Flying Legends 2019

Discuss airshows and other aviation events at the Imperial War Museum
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DirtyFokker
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Re: Flying Legends 2019

Post by DirtyFokker »

I enjoyed the Sunday show ... I thought it was good overall. The memorable parts IMHO were:

1) The first display, with Spitfires flying past constantly for five minutes .... the guys at the Land Warfare end must have had a great view of the aircraft swooping in?

2) The DH9's sound ..... that engine belongs in a locomotive! :grin:

3) Ultimate Fighters display! :cool: .... 'Contrary Mary' is seriously loud during takeoff!

4) The Bearcat and Sea Fury zooming past at ... 350 mph or more?

5) C-47 display

6) The Catalina and Wildcat!

Oh ... and the B17's tribute was great as well!

It was worth the four-hour round trip
Last edited by DirtyFokker on Mon 15 Jul 2019, 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tom105
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Re: Flying Legends 2019

Post by Tom105 »

DirtyFokker wrote:I

1) The first display, with Spitfires flying past constantly for five minutes .... the guys at the Land Warfare end must have had a great view of the aircraft swooping in?


We did, who says Duxford doesn't do topsides! only problem bad light, JR in the PR spitfire did some stunning topsides!
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classicaviation
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Re: Flying Legends 2019

Post by classicaviation »

Like a lot of people I have decidedly mixed feelings about this year. I'm not going to rehash opinions that others have expressed but I do have a couple of observations.
The display, for me, severely dropped in pace somewhere after the Bearcat/Sea Fury/Corsair set piece. I felt like I spent an hour and a half watching Catalina, Dakotas and Cubs.
The multi-aircraft displays are impressive BUT I do wish they would incorporate bringing the back group closer for a bit. I get the "two simultaneous patterns" approach, and it is effective but the fighters over the hard runway display line were minuscule in the viewfinder even at 600mm.

My two cents is that the Legends displays need a refresh, especially given the fact that line up was 'samey'. I could have predicted the order of proceedings without the programme. Spitfires, Buchons, Hawks, Naval, Dakotas...it was all as expected. If they couldnt book much original it would certainly freshen things to mix it up and create new set pieces.
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UK Airshow Review
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Re: Flying Legends 2019

Post by UK Airshow Review »

  • "Lost Legends" - Jakub Zurek travelled to IWM Duxford for UK Airshow Review.

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DaveBr
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Re: Flying Legends 2019

Post by DaveBr »

The thing that sets Legends apart is "The Show".

I, like many others, was feeling somewhat underwhelmed before the show. I always attend Duxford on the Thursday and Friday before Legends and it was odd this year not having much new to anticipate or see arriving for the show. There was fairly steady action through those two days, with various shake-down flights and practice displays, but I was still feeling a bit 'ho-hum' on Friday evening.

Come show time though and you can't help but be swept away by the sheer spectacle of the thing. As always, the first hour or two of a Legends display is simply the most exciting and visceral warbird experience in the world. The relentless pace of the show, one display running in as another completes, each with multiple big-piston, aerobatic warbirds is just awesome. OK, it lacks the proximity we used to get on the 'tank bank' (nothing today matches multiple P-51s tearing round the corner, tight to the crowd) and yes, it did slow a bit in the second half of the show (not helped by the succession of solos from the Navy types). Times have changed though and we're not likely to see the close flying and sheer numbers of foreign visitors we saw in the past.

Overall, Flying Legends remains a jewel in the historic aviation calendar. Celebrate what we have, rather than agonise about what we don't have. Long may it continue.

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