’ event was firmly anchored in 1940s nostalgia; there were living history groups and military vehicles covering the Battle of Britain and the period around the 1944 D-Day Landings as a nod to Woodchurch’s Advanced Landing Ground. There was also a period NAAFI catering van and performances by the ‘D-Day Darlings’ to add to the period feel.
Despite selling out, it was a small crowd event perhaps limited by the small amount of car parking space. That did however mean there was plenty of space in the open fields adjacent to the grass strip with a very relaxed feed to the showground. The flying displays were equally relaxed with some long gaps between displays, perhaps to accommodate some long transits to and from Woodchurch for the fighters which were mainly flying in from Duxford and North Weald. It did however starve the flying displays from any sort of flow and was made slightly worse on the Saturday with the withdrawal of Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress ‘Sally-B’ which was stuck at Duxford due to crosswinds.
Saturday’s display was opened by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight with a solo display by Supermarine Spitfire Vb AB910 – a very appropriate way to open the display. Sunday’s display saw spitfires.com’s Spitfire IXT take the place of the BBMF Spitfire in the line-up.
The display by the BBMF Spitfire on Saturday was followed by the first of the big warbird set-pieces and certainly one of the highlights of the afternoon, a formation of the Aircraft Restoration Company’s North American P-51D Mustang ‘Tall in the Saddle’ flown by Lars Ness, The ARCo Supermarine Spitfire PRXI pilot by Martin Overall and Aero Legends’ own Spitfire IXT NH341 ‘Elizabath’ flown by Charlie Brown. The trio of late war fighters represented some of the types which used Woodchurch when it was an advanced landing ground. After some formation passes, the fighters split into a very tight wheeling tailchase before the P-51D split away for some solo aerobatics while the Spitfires performed formation barrel rolls and curved flypasts underneath.
An eye-catching element to the display was watching seeing the Aero Legends Douglas C-47B Skytrain ‘Pegasus’ operating out of Woodchurch. This is a small strip and to see such a large aircraft take-off and land on it, particularly with its tricky bumps, was spectacular. The C-47B made several appearances during the afternoon first with a solo display before departing to nearby Lydd Airport. From there it returned to make two parachute drops with the Round Canopy Association at the mid-point of the afternoon. Recreating the sights of the landing ground in both Normandy and the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden.
Providing an interlude between the warbird displays were two more colourful civilian acts. First of these was the Stampe Formation Team who are a regular sight in the local being based at Redhill and Headcorn. Operating from Woodchurch, they performed as a three-ship on Saturday with a pleasing mix of formation passes and tailchase flying before a solo aerobatic routine as a final flourish to the display. More aerobatics came from the super elegant SIAI-Marchetti SF260 G-RAZI flown by Paul Freeland. Despite its modern looks, Paul’s aircraft is 60 years old having been the second production aircraft. Built as a touring aircraft, it is quite a spritely aerobatic performer completing smooth loops and rolls during Paul’s demonstration.
Another of Aero Legends aircraft performing in the display was the North American AT-6G Texan wearing the colours of the Californian Air National Guard. It made its first appearance of the afternoon was a solo display flown by Richard Ward with its overall yellow colour scheme standing out well from the blue Kentish skies.
Supermarine Spitfire IXT NH341 ‘Elizabeth’ was the only Aero Legends Spitfire for the show and therefore was a particularly busy aircraft during much of the display. After its role in the fighter three-ship at the beginning of the display programme it returned to North Weald to swap pilots with Anthony ‘Parky’ Parkinson taking the controls for the rest of the day. Its next appearance was to take on the Aircraft Restoration Company’s Hispano HA1112-M1L Buchon flown by Steve Jones in a wheeling dogfight in the skies where the Battle of Britain was fought 86 years ago.
After a quick stop at nearby Headcorn, Parky then returned to Woodchurch to participate in Aero Legends’ unique duo of Spitfire and BAC Strikemaster. This routine highlights the company’s latest offer of jet flights in the BAC Strikemaster jets operated by North Wales Military Aviation Services. Parky led the display in the Spitfire with Sean Chiddention flying in trail in the Strikemaster. It is an exceptionally well flown display with two aircraft maintaining close formation throughout the display with includes sweeping passes, wingovers and barrel rolls. That was not it for the Strikemaster as immediately after Sean was joined by Ian Brett flying the second of NWMAS’ Strikemasters for their traditional duo display which is always a crowd favourite.
The finale to the day was the Aero Legends’ formation of Douglas C-47B Skytrain, Supermarine Spitfire IXT and North American AT-6G Texan. After a pass all together, the Spitfire split away from the other aircraft performing some solo passes while the C-47B and AT-6G repositioned for further passes before one final pass altogether. While it was a fine routine to close the day, it did rather highlight just how few of the Aero Legend fleet were available for the airshow. On previous occasions the same formation has had double the number of aircraft involved. Indeed, apart from a de Havilland DH82a Tiger Moth on static display, these were the only Aero Legends aircraft participating at the event.
It is great to have Woodchurch back on the display circuit. It really is a very pleasant, off-the-beaten-track venue with an exceptional history that offers a clean, photogenic backdrop to flying display. It was also clear to see the efforts of the organisers to turn the airshow into more of a 1940’s revival than the event had been at Headcorn. However, if there is one complaint, it that the length of time given to the flying display did not really match the number of displays on offer. The resultant gaps rather ruined the flow of the event and were exacerbated with the cancellation of the B-17 on the Saturday. This was despite the best efforts of the commentator to fill the gap with a recorded interview with a B-17 crew veteran. Hopefully this first event was successful for Aero Legends and it will return in future years with fuller flying displays.
