Lakenheath F15E in formation with Legends

Both flying days were opened by a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle from RAF Lakenheath.  As luck would have it, both his display times coincided with the most clouds and rain, so that the grey aircraft merged well with the grey clouds.  The white water condensation showed up well.  It did two formation fly pasts with P-51’s which contrasted well, especially when they hit a bit of sunlight.  New to their Jet and Mustang ‘heritage formations’ as they are called, was the addition of a P-39Q (Airacobra) (the Fighter Collection) flown by Steve Hinton from Chino in California.

P39

Not WWII but modern day formation flying at Duxford

The next slot was occupied by a collection of eight Spitfires.  Both Merlin and Griffon types flew, with the collective sound giving you goose bumps.  They don’t give aerobatic shows but fly up and down the flight line, chasing each other.  A Mk. Vc T-B/JG891 (Spitfire Ltd) in Desert scheme performed next.  Since many of our pilots flew this type in the same colours, I naturally went all out to get as many photos of this aircraft as possible. 

Another relevant aircraft was TA 805, a Mk. HF IX in the temperate scheme.  This aircraft is ex SAAF (WWII Italy era) but I was unable to establish which Squadron.  It is painted in the temperate land scheme, as used by our SAAF in Italy.  This aircraft flew together with AE-A/EP120 a clipped wing Mk. Vb (Fighter collection), another variant known to the SAAF, which is the highest scoring Spitfire in existence today, with 7 kills to its credit.  Two other Spitfires stood out.

Ex-SAAF Italian Campaign

 A PR Mk XIX PS890 variant made more colourful by its D-Day stripes was in stark contrast to the dark clouds.  This Spitfire was re-engined at Chino with a Griffon engine from a Shackleton, together with its contra-rotating propellers.  Another Griffon powered Spit was a Mk. FR XIVE marked JE-J/MV268 (actually MV293) with clipped wings.