Throughout the morning, visitors met living history groups representing the United States Air Force during the Second World War and the Vietnam era, chatting to living history interpreters and exploring their vehicles and equipment.
The Cambridge Lindyhoppers demonstrated 1940s dances as Miss Holliday Swing, The Bluebird Belles and Pete Wayre performed nostalgic 1940s and 1950s songs on the hangar base.
Contemporary American technology was represented by an Insitu-Boeing ScanEagle, which visitors saw in the new American Air Museum, and the Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey, accompanied by personnel from RAF Mildenhall who chatted to visitors and opened the aircraft for visitors to explore.
The flying display commenced in grand style with the dynamic aerobatics of the Patrouille de France (pictured).
Other highlights included:
- Three North American Harvards in tight formation. Harvards were key training aircraft for British and American pilots. The Harvards were followed by two Supermarine Spitfires and a Hawker Hurricane, in honour of the American pilots who volunteered to fly and fight in the Second World War while America remained neutral in hostilities.
- Archive sound and film placed visitors on an Eighth Air Force bomber airfield in the Second World War as a living history group representing bomber ground crew awaited the arrival of the last B-17 Flying Fortress to return from a mission. B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B performed a poignant flying display, accompanied by a North American P-51D Mustang and a North American TF-51 Mustang, the fighter aircraft that accompanied the huge bombers for part of their mission. The Mustangs were intercepted by two Hispano Buchon (Messerschmitt Bf 109) aircraft and a thrilling tail chase ensued.
- The contemporary United States Air Force was represented by a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker in a stately flypast. The Stratotanker provides core aerial refuelling capability to the United States Air Force.
- The Vietnam War was dramatically represented by a T-28 Fennec which took to the skies to the unmistakable sound of Jimi Hendrix. This was followed by a North American OV-10 Bronco and a Shorts SC-7 Skyvan, which flew a stunning display to the rousing sounds of The Doors’ Riders on the Storm. Bell UH-1 Iroquois (‘Huey’) and Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (‘Loach’) helicopters concluded the Vietnam display accompanied by the dramatic Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner.
- As two Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft flew in, large screens were filled with footage of American paratroopers and in filmed interviews, the audience heard from Henry ‘Duke’ Boswell, a paratrooper in the Second World War, who described his experiences as a young man carrying out combat jumps, and Bud Rice, who flew a C-47 Skytrain on D-Day.
- Demonstrating the war against Japan in the Pacific, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero Replica, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Grumman FM-2 Wildcat and Goodyear FG-1D Corsair took to the skies accompanied by archive film footage of the Doolittle Raid.
- The flying display concluded in rip-roaring style with Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4.
The next air show at IWM Duxford is the Flying Legends Air Show on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July 2016. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.iwm.org.uk/events/iwm-duxford/airshows/2016/flying-legends-air-show. Tickets must be purchased in advance; no ticket sales are available on the day.
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