Best of British Airshow 2009                                                                               May 17th Duxford

   

      

The Duxford Spring Airshow, ''Best of British", was held on May 17th '09.  We decided, a couple of months beforehand, that we would fly to Duxford. The best way to get to the United Kingdom is, in our humble opinion, by air. So we booked a Ryanair flight from Dusseldorf-Weeze to London-Stansted.  The flight schedule from Weeze to Stansted is ideal for a day trip, as the flight leaves at 06.40 and arrives back at 23.15. A rental-car is normally not expensive either, (ours was GPB 0,99!), as rates are around 50 GBP per day.

On sundaymorning 5.45 we arrived at Weeze (NRN), and we proceeded right trough security and customs and, since we were allready checked-in online, we didn't have to wait at all. At 06.40 we were airborne and on our way to Stansted. The trip went as planned and we arrive at Duxford, in our 0,99GPB rental car at 7.30LT. We bought our tickets and airshow programme at the counter and the fun could begin.

The weather was not all that great with an overcast and cold strong winds.  But we were more focussed on Highlights of the Show wich included participation by the Eurofighter Typhoon (29 Squadron, RAF Coningsby), BAe Systems Hawk (208 Squadron, RAF Valley), the Vickers VC-10 (101 Squadron, RAF Brize Norton), British Aerospace 146 (Titan Airways at Stansted) and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Unfortunelately the BoBMF had cancelled due to technical problems and weather conditions.

 

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Other highlights were performances of British pilots including Guy Westgate, eight times National Glider Aerobatic Champion, who recently set a new record of rolling ‘on tow’. he demonstrated his aerobatic skills in a Swift Glider and Pawnee Tug; Mark Jefferies, four times British Aerobatic Champion who flew his newly-acquired Extra 330c.


A stunning display was given by a pair of Folland Gnats, the aircraft previously used for training by the Red Arrows, other pairs were two Chipmuncks and two Islanders.

Best display, in our opinion, was given by the crew of the B-25 Mitchell. This aircraft flew excactly the right way to be very photogenic. All in all we had a great day, despite of the heavy winds we were fighting against.



                                


                                


                                

Niederrhein Aviation Society