DH Chipmunk 80th anniversary fly-in Duxford, 9 May - picture of the day #10

 

A few views of today's Chipmunk line-up seen at the 'fly-in' at Duxford, part of the IWM VE flying day, courtesy of David Mummery. According to Vintage Aviation news the 'special formation flying display' gathered together at least  18 Chipminks flying together in formation (see below) although of the 40+ aircraft that came to Dx, a number of pilots would not have had a 'display' licence so a little short of the hoped-for 40 machines that were slated to fly at the event..

Video of the event by OscarLKZ - a single click to view here

Breguet 1050 Alizé - Alizé Marine not at Duxford next weekend

 

Also due at Duxford next weekend was another French owned and registered 'warbird' the only flying Breguet Alizé. But as the IWM just posted on FB; 

 " We regret to announce that the 1050 Alizé will no longer be displaying at the Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show next weekend. While we always aim to deliver a full and exciting flying programme, aircraft participation is subject to a range of operational as well as logistical factors and subject to change. We’re continuing to work hard to bring together the best possible flying list for the show and look forward to welcoming you to IWM Duxford..." 

Back in April though the Alizé Marine Association already announced the premature end of operations by its rare Breguet Br-1050 Alize ex-French Navy carrier-based anti-submarine warfare aircraft as reported on the European airshows website; 

"..The Association Alizé Marine, owner/operator of the world’s last remaining airworthy Breguet Br-1050 announced that as of 30 April 2023, Alizé No.59 (F-AZYI) will be grounded. The Association is being forced out of its hangar at Nîmes Grande Provence Méditerranée airport by the municipal authority, which owns the airport and has not provided any alternative accommodation..[..] Alizé Marine will hold an extraordinary general meeting, at which it will consider the possibility of liquidation... "

Then in May Key Aero reported that the historic anti-submarine warfare aircraft had found a temporary new home. On 19 May, it was ferried to Base Aérienne 701 at Salon de Provence, where the French Air Force offered hangarage for a limited period. The Alizé appeared at the Patrouille de France aerobatic team’s 70th anniversary airshow the following weekend. In a statement on Facebook, Alizé Marine added that, “for operational reasons”, it will probably have to move to Cuers-Pierrefeu airfield at “an undetermined date”, this being the location where numerous current French Navy aircraft types receive major maintenance. The association went on to say that it still hopes to negotiate “a permanent hangarage solution” back at Nîmes, where serial 59 — which has been flying as a civilian aeroplane since 2013 — was based during its active Aéronautique Navale career. 

 So there was a very good chance all along that the Alizé was not going to make it to the UK, which is a shame. For one, there are very few aircraft still flying powered by the Rolls Royce Dart. Having said that, the Breguet was at Le Bourget back in June, which is where I took this photo..

Mistral Warbirds F-86 Sabre in the UK, summer 2025

As you may have noticed, a number of UK air displays have announced the French based Canadair CL-13B (F-86E) Sabre Mk 6 operated by Mistral Warbirds will be attending their events. The aircraft is flown by well known French display pilot, Frédéric Akary. The aircraft will be using IWM Duxford as a temporary base during much of the summer.. Martin Eames photos from the Duxford Flying evening held on 16 August in the setting sunshine and, bottom, some shots from Paris Le Bourget in June where the aircraft was on static display. The aircraft will be flying at the Battle of Britain airshow Duxford on 6-7 September..

RIAT arrivals, Wednesday 16 July - Pakistan Air Force JF-17 C Thunder and Egyptian Air Force Antonov 74 at Fairford for RIAT 2025

 ..screen grab from the Planes TV live stream of the arrivals of the Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder at Fairford, another 'first' for RIAT. This is not the elderly 'A' variant from 2007 but a new 'C' version of Chinese design.  

The JF-17C, the latest variant of Pakistan's JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, is capable of launching advanced air-to-air missiles, primarily the Chinese-made PL-10 and PL-15. The PL-10 is a short-range, infra-red guided missile, while the PL-15 is a long-range missile with active radar guidance, providing the JF-17C with beyond-visual-range (BVR) capabilities. Bottom photo; arrival of the PAF Il 78 MP Midas support aircraft..

The 59th nation to have participated in the show at Fairford is the Egyptian Air Force -  an Egyptian Air Force Antonov 74 flies into Fairford for the first time. The EAF operates 3 of these tactical transports, an updated version of the An 72 fitted with glass cockpit, better radar and having longer range. High-mounted engines to avoid FOD. They are based at Cairo International with the 533rd Wing. First flew in 1983.

34th Bomb Squadron B-1 arrived at Fairford yesterday - RIAT 2025

 

A single Rockwell B-1 Lancer of the 34th Bomb Squadron, part of the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota (tail Code 'EL') arrived at RAF Fairford for the 2025 RIAT yesterday, Tuesday 15 July.

The 34th Bomb Squadron is one of the oldest active squadrons in the United States Air Force, formed on 10 May 1917, less than a month after the United States' entry into World War I. It was the 34th that carried out the famed 'Doolittle' raid on Japan - note the tail fin B-25 anniversary artwork.

