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Shuttleworth Military Airshow 2025 |
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| ‘...the P-40 giving a low pass, with such impressive power and grace that any future display acts will struggle to beat.’ | |
| The end of May sees the air
show season reaching full swing, with no fewer than three shows
taking place over the weekend of 31st May / 1st June. Saturday 31st May saw the second of this year’s shows at The Shuttleworth Collection with their Military Show, the first of this year’s new format shows, which includes an extended run time with an evening flying segment taking place after a late afternoon interlude. This new format helps increase the chances of the Edwardian aircraft being able to fly in calmer conditions as well as giving all the photographers out there a taste of displays in (hopefully) gorgeous evening light. There had been a few cancellations leading up to the event with the BBMF Lancaster being swapped out for their Battle of Britain Veteran Mk ii Spitfire and the Fighter Collection’s Curtiss P-40C, which was replaced by their P-40F Warhawk. The planned flying programme held some absolute gems from both visiting aircraft such as the Curtiss Hawk Pair and the Albatros D.Va as well as the Shuttleworth Collection’s own fantastic array of flyable aircraft. |
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| The show day had
lots to see and do before the flying programme was scheduled to
start such as trade stands, fairground rides for the younger show
goers as well of lots of different military vehicle displays and
reenactor groups, including Rifles Living History Society, Feeding
Tommy and Khaki Girls. Flying was programmed to start in the early afternoon and with the weather looking perfect it was on track to be a rewarding show. The display opened with 3 flypasts from the Royal Air Force’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight mk iia Spitfire. It was great to see the BBMF’s fighters back in the skies on the display circuit following their hiatus from displays following a tragic accident which saw the devastating passing of Squadron Leader Mark Long in May 2024. |
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| This
show paid a special tribute to John Desmond ‘Des’ Penrose, who was
the last surviving member of the original Shuttleworth Collection
Pilots, who flew with the collection from 1964 to 2005.
Recognition and tribute came in the form of a pairs display from
the Collection’s DH.60 Moth G-EBLV and Arrow Active MkII. Two very
important aircraft in the career of ‘Des’, the Moth being one of
the aircraft he flew at the very first Shuttleworth Collection
Airshow in 1964, and the Active Mkii being Des’ personal aircraft
owned by himself. There was a short display by the pair, and an
excellent solo display from the Active Mkii, looking splendid in
its silver markings against the Old Warden Skyline, a real rare
appearance. A Shuttleworth stalwart and crowd favourite; the de Haviland Comet took the skies next. An exceptionally stunning aircraft that doesn’t seem to have any bad angles from which to admire it from. Veteran Shuttleworth Pilot Dodge Bailey put on a fantastic display of the gleaming red racer, really letting those race tuned Gipsy Six engines stretch their legs. |
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The show gave visitors a very special treat, with a visiting
aircraft that ranks pretty highly on the rarity stakes in the form
of Douglas R4D-6S “Ready for Duty” of the Commemorative Air Force,
who had flown their R4D all the way from Texas to display on the
UK and European air show scene over the summer months. The
aircraft is the last airworthy US Navy C-47 and was assigned to
the US Navy Atlantic Special Service Squadron whilst on active
duty. When the airframe was not displaying, the crew were generous
enough to let visitors board and take a tour for a small fee to
help keep this great aircraft going. Watch out for “Ready for
Duty” at further shows this summer, including the Shuttleworth
Collection’s Festival of Flight at the end of June. Another aircraft sadly on the cancellations list was the lovely Boeing Stearman G-CKXY in US Army colours owned by SI Aviation Services, but in true Shuttleworth style alterations to the programme were made to accommodate this by giving an extended display from the Polikarpov Po-2. One of the many fantastic things about air shows at Shuttleworth is that there is always another airframe to plug any holes that may appear. |
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WWI was represented with the fantastic
addition of the Albatros D.Va from WWI Aviation Heritage trust,
which teamed up with the Collection’s own Royal Aircraft Factory
S.E.5a. The stunning
Albatros is always a highlight when it visits a Shuttleworth
Airshow, a particularly stunning airframe in the markings of Otto
Kissenberth, commander of the Royal Bavarian Jasta 23b.
The S.E.5a later teamed up with the
collection’s Supermarine Spitfire mk Vc to put on a very unique
display, with both pilots having to work extremely hard to get the
two airframes lineup in the sky, the sheer difference in speed and
power presented quite the challenge but the pilots choreographed a
beautiful display. |
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The Blackburn F.2b Fighter looked beautiful
during its mid afternoon display, banking around the control
tower, the sunlight beautifully bouncing off the brass coloured
metal on the timber props as it banked around the control tower.
An aircraft that looks both gangly and lumbering whilst on the
ground always manages to look uniquely attractive flying around
the circuit at Old Warden. |
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| Another aircraft on the
cancellation list was Avro Anson Mki from RAF Station
Czechoslovakia, which was due to make its debut display in the
Norther Hemisphere following is move from New Zealand. Sadly due
to poor weather between Belgium and the UK it was unable to
attend. A sad loss, a “what could have been” display with the
Collection’s own Anson. Fingers crossed for future visits. The
schedule replaced the loss of the Anson with a Dornier DO 28 which
teamed up with the Collection’s Anson 19; an unusual pairing, but
an interesting display. The afternoon display closed in style with a Battle of France display, consisting of the Gloster Gladiator, Hawker Hurricane Mk I and Imperial War Museum owned Supermarine Spitfire Mk ia. An extremely evocative sight in the skies of Old Wardern of three early war examples before breaking off for solo displays of each aircraft. For many, things don’t get much better than seeing such an early example of a Spitfire displaying. |
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| Following an interlude, the
evening airshow kicked off in style with an absolute glorious
display from the Curtiss Hawks, looking absolutely gorgeous in the
stunning evening light, with the P-40 giving a low pass, with such
impressive power and grace that any future display acts will
struggle to beat. Alterations were made to the evening flying due to cancellations and the presence of a gentle breeze which sadly quashed the plan of getting several Edwardians up and flying, but this gave the visitors the chance to see the Collection’s mk V Spitfire for a second time; a personal favourite display from the event. A unique “act” came from the Collection’s Lysander, which depicted a WWII insertion and pick up behind enemy lines to collect an operative from the French Resistance, with German Soldiers in pursuit. An exciting display incorporating pyrotechnics and gunfire. |
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| The flying display closed
with a gorgeous display from the Avro Triplane, the only Edwardian
aircraft that was able to fly due to presence of a breeze that
sadly put the other aircraft outside their limits for safe flight.
It has been quite a while since these extremely unique airframes
were seen gracing the skies of Old Warden, and a very welcome
sight it was. The ever impressive Shuttleworth Collection chalked up another win with a superb show with a wide variety of exciting and interesting acts in the air and on the ground. |
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| The next show from the Shuttleworth Collection is a fantastic two day affair on the 28th and 29th of June. The Festival of Flight is another split format show with an Afternoon and Evening display with a fantastic selection of aircraft, both from the Collection and from Visiting operators, which continues to grow weekly. For further information please visit www.shuttleworth.org | |
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Review by Jonathan Wintle. |
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