They were followed by a Naval Section that comprised a Seafire F XVII SX 336 (Kennet Aviation) and a Skyraider AD-4NA that is well known to Duxford visitors with its Hornet insignia on the tail.

Catalina

It used to reside at Duxford but has since moved after it was sold to Kennet Aviation.  The FBII Sea Fury VR 930 (RN Historic Flight) still impresses and has a different colour scheme to the two we sometimes see flying at our air shows.  A real brute that performed well with the Skyraiders.  With them there was a low and slow show by a PBV-1 Catalina (Plane sailing).  It is again relevant to us as 35 Squadron during WWII operated a derivative of this A/C.

The French and Russian slot impressed me greatly.  One of the A/C was the Curtiss Hawk 75 (TFC).  Although it was painted in French colours it will be recognized by many of our Vets who flew 3, 4, 5 Squadron and some of the OTU’s, as the Mohawk.  It gave a beautiful show, matched by a MS 406 (Ass Morane Charlie Fox).  I never realized this A/C was so fast and agile.  It was accompanied by Yak 3 (Marc Mathis) looking similar to the Yak 11 in colour that we had at our shows for a while.

Two Hurricanes turned up giving a very docile show.  AE-C/BD707 has just been repainted into its new colours, showing off to the crowds for the first time.  It used to be painted in the all black night fighter scheme.

A section was attributed to transports, which consisted of a yellow coloured Beech Staggerwing which is always a favourite with the crowds.   A very silver C-53 from Norway dazzled all of us as it performed in the sunshine.  The Lancaster from BBMF appeared for a few flypasts on Sunday only.  One can see that it is handled with kid’s gloves as its movements were certainly so docile that it is not trying to induce any G-forces.

On each day the show was ended by a ‘Balbo’, the name originating from the massive Allied Air formations in Europe as a show of force during Victory Celebrations. (For your information;  Italy’s most famous interwar pilot, Italo Balbo served with the Alpine troops during WW1 and then joined Benito Mussolini’s Fascist movement. In 1926, despite knowing nothing about aviation, he was appointed Secretary of State for Air. He quickly learned to fly, and set about reorganizing Italy’s air force, the Regia Aeronautica. In 1933, he led a mass formation of 24 Savoia-Marchetti SM.55X flying boats on a transatlantic round-trip flight from Italy to Chicago, landing on Lake Michigan. As a result the collective noun balbo was coined in Italian to describe a large formation of aircraft. Balbo was subsequently appointed governor of Libya. During WW2, he called for Italy to side with Britain, contrary to Mussolini’s plans. He continued to lead air patrols over North Africa and was killed when returning from a patrol in 1940, shot down by the anti-aircraft guns of his own base.)