Unlike all recent incarnations of this charity event, run in aid of the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance, the morning of Sunday the 3rd of May started bright, sunny and with only a handful of clouds lurking overhead.
With the news of the C-17's arrival on the morning of the show having been publicised in advance, a healthy turnout of airshow goers were already queuing to get in ready for the car parks to open at 0900, despite the fact that the showground itself wouldn't open for a further hour.
Right on schedule the aircraft in question from 99 Sqn at nearby RAF Brize Norton appeared in the distance and, following an extremely 'sporty' run and break into the circuit, a particularly impressive demonstration of its short-field capabilities followed on landing, with the aircraft coming to a halt in double-quick time. In doing so it became the largest aircraft ever to land and (later) take-off from the airfield. It was reversed up the cross-runway, supping up any moisture laying on the tarmac as it went, into the static display, where, later in the day it was opened up to the public.
Many of the early arrivers returned to their cars for a while. Despite the sunny conditions there was still a bite to the wind. By the time the gates were opened, however, the queue to get in was fairly lengthy.
A number of aircraft had arrived on the Friday and the Saturday before the show. Waiting for the public were one of the RAF's newest helicopters, the Agusta-Westland Merlin HC3A one of six acquired from the Danes to fill a Support Helicopter (SH) operational shortfall; a pair of Hawks from 208(R)Sqn at RAF Valley, both resplendant in their very smart new display scheme for the 2009 season; a Grob G 115 Tutor from the recently 're-plated' 115(R)Sqn at RAF Cranwell; as well as a Hunting Jet Provost T.3A, a former-RAF asset now operated in civillian hands by the Newcastle Jet Provost Company. Still wearing the markings of its former operator, the University of London Air Squadron (ULAS), Bulldog T.1, G-BZMD/XX554 had come home; the aircraft having been stationed at Abingdon in the '80s and '90s.
Abingdon's only resident flying unit, 612 Volunteer Gliding Squadron (VGS), were also on hand to show off a couple of examples of the Grob Vigilant Motorglider that they operate and, as you would expect, one of the aircraft was opened up for the Cadets of tomorrow to have a sit in and a look around - something which is always popular with the youngsters.
One of the great things about Abingdon is the 'fly-in' that takes place during the show day itself. Arriving this year were a Westland Scout, the stunning Douglas C-47 "Drag-'Em-Oot", the Boeing Chinook HC2 from RAF Odiham, the Vampire Preservation Group's Vampire T.11, Peter Teichman's (Hangar 11) stunningly repainted P-40 Warhawk, Rob Davies' P-51D Mustang, "Big Beautiful Doll", in addition to many lighter types.
Of course, as the show title suggests, Abingdon Air & Country Show is not just about aircraft. The centre of the showground was covered with stalls, cars (both classics and sports), period scenes, a wartime singer, and even someone performing a thatching demonstration! As always, there were plenty of activities to keep the children entertained too, with Go-Karts, a climbing wall and even rides being offered in an Armoured Personnel Carrier, all at very reasonable prices.
The show has always been organised and run by Neil Porter, but following the news that he would be jetting off to New Zealand to live, he was given the opportunity to see the showground from the air by 612 VGS, shortly before the flying display was scheduled to begin - the first time he'd had the opportunity to fly at one of 'his' shows.
Typically the blue skies from earlier in the day had now been superceded by almost solid, overcast conditions, but despite that the flying display itself was opened by Andrew Dixon's wonderfully graceful Percival Pembroke WV740/G-BNPH. The series of sweeping passes showing off both the top and under-sides went down great with the assembled photographers. It really is a lovely aircraft and it's a shame that it doesn't get seen a bit more on the circuit.
A public display debut followed next with Neil McCarthy in the Jet Provost T.3A, XM479/G-BVEZ. Neil did himself proud with an eminently photographable routine that would've looked superb with some blue skies and sunshine.
