Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Discuss airshows and other aviation events at the Imperial War Museum
spitfire66
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by spitfire66 »

The weather looks set fair tomorrow apart from the wind with gusts upwards of 25mph.

Is this likely to effect some of the items such as the BBMF?

Anyway, hope to be on the Tank Bank to watch the show.

FlyingMachinesTV
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by FlyingMachinesTV »

EMarsh wrote:PK should be recognised in the years to come as being in the top tier of display pilots, anywhere in the world.


I think he's recognised as that right now!

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Boghopper Mk 11a
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by Boghopper Mk 11a »

Faster Faster Faster Faster, damn it faster man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EMarsh
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

Cancellations for the weekend:

Chinook
Sea Hawk
Sea Fury is tech and being worked on in hangar 2.

Don't like to say it, but there's a big warm yellow ball in the sky... :whistle:

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Pen Pusher
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by Pen Pusher »

EMarsh wrote:Cancellations for the weekend:

Chinook
Sea Hawk
Sea Fury is tech and being worked on in hangar 2.

Don't like to say it, but there's a big warm yellow ball in the sky... :whistle:


Which disappeared in the afternoon and turned into real summer weather. Bleeding Cold.

Lancaster was operating out of Cambridge today as the cross wind was over limits for it.

Brian
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EMarsh
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

Enjoyable display today, despite the cancellations and clouds.

Flying was all very good, though I thought the programme itself was uninspired and lacked imagination.

Pete Kynsey in 'Miss V' and Jonathan Whaley in 'Miss D' were two of the best displays I've seen this year. Honourable mention goes to excellent displays from Cliff Spink/Spitfire XVI, Rod Dean/Skyraider and the Typhoon.

Looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow!

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DamienB
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by DamienB »

Argh! Why no Sea Hawk?

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PhilW
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by PhilW »

EMarsh wrote:Cancellations for the weekend:

Chinook
Sea Hawk
Sea Fury is tech and being worked on in hangar 2.

Don't like to say it, but there's a big warm yellow ball in the sky... :whistle:


Sea Fury was being run up to full power in the evening. Took ages to get it started, and each time it returned to idle it was trying to cut out. :sad:
Hopefully they can find the magic screwdriver.

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by jimbob1194 »

Getting ready to go soon, had a good day yesterday shame a bout the cancellations, though we still have the Gnats, Aerostars & the Demon for today, very cold in the afternoon yesterday i had at leat 4 cups of tea :biggrin:

Fingers cross for lovely warm sunshine again :biggrin:
Who evers going today cya soon :yahoo:

James
The Mustang won't do what a Spitfire does, but it does it over Berlin.

stuart n
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by stuart n »

EMarsh wrote:Cancellations for the weekend:

Chinook
Sea Hawk
Sea Fury is tech and being worked on in hangar 2.

Don't like to say it, but there's a big warm yellow ball in the sky... :whistle:


BBMF Spitfire XIX went U/S as well, although she did depart at the end of the display.

stuart n
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by stuart n »

EMarsh wrote:PK should be recognised in the years to come as being in the top tier of display pilots, anywhere in the world.


His display in Miss Velma yesterday backs that up nicely, thought he was going to gut the grass at 1 point!
Think the freeloaders on the mound must have got a short back and sides :grin:

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

I think the question today is 'where is everyone?'. There are 25 people down the tank bank end. Eerily quiet, sat here on the line... Quite the contrast to yesterday. :question:

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by stuart n »

Think the Typhoon and Reds will have pulled a bigger crowd yesterday TBH.

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DamienB
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by DamienB »

Guess they should have booked the Vulcan then... :tumbleweed:

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

If anyone has a spare Canon DSLR they'd be happy to lend me for the day, I have a memory card/lens with nothing to use them on, so speak now or forever hold your peace. I'd be eternally grateful! :grin: :sad:

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

DamienB wrote:Guess they should have booked the Vulcan then... :tumbleweed:

:grin:
"You really are an oafish philistine at times!"

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

Good show today, if a little low key. The Hurricane/Demon and Sabre/Hunter formation sequences added some much needed 'Duxford moments'.

The Sabre's low-level, tank bank-busting pass and Brian Smith's awesomely low, below tree top level pull-out will live long in the memory. The Buchon display was indeed flown with the true Hanna spirit by Brian Smith.

Top notch flying!

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jimbob1194
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by jimbob1194 »

Very good day, at least we had the nice weather in the afternoon :biggrin: Friends of DX had 760 people in their closure yesterday compared with less than 200 today, very quiet. Red & Typhoon fever hit DX yesterday.

