Duxford 27/05/2018

Post Reply
Message
Author
Cacophonix
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8327
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 10:14 pm
Location: Wandering

Duxford 27/05/2018

#1 Post by Cacophonix » Mon May 28, 2018 1:43 pm

Spent a good day at the Duxford Air Festival yesterday. Good afternoon with highlights of the day being the display of the Rafale and the Patrouille de France augmented by top notch performances by the Tiger 9 (Tiger Moth) display team and an 8 man Harvard team who showed that basic trainers can be flown beautifully and with elan and precision just as well as the heavy metal thunder of the jets. Outstanding also was the Farner Werker (F+W) Schlepp C-3605.

Weather was good albeit with a stiff easterly breeze and haze at time. Threatened Cb's did not turn up and the weather was warm,

Aircraft seen in the air were as follows.

Republic P-47D THunderbolt
de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moths
Dassault Rafale C
Boeing PT-17 Steaman
Extra 330SC
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
North American T-28 Trojan/Fennec
Noordduyn MkIIb Harvard
North American T-6 Harvard
Farner Werke (F+W) Schlepp C-3605
Extras 330SC, 300S, 260, CAP232
de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina
Grumman FM2 Wildcat
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
Hawker Sea Fury T MK20
Hawker Fury FB MKii
Douglas C-47A Skytrain
Fairey Swordfish
Dassualt/Dornier Alphajet
Supermarine Spitfire MK Ia

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina.JPG
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina.JPG (37.18 KiB) Viewed 303 times
Tiger 9 Display.JPG
Tiger 9 Display.JPG (20.52 KiB) Viewed 303 times
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.JPG
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.JPG (31.2 KiB) Viewed 303 times
Caco

Cacophonix
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8327
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 10:14 pm
Location: Wandering

Re: Duxford 27/05/2018

#2 Post by Cacophonix » Mon May 28, 2018 1:54 pm

Farner Werke (F+W) C-3605 Schlepp whose beautiful whistling turbo and graceful aerobatics were wonderful to behold.JPG
Farner Werke (F+W) C-3605 Schlepp whose beautiful whistling turbo and graceful aerobatics were wonderful to behold.JPG (26.26 KiB) Viewed 300 times
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.JPG
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.JPG (29.77 KiB) Viewed 300 times
Douglas C-47A Skytrain with Rafale in the background.JPG
Douglas C-47A Skytrain with Rafale in the background.JPG (25.54 KiB) Viewed 300 times
Caco

Capetonian

Re: Duxford 27/05/2018

#3 Post by Capetonian » Mon May 28, 2018 4:59 pm

Not to be outdone by Caco, Capetonian spent a day at the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow last Thursday, and will publish a report and photos in due course. Our internet has slowed to a crawl (if we're lucky, most of the time it's dead) and I am using a borrowed 4G dongle. When I can I'll download more photos. I do have to very careful when doing this though as I might get 'caught out' if there's a reflection of me in a showcase or anything like that. (Remember 'True Liberal' who infested this forum for a while and Caco's and my visit to the Shuttleworth Collection!)
I had been wanting to spend a full day at this museum for a long time, as previous visits to Krakow had never allowed me the time to do justice to a museum that has 181 aeroplanes, 18 helicopters, plus many other items and exhibits of interest.

It's an easy tram ride, about 8 stops, from the centre of Krakow, or a pleasant walk of just over an hour. Fortunately the day I went was warm and sunny, since a lot of the exhibits are outside and walking around in rain would not be conducive to full enjoyment, although there is much to see under cover.

Consisting mainly of Soviet era aircraft, there are a few western exhibits too, and reminders of how much the west owes to the valiant Polish airmen who flew and gave their lives in combat. Each exhibit has a descriptive plaque which gives plenty of detail about the exhibit, type, subtype, how many were built, when they were used and by whom and so on. Although most of the explanations are in Polish and English, some are only in Polish, a pity as unless one has some knowledge of another Slav language, Polish is very hard to understand. Also, oddly, some of the unit conversions are a bit out, for example one aircraft was described as having a service ceiling of 12000 metres, and in the English description that was 47850 feet. This does not in any way detract from the excellence and fascination of the museum.

Entrance is 15 PLN (£3) and free on Tuesdays. The place was almost deserted on the day I went, and sitting in 'Mig Alley' looking at all those aircraft lined up, on a warm sunny day, and in total silence was something of a surreal experience.

A couple of minor criticisms. There is nowhere to have a snack or meal, just a vending machine and a shop that sells ice cream and chocolate. I think this is a pity as even a simple meal there could turn a day visit into an even more enjoyable experience and might attract people who are not aircraft nuts.

There are very few staff around, and those I saw did not seem to be interested in actively engaging with visitors, although I have no doubt that they would have been helpful if approached for information or assistance.

I loved it and already plan another trip with a few of my aviation fanatic mates. A word of warning though, I suspect that most women would find it pretty boring after half an hour. These are serious boy toys!
P1070521.JPG
P1070521.JPG (46.04 KiB) Viewed 291 times
P1070514.JPG
P1070514.JPG (109.57 KiB) Viewed 291 times
P1070487.JPG
P1070487.JPG (114.2 KiB) Viewed 291 times

Post Reply