As touched upon earlier, Pete Teichman's (Hangar 11) glorious Curtis P-40M Kittyhawk is wearing new clothes for the 2009 season. Recently returned from Prague, Czech Republic where it'd taken part in the filming of a new George Lucas film, "Red Tails", telling the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the US Army Air Corps' first African-American combat unit, Teichman (thankfully) decided to keep the delightful weathered olive drab scheme with red 'nose' on the aircraft. Sadly, however, as always seems to be the case (for me at least), the display coincided with possibly the greyest conditions of the whole day...
Led by Richard Grace, son of the well-known Spitfire display pilot Carolyn, the Dukes of Cassutt were up next. Their ever popular routine of formation flying and air racing goes down particularly well with the youngsters, and this was no exception.
Making his return to display flying was Flt Lt Bill Ramsey in the Grob Tutor T.1. Bill's taken over the reins from Flt Lt Andy Preece for the 2009 season and he's currently a Full Time Reservist Qualified Flying Instructor on the type with the Instructor Training Squadron of No 1 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS), who've just been given the shadow identity of 115(R)Sqn - a plate that belonged most recently to the Andovers from nearby RAF Benson. His previous display flying experience had come with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight during the 1999 season, when he flew both the Dakota and the Lancaster. As is always the case with the Tutor, the display provided was a very fine demonstration of precision aerobatic flying, and it was ideally suited to the relatively small confines of the Abingdon crowdline.
Continuing the RAF training theme was Flt Lt Matt Barker in the Hawk T.1. From a photographic standpoint the Hawk display has been very difficult to get a decent shot of for several years, but the new colours look great and given a bit of sunshine the RAF Benevolent Fund roundel on the underside of the aircraft should provide some nice photo opportunities. The routine is very tidy with plenty of punch, and the Flat Helix manoeuvre must be particularly uncomfortable, switching from high-positive G, to high-negative G and back again.
Like the P-40, Rob Davies' North American P-51D Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" has also just returned from the filming of "Red Tails". Sadly Rob elected to have the paint scheme that was applied for the film removed. As easy on the eye as BBD is, it would've been great to see some different markings on the circuit, even if it was just for one season...
The unmistakable sound of the Yak-52 filled the skies next, under the control of Nigel Willson. G-BXJB was built in 1987 and served with the Russian Air Force in its former life. While Nigel didn't get to benefit from it himself, there were the first indications that the clouds were beginning to part again during his display.
The Swift Aerobatic Display Team's popularity has really taken off in a big way in the last few years and it's not hard to see why. The ensemble present at Abingdon comprised Piper PA-25 Pawnee, S-1 Swift glider and the Silence SA180 Twister. Led by Guy Westgate who flies the S-1 Swift, the routine begins with all three aircraft taking to the skies together, naturally with the glider being tugged by the Pawnee. After some close formation passes the Swift, still attached to the tug passes the crowd, rolling all the way down the display line - fourteen complete rolls is apparently the record so far! The glider and Pawnee climb away and the Twister is left to do its solo routine, before the Swift is unleashed and performs a series of literally breathtaking moves, stopping in the sky in an instant, and demonstrating perfectly what can be achieved with impeccable energy management.
At Abingdon, Guy concluded the display by flying down the runway at low altitude, touching down and then taxying all the way back to its parking spot using nothing more than the energy he had at his disposal! A quite remarkable display that received a well deserved round of applause from the crowd.
Matt Hampton in the Vampire Preservation Group's Vampire T.11 was decidely unlucky. A minor radio snag that caused him to temporarily delay his departure meant that all of the display bar one pass was performed with the sun hidden behind the cloud. Such a shame because it's a beautiful looking aircraft, and it was really good to see that the routine had been extended from the 2008 version.
One of the highlights of the day was the stunning sight of C-47A, N473DC, better known as "Drag-'em-Oot", finished immaculately with authentic D-Day invasion stripes. The markings are particularly poignant for this specific aircraft, having flown two missions with the lead squadron on D-Day itself. Later it went on to take part in Operation Market Garden, before being transferred to the RAF and deployed to Burma with 435 Sqn, to take on the Japanese. Much like the earlier Pembroke display, this too was a really lovely routine that showed off the lines of the Dakota to perfection.
