40 (now 50) Years since the First IWM Duxford Air Show 1973.
Oct 16, 2013 22:30:10 GMT 1
northbynorthwest and plug like this
Post by viscount on Oct 16, 2013 22:30:10 GMT 1
Ten years on from originally posting this thread, I have replaced the watermarked images and 'bumping up' the thread into view, with the 50th anniversary only months away.
From a comment recently (in 2013) that it is the 40th anniversary of the first ever IWM Duxford Air Show in mid October, I find while looking for logs for ‘CanUK’ (requested on another thread) that the MAS ran a coach there from Liverpool for that first Air Display and visited Southend Historic Air Museum in the morning. Although I would have categorically stated that I was not on that coach trip, find that I not only have my logs for the day, but also my own photos!
Thought it might be of interest to repeat the air show log in full and post my images. Late 1973 was early days for the IWM at Duxford, with not too many exhibits acquired. I next visited in June 1974 and the collection had grown considerably during the winter, with the likes of a Liberator and former Dan Air Comet.
Wish I had realised the significance of the 2013 Autumn Show at Duxford, as I would have an effort to attend and compare. As it is, this is a concise record of the 1973 event, a small matter now of 40 years ago. I've left some of the information as it was recorded then, not as subsequently revealed eg the Gannet as mark AS.4 rather than ECM.6, the Junkers Ju.52 as that not an Amiot AAC.1 Toucan etc.
I.W.M. Duxford Air Show
14th October 1973
14th October 1973
Adapted from MAS ‘Flypast’ report: Here the Imperial War Museum and the East Anglian Aviation Society were holding a joint Air Day to show off the wares of the IWM’s store at this historic airfield. The hangars and other buildings were still in ‘Battle of Britain’ film camouflage, although somebody had obviously had a smashing time on the windows. Apart from the hangar and static displays of the Museum’s aircraft and aeronautica, there was a flying display put on by the RAF, Shuttleworths and the Cambridge University Gliding Club.
Of the EAAS/IWM aircraft on display there could be no doubt as to the star, that was P-51D-NA 472258 ‘WZ:I’ “Big Beautiful Doll” in markings of the 78 FG, USAAF. Its name could not have been more apt for this was one of the best restored aircraft I have ever (at that time) had the pleasure of setting eyes upon. They plan to get this aircraft airborne eventually, but need a radiator.
IWM and associated aircraft outside:
G-ALFT DH.104 Dove 6 formerly CAFU
(G-ANAF) Dakota 4 formerly Huntings, stripped to bare metal, to be painted in RAF camouflage as KP220.
G-ARRM Beagle B.206X prototype now engineless – recently rescued from Shoreham
G-AVDF Beagle 121 Pup 1 prototype now engineless – recently rescued from Shoreham
WH725 EE Canberra B.2 50 Sqdn and in Suez stripe markings
WK991 G. Meteor F.8 56 Sqdn red and white chequers
WZ590/19 DH.115 Vampire T.11 formerly 8 FTS with badge on nose
XG613 DH.112 Sea Venom FAW.22 Royal Navy, ex RAE Bedford, with no squadron markings
XG743/798:BY DH.115 Sea Vampire T.22 Royal Navy, formerly Brawdy Station Flight
XG797/766:BY F. Gannet AS.4 Royal Navy, formerly 849 Sqdn.
XS576/125:E DH.110 Sea Vixen FAW.2 Royal Navy, still in 899 Sqdn markings
“472258”/WZ:I P-51D Mustang “Big Beautiful Doll”, ex RCAF
(6316 Portugal) Junkers Ju-52 in basic Luftwaffe ‘Iron Cross’ markings
In IWM’s Hangar:
G-AKPF Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer fuselage completely rebuilt by EAAS
(8359) Short 184 floatplane in reality little more than an engine and fittings
AR501 Spitfire V (also regd G-AWII) ex- Shuttleworth Trust on overhaul
TX183 Avro C.19 series 1 formerly A&AEE and ex-Shuttleworth Trust
XF708/C HS.716 Shackleton MR.3 formerly 203 Sqdn
XP281 Auster AOP.9, Army formerly AFWF at Middle Wallop
VJ+OQ Messerschmitt 110 formerly Rudolf Hess’s aircraft, fuselage remains in a display crate
Also in the hangars were a hovercraft with ‘serial’ HA-5-116 and a midget submarine ‘XE-8’.
Elsewhere on aprons and flight line etc:
The display and static was considered varied and interesting, with an emphasis very much on preserved and older aircraft. Aircraft that participated in the flying display are marked *.
K3215* (G-AHSA) Avro 621 Tutor Shuttleworth Trust
P6382* (G-AJDR) Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer, Shuttleworth Trust
AB910/QJ:J* Spitfire V Battle of Britain Flight
LF363/LE:D* Hurricane IIc Battle of Britain Flight
LS326/5A* F. Swordfish II Fleet Air Arm
NM181/G-AZGZ DH.82A Tiger Moth
PA474/KM:B* Avro Lancaster B.1 RAF
RR299/HT:E* (G-ASKH) DH.98 Mosquito B.3, Hawker Siddeley Aviation
TF956/123:T* H. Sea Fury FB.11 Fleet Air Arm
WB271/204:R* F. Firefly TT.5 Fleet Air Arm
WH291* G.Meteor F.8 RAF 79 Sqdn markings/229 OCU at Chivenor
WJ903/C* V. Varsity T.1 RAF with No.5 FTS.
