The beginning of September saw the penultimate show in the Shuttle Collection’s Air Show calendar; The Vintage Air show. A day showcasing vintage steam power, agricultural machinery, classic cars and of course a fantastic line up of flying machines.

The days leading up to the show threatened a day of inclement weather with less than favourable conditions for flying. Luckily the weathermen were wrong and the visitors to Old Warden airfield were treated to warm, dry day with plenty of sun with a relatively stiff breeze. Unfortunately the wind was a problem up and down the country and it put play to a fly past from the BBMF’s Lancaster as well as scuppering any plans to let the Edwardians out of the Hangars for a late afternoon jaunt.

Another regular visitor to the Shuttleworth Air Show scene came in the form of Peter Teichmann in his WWII steed, Red Tailed P-51D Mustang “Tall in the Saddle”. Whenever a Hangar 11 aircraft is on the billing for the show you know you are in for a great display with the Vintage show being no exception. Mr Teichmann gave another crowd pleasing display with plenty of top side passes and power climbs and dives back down to display centre, really letting that airframe “scream” as the air rushed over the .50 calibre gun ports in the wing; Definitely the flying display of the day.

The day wasn’t without the odd hiccup, with the Gloster Gladiator unable to complete its solo element display due to an engine misfire. Before that everyone was treated to a great paired pass with the collections Hawker Demon, making a nice return to the show scene.

An unusual visitor to the show came in the form of Jet Power as St Athan based Jet Provost T.5A provided a rather tame display around, giving a gentle whisp as it glided through the Old Warden skyline. After seeing displays from warbirds coming in close with a roar of piston power the display from the JP seemed a little underwhelming.

Usually at The Shuttleworth Collection shows the real stars are the “older” aircraft and as usual it didn’t disappoint, with the Sopwith shed showing string with the Pup and Triplane, Bristol Scout & Bristol F.2B and Avro 504K.

The star of the whole show for this reviewer came from WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust’s Albatros D.Va. This particular Albatross arrived back in the UK from New Zealand back in 2018 and has been impeccably built with a faultlessly high degree of authenticity, including no brakes, bungee cord suspension, wooden fuselage and line covered wings. This particular example carried the livery of Otto Kissenberth, commander of the Royal. Bavarian Jasta 23b. The black airframe carries the beautiful lozenge camouflage to the wing top surfaces along with the beautiful Edleweiss flower to the fuselage, a poignant link given that according to the WWI aviation heritage trust, Commander Kissenberth was noted to have died in a Mountaineering accident reportedly searching out the Edelweiss flower of Bavarian mythology.

A varied line up for this years vintage show proved to be as entertaining as ever, even with the cancellations, which as always are outside the hands of the organisers. The Shuttleworth Collection continues to show just how a well planned and executed air show and flying display should be, given that in recent years where changes have made it more and more difficult to deliver especially when in last 18 months or so some chatter amongst the air show worlds has leaned towards the belief that some show organisers and events have lost direction and have become more money orientated which has affected the heart of an air show, the flying. There is argument that in today’s world and the continued increases in operational costs that this is a natural route to take to ensure shows continue.

Overall the feeling at this years Vintage Air Show was one of a relaxed and informal day with, albeit with a feeling of relatively small crowd numbers, walking around at no time was it required to push your way through a deep crowd line to get to the front, at any time it was possible to walk up and down the crowd line to get a space along the fence.

Review by Jonathan Wintle