A slight change of pace was provided next by the parachutists of the Princess of Wales' Regiment Display Team, "The Tigers", whose jump platform was the Chinook that would later close the show.
Flt Lt Russ Norman's back at the helm of the Chinook Display Team, at least for the first half of the 2009 season. Because of the type's on-going involvement with Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan, it's not feasible for a single display captain to be allocated for the whole of the summer, so instead the responsibility is passed on halfway through the season. Russ himself took over the reins for the second half of 2008 from Flt Lt Rich Simpson. The new display routine is particularly impressive, with several new manoeuvres, most notably the Vortex. Russ and his team have obviously put a lot of time and effort into their workup, and it shows. What a difference it makes to be able to shoot it against a lovely blue sky too!!
With the Chinook having closed the formal display part of the show, it was just a case of dispatching the majority of those aircraft that had arrived earlier in the day. Without doubt the most notable of these was the C-17A, who was up in no time, kept low on departure before pulling up and executing a tight right hand turn to reposition for a flythrough. No two ways about it, the presence of the C-17 had been a massive hit with the public and quite a coup for the show itself - even if it had technically been a mere 'static' item.
Those of us who'd been ensconced since 0900 were blissfully unaware of the traffic problems that had been experienced closer to the start of the flying display. Despite the fact that three aviation events, broadly within the same catchment area, had all been vying for support on the same day, the decent weather and an accident in the vicinity led to queues stretching back onto the A34 and the opening of the overflow parking.
One can't help but wonder what might be possible if just one of those three events was held over until the following day, a Bank Holiday Monday. I'm sure a not insignificant percentage of attendees would've considered attending two different events over two days - and just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that it should have been Abingdon, for whom this date has been set in stone for many years, that might have contemplated going with the Monday.
The traffic issues aside, the only other criticism that could be levelled at the show's organisers was with regard to the distinct lack of toilets, which again may have been compounded by the extremely strong crowdfigures. According to reports, twenty minute waits and longer were commonplace.
It has to be said that commentator, Sean Maffett, didn't have the best of times during the afternooon. While his knowledge and explanations are first rate, his continual miscalling of what would be happening next became somewhat tedious, and it may have been for the best to have conceded defeat and just kept quiet on occasion.
So, what had to be described as a roaring success for organisers, and most importantly the charity set to benefit from the show, drew to a close for another year.
Responding to the criticism about the lack of toilets on the event's own website, organiser Neil Porter said, "Toilets - yes, we underestimated the number of toilets needed, as we didn't expect quite as many people to turn up! Last year we got it right, this year we didn't. Unfortunately toilets are one of our largest costs - they are around £50 per unit per day to hire - multiply that by the 25 units onsite... we simply couldn't afford any more, as a non-commercial and volunteer-run show that gifts most of the profit to the Air Ambulance. The money we retain each year has to be spread across the board to make the show run. Having said that, it seems we may be in a position to hopefully remedy the toilet situation for 2010, and we will look into hiring the troughs mentioned too."
At the time of writing the actual attendance figures are still unknown, but Colin Smith, one of the army of ever-faithful volunteers at the event, reported that consideration was given to closing the gates around lunchtime, and that in previous years with attendances of more than 9000, there'd still been space in the regular car parks. Additionally, the traders present all reported excellent business, with some of the Farmers' Market Stalls having to take a secondary delivery of stock during the afternoon!
With all this in mind, it seems that there may be a distinct possibility that the cheque for £5000 issued by the event to the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Charity following the 2008 event can be bettered here.
Quite what happens following Neil Porter's departure to New Zealand remains to be seen, but I have every confidence that the team at Abingdon will do all they can to uphold the excellent reputation that's been built up over the last ten years, and who knows, maybe even take it to the next level.
For the author, Abingdon Air & Country Show provides the perfect start to the season, with its very laid back, friendly, family-oriented feel, and its eclectic blend of displays and on the ground activities. For a tenner a head for adults on the day, you just can't go wrong with this event.
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