It is well known by many that 118 years ago today powered flight was achieved for the first time by the Wright Brothers with their iconic Wright Flyer (pictured below at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC in 2019. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/49217367931/in/album-72157712199008938/ Over time it seems that this date was also popular with aircraft … Continue reading 17th December – An Iconic Date
The 2020 airshow at Headcorn held in September was one of the shining lights of what was largely a subdued year for airshows. Despite poor weather a great three days of flying was still delivered and the show had a great atmosphere. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/51348848597/in/photostream/ With a slight return closer to normality the show was able to … Continue reading Aero Legends Battle of Britain Airshow 2021
2021 saw the Duxford "Showcase" Days, which had been in place since 2019 rebranded to Flying Days. The idea of these days is to have a day every couple of weeks that features a small selection of Duxford based aircraft in an hour long flying display. These are otherwise normal museum days, with free entry … Continue reading Duxford Flying Days 22nd May, 6th June and 20th June
As one of the few airshows to go ahead in 2020 it shouldn't come as a surprise that yet another airshow moment this year comes from Headcorn. I'll try to resist mentioning the horrendous weather as much in this one! https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/50410660358/in/album-72157716228636186/ 2019 was, amongst other things very much the year of the Dakota. The D-Day … Continue reading Airshow Moments 2020 – Tailchasing “Daks” over Kent
2019 was a year of great firsts for the UK airshow scene. We saw the debut of the wonderful Ultimate Fighters team (who have already been confirmed for their first 2020 appearance at the Air Festival at Duxford in May) and the incredible DH9 from the Historic Aircraft Collection. It also saw a wonderful tribute … Continue reading Warbird Tails 2020 Season Preview
The celebrations to coincide with the 75th Anniversary of the Normandy landings in June produced some remarkable moments both in the air and on the ground. Amongst the festivities was a remarkable gathering of C-47s/DC-3s, a type forever associated with the landings, both for their role in dropping troops and towing gliders. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/48014969032/in/album-72157708958168456/ While much … Continue reading Airshow Moments 2019 7 – Old Warden Daks
After the excitement of the D-Day squadron's Old Warden visit, the next event on the diary was a mid-week show (that could catch on!) at Duxford. There appears to be plenty of controversy around the events that followed in France online at the moment. This post is simply to account for what was, all of … Continue reading Daks Over Duxford – 5th June 2019
With April's theme being the heavier types that don't often get featured as part of Warbird Tails, I felt that for Bank Holiday Monday a round-up of UK based aircraft from this corner of preservation was long overdue. I've limited this post to "live" (taxi/engine run condition included) examples and only up the end of … Continue reading UK Transports and Bombers: Where are We Now?
After a low-key event in 2017, 2018 saw Headcorn return as a contender on the display circuit with a busy flying programme across the weekend of 30th June and 1st July. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/32327960818/in/photostream/ Unsurprisingly, given the hosts of the event, the flying was largely made up of Aero Legends' machines. The company now boasts an ever … Continue reading Headcorn Battle of Britain Airshow 2018
Rounding off my 2015 coverage of the Shuttleworth Collection shows a little out of sequence is the September “Shuttleworth Pageant” show. The premise of this show is simple, the collection aim to get as many of their airworthy aircraft in the air as possible. I’ll start by getting the disappointment of the day out of … Continue reading The Shuttleworth Pageant Airshow – 7th September 2015
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