WJ753/Y* EE Canberra B.2 RAF No.100 Sqdn markings on red/white scheme, West Raynham
XE670 (nose) H. Hunter F.6 nose section exhibited by 71 MU Exhibition Flight
XF836/R* P.56 Provost T.1 formerly CATCS and with Shuttleworth Trust
XG274/71* H. Hunter F.6 RAF No. 4 FTS – flying display only, did not land.
XH897 G. Javelin FAW.9 A&AEE in a red scheme (NB not an IWM aircraft until retired 1/75)
XJ319 DH.104 Sea Devon C.20 Royal Navy, HMS Heron, Yeovilton Station Flight
XJ407 WS-55 Whirlwind HC.10 RAF 32 Sqdn at Northolt
XK740 F. Gnat F.1 exhibited in full ‘Red Arrows’ scheme by 71 MU Exhibition Flight
XS567/444* W. Wasp HAS.1 Royal Navy ‘HMS Gurkha’ with 829 Sqdn badge, but 703 Sqdn crew
XV126* W. Scout AH.1 Army Development & Trials Squadron at Middle Wallop
XV131* W. Scout AH.1 Army Development & Trials Squadron at Middle Wallop
XV185/185* C-130K Hercules C.1 RAF LTW (Lyneham Transport Wing) – crew from 24 Sqdn.
XW370/49* BAC Jet Provost T.5
XW407/50* BAC Jet Provost T.5 all 3 No.3 FTS as the ‘Geminis’ team
XW410/51* BAC Jet Provost T.5
G-ALFA Auster 5D
G-ANTC* Dakota 6 Hunting Surveys
G-ANUU DH.104 Dove 6 CAA CAFU
G-ASAM/8* D.31 Turbulent
G-ASMG DH.104 Dove 8 Hawker Siddeley Aviation ‘hack’
G-ASSW PA-28 Cherokee 140
G-ATKR* D.31 Turbulent
G-ATMJ HS.748-2A CAA CAFU
G-ATSY* Wassmer WA.41 Baladou IV airborne camera-ship
G-AWEF SV-4B Stampe
G-AXRN BN-2A Islander Humber Airways, pleasure flying during morning
Parked on the far side of the runway
G-AJRC J/1 Autocrat
G-AKDN DHC.1 Chipmunk T.10
G-ANRN DH.82A Tiger Moth Coupe
G-APNZ D.31 Turbulent
G-AXED* PA-25 Pawnee 235 glider tug
G-AXPN Beagle B.121 Pup 2
G-AYES MS.892A Rallye Commodore 150
G-AYVY* DH.82A Tiger Moth glider tug – fly over only
G-AZFN Cameron O-56 (hot air balloon) “Aquarius” – tried hard to inflate, but failed!
G-BAYZ* Bellanca Citabria glider tug
N9693 Bellanca Citabria
BGA.666* Slingsby T-21B (glider)
BGA.924* Slingsby Swallow (glider)
BGA.1247* Dart (glider)
BGA.1486* BS.1 Glasfugel (glider)
In retrospect a fair few types are now rarely to be seen flying anywhere eg Dove/Devon, Whirlwind, Scout, Wasp, Jet Provost, Firefly, Mosquito .. and I could go on. Given the reputation of Duxford today as a place to see Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs – a total of just 4 to be seen 40 years ago.
M.A.S. members named as providing reports are Phil Dale, John Downey, Brian Jones, Peter G. Smith, Graham Taylor and Steve Williams as trip organiser.
On with a few pictures. I had only had a SLR camera (a basic semi-manual Practika Nova 1B) for a little over a year, with a 50mm and 400mm fixed focal length lenses. As I appear to have used the big lens only on the G-ANTC Dakota shot, clearly I was too busy helping with the MAS sales stall all afternoon to take any flying display shots. Used Fuji 100 transparency film, and I’ve had to work hard on Picasa to get reasonable colour in the images, although the slides themselves required little cleaning and straightening, just some cropping out of sky and concrete. Not that many shots as process paid film was expensive and I had only just started working at that time. You can judge from the number of frames devoted to the P-51D and Ju-52 how impressed I was seeing these two aircraft.
Note this "Big Beautiful Doll" did not become a 'flyer', but was moved by the IWM to display at South Lambeth and has recently (2013) returned to Duxford for refurbishment. There have been other "Big Beautiful Doll's" since, including the one that crashed at Duxford's Warbird show a couple of years ago.
It did not worry me then, nor indeed now, that this is French built not German. It is an impressive aircraft and its recent (as noted in 2013) 'disposal' to a Polish Museum is a loss to the historic aircraft scene in Britain.
At the time Dakota G-ANAF was stripped ready for application of RAF wartime scheme as KP220 while based at nearby Bassingbourne and become a museum aircraft. In the event it went on to fly again and became an Air Atlantique aircraft, more recently a radar test bed for Thales and still airworthy (as noted 2013).
Interesting to view pictures of these aircraft outside - I'm much more familiar seeing pictures of them inside the museum buildings or hangars at Duxford. Both the Sea Venom (yellowish blotches) and Sea Vixen (marks on the fin, which in 2023 I've been able to remove) slides have begun to break-down slightly. Thought for fun, I'd leave one 'Photobucket' watermarked image in place as a contrast to a 'clean' image. With 10 years more experience of photo editing, the original colour cast on the sky has been reduced on replacing the images.
In contrast to the Canberra B.2 WH725 already part of the IWM collection, WJ753/Y with 100 Sqdn was still active and flew during the air display.
Not too sure where this one ended up. In 1983 was owned by Aces High and in storage at Duxford, before being made airworthy and exported to the USA.