James
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eddywinch82
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by eddywinch82 »

Does anyone know why the vulcan wasn't booked to appear at this years duxford airshow ?

Regards

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jimbob1194
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by jimbob1194 »

eddywinch82 wrote:Does anyone know why the vulcan
wasn't booked to appear at this years duxford airshow ?

Regards

Not saying this is true though i heard that DX don't like the idea of paying for it to display, thats what i was told today. Anyone else know why?? :confused:

James
The Mustang won't do what a Spitfire does, but it does it over Berlin.

EMarsh
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

Overall, that was a very good weekend. The lack of people on Sunday was very surprising, even with the absence of the Reds/Typhoon or anything V-shaped. I've never known a Duxford show, with decent weather, to have such a sparse crowd. I drove straight in and straight out - no queues at all! You could have driven in at 1.58pm and had ample space on the crowdline to set up. Of course, Saturday was the standard Duxford crowd, but it wasn't 'Legends busy' by any means.

The variety of the flying programme made for some interesting contrasts, particularly on Sunday with the Hawker segment featuring the Demon, Hurricane and Hunter in a streamed take-off. Later, the earlier Hawker types overflew the Hunter as it taxied past the tank bank in a unique photo opportunity. If anyone managed to get that shot, I'd love to see it! The quality of the flying was, as always at Duxford, superb, with several stand-out routines over the weekend. As previously mentioned, Pete Kynsey's Mustang display on Saturday ranks up there with the best displays I've seen this year, as did Jonathan Whaley's blue note heavy Hunter display. If there's a better Hunter solo out there, I haven't seen it - it's exactly what you want from a classic jet display. Loud, low, fast and close. Perfect.

The Typhoon and Red Arrows held the British end up well, with excellent performances from both. The Hawk remained distant and thus very difficult to photograph, unfortunately. Keeping with the military theme, the Belgian A109 was a welcome addition and showed just how agile a machine it is in the right hands. A return performance would be most welcome. The aerobatic competition segment exceeded my expectations - originally billed as including three standard manouvers from each of the aircraft, followed by two 'freestyle' moves, it had the potential to be a 'blink and you miss it' inclusion to the display. Happily, the routine was much longer than anticipated, with Pete Jarvis and Brian Smith providing entertaining commentary throughout the displays, providing an interesting insight into how official aerobatic routines are judged. Following the standard manouvers, we were treated to solo displays (some brief, some not so brief) from the individual aircraft, allowing a good look at what the aircraft involved can really do.

Duxford's strength has always been in it's warbird participation. For the most part, they delivered in this respect. The closing Battle of Britain dogfight was good on Saturday, but was even better on Sunday, with Brian Smith in the Buchon allowed to roam free in a spirited solo display (almost disappearing behind the trees off to the south-west, such was his altitude when pulling out of a barrel roll. Stunning!) without the speed constraints imposed by chasing Dave Harvey in the slower Hurricane. Following the dogfight/solo routine, four Spitfires (Charlie Brown in HAC's Mk. V, Cliff Spink in his Mk. XVI, Dave Ratcliff(e) in the Mk. TIX and Carolyn Grace in her Mk. TIX) intercepted the '109 and began a tailchase, with Messrs Brown and Spink dogfighting with the Buchon before the twin-stick Spits returned to form a four-ship tail chase, which has become something of a trademark at Duxford. It was the perfect way the round off Sunday's show, with the sun peaking through and bathing the airfield in golden light.

Other warbirds included the Skyraider, flown by Rod Dean in what was one of the best I've seen from that machine since the days of Paul Bonhomme throwing her around in 8-point rolls and the like. Stephen Grey took up the TF51D on Sunday (as the Sea Fury was hospitalised with engine problems, meaning the Guv'nor had nowt to fly) and put on his typically top-notch routine. He'd earlier flown a brief display in the morning, treating the early comers on the flightline walk to some closer passes. Verrrry nice. Anna Walker also flew ARC's Harvard 'Tazz' in a nice routine of high aerobatics, leading into a number of low and very close passes.

I think my main criticism of the show lies in the lack of set pieces or 'moments' that Duxford have offered before. Certainly, Sunday's show had the Hunter/Sabre and Hawker dynasty formation, but I just though there was something lacking from the weekend that left it feeling rather low key. Perhaps the grounding of TFC warbirds, which usually form some of the classic Duxford set pieces, has affected the non-Legends shows, as they now lack the punch that was offered by, say, the Cats and Corsair tearing round the circuit. When I think of the imagination Stephen White brought to the table during his short run at Duxford in 2001, the lack of such thought is even more evident.

