As July arrives we hit peak Airshow season with Flying Legends hitting the mid month slot with it’s warbird extravaganza.

The Fighter Collection, delivered another show of Piston power, this year with added jet action courtesy of the Red Arrows who displayed on the Saturday show day with a 12pm opening routine. The Reds performed on a more central display axis than previous Legends visits, where in the past they had displayed exclusively at the western end of the airfield.

The main body of the flying display opened with a 12 Spitfire Scramble and formation displays, a speciality often witnessed at many Duxford based airshows. A relatively frequent occurrence seen at the historic Duxford airfield these days, however one must remember that only a short time ago this kind of thing would be relatively unheard of in such numbers.

In total the weekends shows saw a total of 15 Spitfires display including 3 Mk I’s, which took part in a Battle of Britain tribute display alongside other aircraft representing the summer of 1940.

Following on the Spitfires the crowds were treated to a fantastic sight of 5 Hispano Buchons for their “Movie Stars” element, which undertook a simulated airfield raid before a series of tail chases representing air battles between RAF and Luftwaffe Steeds seen other the British countryside.

For many the massed gathering of five individual Buchons was quite the event. Last years Flying Legends event saw a display from four air frames, this year’s addition of a fifth airframe was simply sublime. A paperwork oversight on Saturday meant the crowds didn’t get to see a 5 ship flypast, thankfully Sunday’s show rectified the previous day’s issue and the crowds were privileged to an awesome sight of the 5 Luftwaffe liveried Buchons, including the sole airworthy two seater example.

A Duxford based airshow wouldn’t be the same without an appearance of resident B-17 “Sally B”. The sole airworthy Flying Fortress in Europe took to the skies with her fighter escort, dedicated to all the aircrew who lost their lives over the skies of Europe in World War Two.

The weekends show also saw the first public display appearance of the Ultimate Fighters. The new Sywell based display team comprised a four ship display routine comprising of P-47 Thunderbolt, TF-51D Mustang, Supermarine Spitfire Mk VC and Hispano Buchon. The team put on an impressive and dynamic display, and it was clear that all the hours of practise had paid off in full! The team comprised of Richard Grace in the HA-1112-M1L Buchon, Dave Puleston in the Spitfire LF VC, Andy Durston in the TF-51D Mustang and Jon Gowdy in the P-47D Thunderbolt. Four very different airframes, each with their own different flying and handling characteristics, all expertly flown producing a tight flawless display.