The Award Winning Old Buckenham Airshow; now featuring another fearsome iconic Warbird and some equally fearsome new beers.

Old Buckenham Airfield is delighted to announce another extraordinarily rare new addition to its Airshow on the 29th and 30th July. For the first time, P51 Mustang “The Shark” will appear on both days. Operated by the Norwegian Spitfire Foundation and based with the storied Boultlbee Flying Academy at Goodwood, ‘The Shark’ gets its name from an extremely distinctive paint scheme on the nose of the aircraft; it bears the face of a Shark over the equally unusual RAF markings. An RAF marked North American fighter aircraft was a very unusual sight in WWII and only one aircraft carried the ‘Shark’ scheme replicated today.

The P51 Mustang is often described as the American Spitfire. The two aircraft shared the legendary Merlin engine, which produces 1200hp in the Spitfire. Thanks to a two stage intercooler supercharger power far more power is available in the Mustang; a truly fearsome 1,720hp.

‘The Shark’, in earlier guises, is no stranger to Airshows. As ‘Old Crow’ this P-51 was the darling of the Scandinavian Airshow circuit for a decade before coming to England.

Another aviation icon will be making a very welcome return to the Airshow, in the form of one of the most respected and experienced pilots there has ever been; Rod Dean. 21 years in the RAF saw Rod become an expert on an array of the most potent fighter and bomber jets. Since 1984 Rod has displayed just about every type of aircraft, including the Spitfire, Mustang and Hurricane. He’s so good that he wrote an acclaimed book about his “Fifty years of Flying Fun” and along the way became a highly respected aviation journalist. Rod will be appearing on both days.

In 2016 we introduced the all new “Attack and Destroy Bar”. Created solely for the Airshow this mobile pub, named for the motto of the 453rd Bomb Group, offers a complete range of drinks including a number of specially brewed, exclusive ales. For 2017 the Airshow is delighted to confirm that the Attack and Destroy Bar is teaming up with Saffron Ales, an award winning artisan brewery based in Henham. Saffron’s range of heritage ales, brewed with a contemporary twist, have been created to satisfy all palates and they’re producing four, truly one off, new ales for the bar. For the first time, the Airshow will be able to offer bottled versions, in strictly limited numbers. The ales commemorate highlights of the show. One is named for ‘The Shark’ Mustang, another for the Hawker Hurricane and a third for Otto the Helicopter, announced as an act last month.

One final beer will commemorate the last aircraft to be confirmed for the Airshow. Both the beer and the details of our mystery act will be confirmed in early May and cap off what is likely to be regarded as the finest and most diverse mix of aircraft ever assembled at Old Buckenham since the War.

The Airshow’s appeal to families will also be enhanced with the addition of Sim- Fly Combat. Sim-Fly have been offering extremely popular virtual flight experiences at Old Buckenham for over a year, using a state-of-the-art simulator (the only one of it’s kind in the UK) since 2015. They will shortly launch a remarkable new experience, where up to four players can take control of WWII fighters and dogfight each other in the virtual sky, sat in replica cockpits of the Spitfire and Messerschmitt 109.

Airshow Organiser, Matt Wilkins said “ This year is shaping up to be the best yet for Old Buckenham. ‘The Shark’ is an extraordinary aircraft and the preserve of the largest airshows; Rod Dean can truly be described as the grand master of modern aviation and our enhancements on the ground, with the new beers from Saffron and SimFly’s new Combat simulator ensures that we’re living up to last year’s tourism award as “Family Event of the Year”.

www.oldbuck.com

Tags: 2017, May, News, Old Buckenham Airshow