In all, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend of excellent flying. I look forward to seeing what they can do at the Autumn show next month. It's also worth noting that they're already building the anticipation for their Battle of Britain 70th anniversary show next year. I certainly hope they come through on their promise of an "amazing, spectacular celebration" - it'd be difficult to top their display ten years ago, but there's no harm in trying! :biggrin:

strangelookingalien
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by strangelookingalien »

eddywinch82 wrote:Does anyone know why the vulcan
wasn't booked to appear at this years duxford airshow ?

Not saying this is true though i heard that DX don't like the idea of paying for it to display, thats what i was told today. Anyone else know why?? :confused:


I spoke to the Vulcan people on Saturday who did not know of a reason but were very dissapointed, verging on angry that it wasn't booked - and said they would be complaining.

I asked at information and was told that it was not an official reason but that cost had often been mentioned. I was told that for both days the vulcan appearance would cost £32,000 which to me seems ridiculously cheap considering it is meant to bring 20-30% more customers (and I believe this). There was also some talk of the fact that the Vulcan has to cancel shows occasionally (last September for example) but this is the case with every display aircraft, even more classic jets and warbirds...

Confused :confused: (still had a great day Saturday by the way!)

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

strangelookingalien wrote:
eddywinch82 wrote:Does anyone know why the vulcan
wasn't booked to appear at this years duxford airshow ?

Not saying this is true though i heard that DX don't like the idea of paying for it to display, thats what i was told today. Anyone else know why?? :confused:


I spoke to the Vulcan people on Saturday who did not know of a reason but were very dissapointed, verging on angry that it wasn't booked - and said they would be complaining.

I asked at information and was told that it was not an official reason but that cost had often been mentioned. I was told that for both days the vulcan appearance would cost £32,000 which to me seems ridiculously cheap considering it is meant to bring 20-30% more customers (and I believe this). There was also some talk of the fact that the Vulcan has to cancel shows occasionally (last September for example) but this is the case with every display aircraft, even more classic jets and warbirds...

Confused :confused: (still had a great day Saturday by the way!)


Edit - £32K for the weekend, sorry I misread and thought you meant £32K per day... :oops: :grin:

I understand their frustrations, but there's no obligation for Duxford, or any organiser, to book the Vulcan, regardless of how it would affect the gate figures. Also, I don't believe the Vulcan brought 20-30% more people through the doors at Duxford last September. I was there both days and there was a slight increase on the Sunday, but nowhere near as huge an increase as at other shows (Cosford, Waddington etc). Not saying the Vulcan Effect wouldn't hit Duxford this time round, but I don't think it had as huge an impact at DX last year as those figures would suggest.

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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by jimbob1194 »

EMarsh wrote:
strangelookingalien wrote:
eddywinch82 wrote:Does anyone know why the vulcan
wasn't booked to appear at this years duxford airshow ?

Not saying this is true though i heard that DX don't like the idea of paying for it to display, thats what i was told today. Anyone else know why?? :confused:


I spoke to the Vulcan people on Saturday who did not know of a reason but were very dissapointed, verging on angry that it wasn't booked - and said they would be complaining.

I asked at information and was told that it was not an official reason but that cost had often been mentioned. I was told that for both days the vulcan appearance would cost £32,000 which to me seems ridiculously cheap considering it is meant to bring 20-30% more customers (and I believe this). There was also some talk of the fact that the Vulcan has to cancel shows occasionally (last September for example) but this is the case with every display aircraft, even more classic jets and warbirds...

Confused :confused: (still had a great day Saturday by the way!)


Edit - £32K for the weekend, sorry I misread and thought you meant £32K per day... :oops: :grin:

I understand their frustrations, but there's no obligation for Duxford, or any organiser, to book the Vulcan, regardless of how it would affect the gate figures. Also, I don't believe the Vulcan brought 20-30% more people through the doors at Duxford last September. I was there both days and there was a slight increase on the Sunday, but nowhere near as huge an increase as at other shows (Cosford, Waddington etc). Not saying the Vulcan Effect wouldn't hit Duxford this time round, but I don't think it had as huge an impact at DX last year as those figures would suggest.


Don't forget the weather though last September, it was shocking. So maybe people didn't come because of A the weather & B because they thought that the Vulcan wouldn't be displaying beacause of the weather. I'm not saying that is true, though it could be the main case of the lack of people last year.

James
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Re: Duxford Air Show 2009 September 5 & 6

Post by EMarsh »

That is true.

Does anyone have any photos of the Buchon's low-level pull out of the barrel roll, where it got down to tree top height?