FLYING LEGENDS 2007

Duxford 7th/8th July 2007

With the weather being dismal prior to this year's Flying Legends show, it was wonderful to see that the weather gods smiled upon Duxford for the greatest warbird show on earth!

Very sadly the P-38F 41-7630 "Glacier Girl" star of this years show failed to arrive from Chino CA, after a coolant leak forced her return to Goose Bay. She was one of two aircraft set to fly from the USA as part of Operation Bolero II, in an attempt to recreate the original mission of this particular P-38F which was stranded in Greenland in 1942. In all, eight P-38F's left the USA destined for units of the 8th AF based in Britain, along with with two B-17E's. After running into terrible weather conditions they were forced to land on an ice cap, and there they remained until being re-discovered in 1988. Along with the other aircraft, 41-7630 had been consumed by the ice and was 268 feet down, and had moved a mile from the original landing site by the creeping glacier. 41-7630 was deemed the best of these airframes and was recovered in 1992 to be rebuilt to flying condition, she was aptly named "Glacier Girl". It is hoped that may still make it to the UK later this year completing her mission at last, that possibility is currently in discussion.

The other aircraft participating in Op Bolero II was the TF-51 "Miss Velma", marked up as a very attractive 55th FG machine flown by Capt Frank E Birtciel of the 343rd FS. This machine was actually being delivered to The Fighter Collection.

The show started with the very impressive USAF Heritage Flight made up of the TF-51 "Miss Velma", P-51D "Twilight Tear", and P-39Q "Brooklyn Bum". who were joined by an F-15E Strike Eagle of the 48th Fighter Wing at Lakenheath. The F-15E was crewed by the Air Combat Command demo team based at Seymour Johnson NC, who had been flown in especially. Glacier Girl was to be part of this historic formation to mark her completed mission. The F-15E flew a solo routine prior to the Heritage flypasts, a real break from the normally jet free proceedings at Flying Legends. Lightly fueled and devoid of external stores, the Strike Eagle is a spritely performer and put on a dazzling, if not slightly noisey display!

The rest of the show followed the usual standard expected from a Flying Legends display, including the Spitfire rampage which to be honest we would never tire of. Unusually though there did seem to be some rather long gaps between some items. For the second year we've seen a formation display team, this year in the shape of the Guinot wing walking team (formerly the Utterly Butterly team, but with a newer more sophisticated name we feel!).

Another first for this years show was the P-40B, a genuine Pearl Harbor survivor. Sadly though the CAA paperwork hadn't caught up in time for this aircraft to be displayed at the show, though she did make a quick flight after Saturdays display, and again Sunday lunchtime in the hands of Steve Hinton, who on Saturday evening put the aircraft through some light aerobatics.

Once again the rather lovely Lufthansa Junkers JU-52 D-AQUI attended show, and she was joined by the French based Salis Collection example, resplendent in Luftwaffe markings.  The interior of both these machines couldn't be more different. As you would expect, the Lufthansa aircraft featured the plush comfortable interior you would expect from an airliner, however the interior of the Salis aircraft was configured as a troop carrier, with wooden bench seats, not exactly built for comfort!

There was a large naval contingent and this year's show, including the RNHF's Sea Fury, Kennet Aviation's Seafire XVII, and Skyraider. Two corsairs operated by TFC and French based Corsair Warbirds, also put on a very tidy display of close formation aerobatics.

Sadly the RNHF Sea Fury went tech during Saturday's performance and wasn't quite ready for a solo slot on Sunday. However the parts arrived from Yeovilton via Chipmunk, and the engineers worked wonders allowing her to fly as part of Sunday's Balbo in the very capable hands of Cdr Adrian Orchard, who incidentally flies as OC 800 NAS flying the Harrier GR-7. These were joined on the flight line by TFC's Grumman "cats" namely the Hellcat, Wildcat, and Bearcat.

In a tribute to the late Alex Henshaw who sadly died earlier this year, an Arrow Active, Mew Gull, and TFC's Spitfire Vb EP120 flew a very nice routine in honour of a true flying legend.

This year's Balbo seemed a little strange with the absence of TFC's much loved F-7F Tigercat leading the formation, instead that honour fell to Legends debutante TF-51 "Miss Velma". As usual, Stephen Grey entertained the crowd with his "joker" routine in the powerful F-8F Bearcat as the Balbo formed up and again as it swung round for a second pass, always a sound that will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck!

So that's Flying Legends for another year. Once again it was a safe, and well executed show by all concerned.

Click the images below for a larger image.

Thanks as always to the marketing team at Duxford for their assistance.

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