Has Shuttleworth taken the crown for the best all round airshow experience incorporating vintage and warbird aircraft?  The immediate post air show weekend praise would certainly suggest so!

The 28^th and 29^th June saw the second year of Shuttleworth’s Festival of Flight airshow, spanning two days and this year with a tweaked format that incorporated an evening flying element too.

The lineup for the two day event promised some really special displays with a number of firsts in the form of CAC CA13 Boomerang the absolutely beautiful de Haviland DH.71 Tiger Moth; more on those later.

The forecast was hot and breezy and that’s exactly what everyone got, the days weather, at times feeling like fan oven, posed a threat for the Edwardian Aircraft scheduled to fly at the end of the day and sadly as such they weren’t able to fly on the Saturday.

The days flying was programmed for a 2pm start, giving ample opportunity for visitors to explore the myriad of things on offer, from pleasure flights in a Harvard or Dragon Rapie, to visits to Shuttleworth House and walks around the splendid Swiss Gardens or simply relax and take in the evocative sights and smells of vintage aircraft.

Saturday’s flying programmed faced a bit of a shaky start, opening with a brief right to left flypast from one of RAF Benson’s Chinook HC6’s, which was to be followed by the Collection’s Percival Provost, which unfortunately became unserviceable despite many attempts.  This was followed by an unscheduled gap of around 10 minutes before a gentle display from Christophe Simon in his Mudry CAP 10.

RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight were due to attend with their beautiful Lancaster PA474, a relatively rare appearance at the Old Warden based airfield.  Everyone with a camera pointing upwards had desperate desires for a glorious topside pass, but sadly it was not to be, however crowd centre were treated to a low overhead pass upon departure which was absolutely glorious, really letting the adoring crowds hear and feel those four Rolls Royce Merlins.

Another short gap ensued in the programme before the Pitts Special Duo got airborne to provide some aerobatic Muscle in their Bi-Planes.  A great pairs display followed by an elongated solo display to help pad out the gaps, which was an absolutely sensational sight.

One of the major crowd draws for Saturday’s lineup again came in the form of the RAF, this time with the ever popular Red Arrows aerobatic display team.  The team entered from behind the crowd line, smoke on.  Given the beautifully clear skies the onlookers were able to witness a fantastic display.

It was great to see the visiting Blenheim in its ever surprising spritely form, with a number of close topside passes really displaying that gorgeous outline.

Saturday’s flying display started in what one could call ‘disjointed’, with unserviceable aircraft, and gaps in the programme, but it soon improved and entered the realms of fantastical. As the afternoon progressed we saw a Shuttleworth airshow first, with the Australian designed Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) Boomerang CA-13, as part of a Warbird Display team paired with a Yakolev YAK-3U.  The Boomerang was such a treat for the aviation aficionados out there, a super rare aircraft with only 250 ever being built and only a handful in existence today.  The Belgium based duo gave a great pairs display including some fantastic tail chase scenarios before solo displays, with the Boomerangs display being an absolute masterpiece of display flying.

The Festival of Flight also saw a continuation of the R4D “Ready for Duty” tour from the Commemorative Airforce who gave another joyous display with a number of close passes to the crowd line.  It will be quite a sad day when the rare bird makes its way back to the US at the end of its 12 week round trip.

The afternoon was wrapped up with more Warbird action with a trio consisting of a pair of Spitfires with the collection’s Mk Vc and visiting Mk IXc of Lilham Aviation alongside F4U-5NL Corsair of Flying Legends.

As the break in the flying schedule commenced it gave everyone the chance to have a leisurely rest and from flying action and take in some more of the Shuttleworth atmosphere including the chance for people to chat representatives from the Junkers aircraft company along with Junkers A50 Junior owner and pilot Claus Cordes.  Claus and his beloved A50 Junior are taking part in a 42 day and 12 country European tour to show off the unique and beautiful A50 Junior up close and host meet the pilot events.  For more information on this tour look them up on social media, search for Junkers A10 Junior Tour.

For a number of people there the main attraction was always going to be the evening flying element.  After doing away with the Evening only air show events the team at Shuttleworth have reinvented it as part of the newly seen split format shows, which appear to be a popular choice.

The second part of the flying programme saw some absolutely magical evening light, giving glorious views of a small number of aircraft from both the Collections own stable as well as visiting rarities.

The Collection’s Bristol F.2b Fighter looked resplendent in the  golden light, the brass propeller edges glinting in the evening light giving an almost golden circle within the propeller arc.  It’s display ended with one of the softest and most gentle landings I have ever witnessed.

The evening display saw a rare visitor to the UK in the form of a Dassault MD312 Flamant, this being only the second Flamant to visit Old Warden.  The twin engine transport plane paired up with the Collection’s Anson before giving a lovely solo display before coming in to land.

The final display of the Saturday show came from the elegant and beautiful DH.71 Tiger Moth of Airtime Aerobatics.  Rarest of the rare, only 2 DH.71 airframes were ever built, back in 1927.  This example, a replica, began its life back in the 90’s, and with a few delays along the way, finally flew in November 2024.  This display at Old Warden was the aircrafts display debut.

Sadly, the wind on the day hadn’t died down to a safe level for any of the Edwardian aircraft, however Sunday’s crowds were honoured to dead calm and a full contingent of programmed Edwardian lying.

The weekend saw a number of missing participants, as is the case with aircraft, everything depends on serviceability and availability come the day.  Unfortunately on the days approaching the Festival of Flight the Royal air Force had to issue a statement to explain the temporary withdrawal of the Typhoon Display, which came as a blow to a lot of spectators, especially given as it was down to fly in the evening display.  Here is hoping the Typhoon team will be back before the season is over.

Review by Jonathan Wintle.