Video of the arrival run and break by 'Ted Coningsby'. A single click on the red button to watch here

55th Paris Air Show, Le Bourget 20-22 June 2025 - Beta Team technologies electric plane - picture of the day #9

 

Just back from three weeks in Paris. And, yes, we went to the 55th Paris air show, the first since 2019 I think, due of course to Covid. It was packed with visitors and Paris itself was sweltering in a 36 C heatwave over the public weekend. As to the show, the 'best' day was the Friday when I got there early and was able to get through the gate without too much hassle while on Saturday the scenes of carnage to get in at the two gates 'L' and 'O' were incredible. I had the bright idea of trying to get into the show via the museum entrance - until some officious person with a scanner barred my way. No digital tickets at the museum entrance. Undeterred I went into the town and found a phone shop willing and able to print my 18 euro digital ticket out on paper from my phone!  Friday was great but the crowds on Saturday made the whole experience rather unpleasant. And on Sunday I took the advice of a friend and stayed outside the perimeter fencing, heading instead to the car parks at the end of runway where I hooked up with a few other knowledgeable enthusiasts. There was a police presence here of course but standing slightly back from the fence we were not bothered by officialdom. Everything in the show took off and landed directly over our heads - providing a view of the flying display that was second to none and far better than being in the show, which was great! 

And thanks to 'Tanguy' for putting up with my chat all afternoon!

Inside the airfield itself, there were lots of weird and wonderful contraptions on display ..and I don't mean the F-35. Some of them even flew, but the idea that we'll get 'real' electric planes worthy of the name is just pie in the sky in my humble opinion. I mean there were some electric craft flying  - including the American Beta team which has decent range and endurance and everything else but still looks a long long way from being a 'useful' machine. Besides, the last person to design a machine that looked like a bird was Leonardo da Vinci! The Beta Technologies machine did recently become the first electric machine to fly into an airport in the New York/ New Jersey region.  The company have also raised millions of $$$ in funding since 2017. 

A few more pics coming soon..

Beta Technolgies lands passenger-carrying electric aircraft at New york airport

Deadly mid-air collision at the Wings over Dallas airshow - B-17 "Texas Raider" lost

 

Screen shots of the mid-air at the Wings over Dallas airshow involving the B-17 "Texas Raider" (44-83872) and P-63 "TEST" (42-68941), both of the Commemorative Air Force. Unfortunately the B17 was in the Kingcobra's blind spot under its nose and appears to hit the B17 around the waist gunner's position severing the tail off. 

" ..Just got back home from Dallas and the Wings Over Dallas put on by the CAF. It is their largest show. It was shut down due to one of their B-17s colliding with a P-63 King Cobra at the south end of the airport just before the runway area. The information as to how many people on board the B-17 has not been released nor has their status. The crash occurred during their flying routine with several B-17s, some B-25s, some P-51s, a B-24 and a P-63. At first, it was thought to be some pyro technics going off at the wrong time, but when the fire went out of control for the two airport firetrucks to contain, most people realized it was something else. The airshow was shut down and all spectators were ordered to leave the airport. When I left there were about 40 different first responder vehicles at the scene, along with a Med-Vac helicopter and a few news helicopters. The explanation as to what happened has not been released, but the bombers were lining up to portray a bomber sweep with fighter aircraft flying cover that would pass at a low level parallel to one of the runways running north and south where the air show crowd was gathered. It happened as the group was turning to approach the runway from the south..." georgeusa on BM

"... the P-63 banked pointing his belly at the B-17 ..[and].. he completely lost situational awareness doing this. He could no longer see the B-17. The P-63 already has terrible blind spots. An aircraft overtaking a slower aircraft is responsible to keep view of that aircraft. This was totally preventable, from the planning, controlling, and the flying. And yes, I trained and I am qualified in Human Factors facilitation in military aviation. There are far too many warbird owners who should not be in the cockpit. The aviation safety net is supposed to prevent these types of accidents..." scooby on BM

 

Headcorn Aero-Legends Battle of Britain airshow 24-26 June 2022

 

Aero Legends have put on another super little show from Headcorn, opened by the Red Arrows on Friday afternoon. A few of my images from the flight line and more great shots by my friends Matt (Hayward), Colin Brown and Alfred Cassell.

The show opened on the Friday lunch time with the Red Arrows. the Strikemaster duo cancelled for the weekend and the BBMF Lancaster also cancelled again ..due to high crosswinds at Scampton. 'Sally B' again graced the show, operating out of Lydd. I had no idea that this aircraft - now flying for over 40 years in the UK - is owned through this period by a Danish woman, Emmy Sallingboe; hence the name..

..and the show was filmed by Planes TV ....see the 'takeoffs' selection below...a single click to view here..

Superrmarine Spitfire T.9 NH341 'Elizabeth' and Spitfire Mk IV TD314 'St George', respectively flown by Charle Brown and Antony "Parky' Parkinson, chase a Buchön in a mock dogfight over Headcorn airfield at Saturday's  display.  (Ian Andrews)

And also on this blog - highlights from last year's Headcorn air show 

https://falkeeinsgreatplanes.blogspot.com/2021/07/more-great-shots-from-aero-legends.html