Duxford itself is an entirely appropriate location at which to hold such an event, due to its illustrious history involving the USAF. Not only did this historic site host two squadrons of American pilots during the First World War, but it became the base of the famous 78th Fighter Group during World War Two. Of course, the American Air Museum pays tribute to these men and their steeds, of whom 30,000 died while flying from bases in the United Kingdom during the Second World War.
Arriving at Duxford in some beautiful sunny weather, the popularity of the American Air Day was evident from the large crowd already on site some fifteen minutes after the museum opened.
The American Air Day is not strictly an air display, and features an impressive host of ground displays and activities that appeal to both family visitors and the hardened enthusiast.
Mildenhall and Lakenheath based squadrons were on hand selling a variety of merchandise, such as hats, t-shirts and badges. There was a display by the K9 dog team, an event I unfortunately missed during the day, and a beautiful collection of classic American cars, among other attractions.
Probably the highlight of my day was the walk-around tour of the American Air Museum’s Lockheed SR-71A by highly experienced former Blackbird pilot, Colonel Richard Graham. Col Graham is a frequent guest speaker at Duxford, and regaled the assembled throng with his vast knowledge of one of the most iconic and loved US aircraft in history.
Aerial activities were spread out during the course of the day, with the modern USAFE types sharing the skies with a selection of Duxford’s own historic ironmongery.
A pair of F-15C Eagles and two pairs of F-15E Strike Eagles performed two passes each, the former giving a rather nice top side view as they banked across the hallowed Duxford turf. A Mildenhall-based KC-135R Stratotanker from the 100th Air Refuelling Wing also performed a solitary flypast. Sadly, there were no mixed fly-throughs or set-pieces like the F-15 airfield attack or HH-60 fast-rope demonstration as seen in recent years.
The sole military type to operate from the site was an MC-130 from the 352nd Special Operations Group at Mildenhall. The ‘Herk' performed an impressive short landing run, before parking up to allow the public to access this classic transport.
The historic aspect of the event has expanded in the past few years, and this year saw a varied cross section of vintage machinery participate, sadly excluding B-17 Flying Fortress ‘Sally B’ and any warbird fighters.
It did, however, allow some of the rarer gems in the Duxford mine to receive a welcome public airing. Anna Walker put the Fighter Collection’s glorious Beech Staggerwing through an elegant routine; a reminder of the more romantic days of air travel during the '30s.
Golden Apple’s Boeing Stearman performed a lyrical routine in the hands of Mark Linney, the final side slipping low-level topside pass offering a fantastic photographic opportunity. Whilst Stearman are frequent attractions at UK shows thanks to the sterling efforts of Aerosuperbatics’ Breitling Wingwalkers and now sadly retired Stearman trio from Swanton Morley, I’ve only ever witnessed this machine perform at its home venue. A great pity, as its rasping radial engine provides a distinctive note and, in the capable hands of Golden Apple’s pilots, it proves to be a superb addition to any vintage-themed flying programme.
On a similar note, there were two contrasting Harvard routines during the display; Anna Walker in TFC’s AT16 and John Dodd in the Aircraft Restoration Company’s T-6. The latter flew a stunning routine of low-level aerobatics; an excellent exercise in energy management that was amongst the best Harvard routines I’ve witnessed. Again, these are two of the lesser seen examples of North American’s classic thoroughbred, and their consecutive take-offs provided quite the assault on the ears with a sound akin to a swarm of wasps trapped within a rotating washing machine (to go a little ‘Bernard Chabbert’).
Largest of the historics to display was Plane Sailing’s Catalina looking like an ancient galleon as it floated around the sunny skies. Hardly military, but very welcome nevertheless was the Pitts Pair of Richard Grace and Dave Puleston, now in their second year as a team on the circuit.
The improvement in the Pitts Pair’s display since their inaugural season is staggering. In my opinion their lively routine is very reminiscent of the legendary Marlboro and Toyota Teams and I’m sure Messrs Grace and Puleston will become great exponents of Curtiss Pitts’ masterpiece in years to come. I also overheard a number of family visitors who particularly enjoyed their antics, always a pleasure to hear, especially when there is often an apparent under-current of snobbishness in some so-called enthusiasts' quarters to the UK’s aerobatic ambassadors.
Rounding off the official flying display was Mark Linney in the Golden Apple F-86A Sabre, an American Air Day favourite. Mark’s sweeping solo routine is always a crowd-pleaser and it’s important to savour these opportunities as the aeroplane is currently for sale. It will be a sad day if the Sabre finally departs these shores; but it will leave many fond, smoky memories over its 19 years on the British display scene.
Whilst not an official part of the event, there were a number of unrelated warbird movements throughout the day. Classic Wings was kept busy with pleasure flying in its Tiger Moths, Rapide and Harvard, whilst the resident T-28 Fennecs departed after lunch.
The Historic Aircraft Collection’s Spitfire MkV BM597 performed a couple of practice displays during the early afternoon, before departing for Shoreham in company with its stablemate Hurricane and ARC’s Spitfire T9 and Hispano Buchon. The sight of these magnificent machines lining up on the grass never fails to give me goosebumps and always casts my mind to the heroic “Few” who defended this country with dignity and honour during the hot and hard summer of 1940. As has been written previously on GAR, the true heroes during this period are diminishing in their numbers every year. Sadly, it won’t be long until the fine machines that took them into combat will be this generation’s reminder of that epic struggle against Nazi tyranny.
In summary, that to me is the single most important aspect of the American Air Day; being able to pay tribute to and respect the Americans who have been based and fought alongside this country for close to a century. With next year marking the 70th anniversary of the arrival in the UK of the US 8th Air Force, this fine event will hopefully provide a perfect platform to honour them.
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