Matt Silvaire reviews the Battle of Britain Show at Headcorn
The Aero Legends team once again put together an impressive airshow at Headcorn over the weekend of June 25th-27th, this saw a vast array of warbirds and vintage types on show, and in a fully crowded event, something which has not been seen at an airshow since 2019. Two words sum up the event for me - weather, and formations. The show featured both, and both were prominent throughout the three-day airshow in the Kent countryside. Overall, the airshow was well arranged, with quick ticket scanning to enter the event, plenty of food stalls, lots of marshals to keep watch over the event, and an overall feeling of normality. The new feature for 2021 was the addition of a flight line walk, this something I took part in on the Friday of the event. Due to the weather conditions on the Friday morning when originally it was scheduled to take place, and the severe lack of warbirds on show, it was pushed back to the end of the day, following the 5-hour flying display. It was not the only change to the schedule as the opening act of the airshow on the Friday could not display due to the pesky cloud base which plagued all three days of the airshow in one form or another.
G-IRTY - The Silver Spitfire made a magnificent appearance at Headcorn.
I’m going to start at the end of the day, at 5pm, when I partook in what was meant to happen at 11am, but due to the bad weather it was postponed – the all-new flight line walk. At the end of the day, some light sunshine broke through and lined up was the melody of Spitfires, the Hurricane, the Buchon, bi-planes, as well as the C-47s. We were guided around the aircraft by the Aero Legends team in groups of ten and were allowed a short period to photograph the aircraft. It felt a little rushed on the Friday due to it being pushed back and there being all the groups of people who initially had set time periods to walk the flight line in the morning, now all waiting at the same time – however it would be wrong to criticise the organisers for this as they fulfilled their word and we got to get up close to the aircraft – they could have easily sent us down in the morning when only a fraction of the aircraft were on show, but found a workable compromise. Overall, it was a good experience, but there is perhaps a little room for improvement overall.
Scheduled to open the airshow on the Friday was the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows – unfortunately this didn’t happen as mentioned, as the low cloud meant, whilst the aircraft could make it to Headcorn, a band of low cloud sitting just behind the display area meant the pilots couldn’t safely transition between their manoeuvres, so whilst we got a brief appearance by the aircraft flying around the show ground so Red 1 could assess the conditions, no actual display took place – on the Sunday it was even worse with conditions which meant a full cancellation of the flying display took place. The Royal Air Force also sent the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight with Spitfire MK.Vb, AB910 and Spitfire Mk.XVI, TE311. The aircraft were unable to transit down on the Friday due to the low cloud but did display on the Saturday. The BBMF had also been scheduled to display with their Dakota ZA947, but only on the Sunday, which was, as said, called off with the poor weather conditions on the day.
The Bi-Plane Balbo flypast at the start of the flying programme.
The Battle of Britain Airshow was a bit of a Spitfire-fest, with no fewer than 11 airframes penned to display – including the Balbo display which featured 9 of them, as well as a Hawker Hurricane. The Spitfire airframes varied greatly, with early airframes, right through to late war variants. Spitfire Mk.1 ‘N3200’ from IWM Duxford, the famous Spitfire MK.IX ‘MH434’, Spitfire MK.VIIIc ‘MT928’, Spitfire MK.XIe ‘PT426’ and Spitfire MK.PR.XI ‘PL983’ – “The NHS Spitfire” from the Aircraft Restoration Company, came from IWM Duxford, whilst Spitfire MK.IX ‘RR232’ and Spitfire MK.IX ‘MJ271’ – “The Silver Spitfire”, came from the Boutlbee Stable at Goodwood Aerodrome in West Sussex. Aero Legends also had their two Spitfires on show, Spitfire MK.IXe ‘TD314’ and Spitfire MK.IXT ‘NH341’. Most of the airframes only flew as part of the Balbo at the end of the day, which was a magical sight, seeing and hearing the grunt of so many Spitfires roaring down the original WW2 runway and into the Kent skies. They were joined by Hawker Hurricane MK.1 ‘P3717’, who lead the second group of airframes, with the entire group split between groups of four, whilst the Aero Legends pair in the hands of 'Parky' and Charlie Brown, performed a duo display above them, creating a truly immersive spectacle of flying between the ten warbirds. It lasted about twenty minutes, and showed how simply stunning the Spitfire lineage is from its early fuselage, through to the latter types – one of the highlights of the entire 2021 season, no doubt.
A moving moment of the display came with the Bi-plane Balbo, this seeing four Stampe SV-4s, two deHavilland Tiger Moths and the Thruxton Jackaroo form up for an emotive display, before the Stampe Team broke off to perform a missing man pass for the late Angus Buchanan who tragically passed away a few months ago whilst flying his Stampe over Headcorn. The team put on a display he would be proud of, with a series of formation aerobatics, before a couple of solo routines which had a standing ovation. A knife edge pass completed the display. Whilst British and Belgium trainers were shown off, being the Battle of Britain Airshow, it needed something from the “enemy”. A Bucker Jungmann in German markings was the thing, with a spirited solo aerobatic display, the unusual type was put through its paces under the gloom of Headcorn, a dynamic aerobatic routine followed - something I had not had the pleasure of seeing myself before.
A trio of Spitfires stacked up during the airshow on the Friday.
More German representation came in the form of the Aircraft Restoration Company Hispano Buchon which played the bad guy during a Battle of Britain dogfight tail chase scenario demonstration with the Aero Legends Spitfire MK.IXe 'Elizabeth' in the hands of Antony “Parky” Parkinson. Some close formation aerobatics followed by a simulation “hit”, with the smoke system in the Buchon to look like gunfire damage. The display replicated (almost) what would have been seen over Kent in 1940. The Buchon is a Spanish built version of the BF-109, replacing the Daimler-Benz powerplant up front with a Merlin engine – the same which is seen in a Spitfire. This adaption meant the front fuselage section took on a squarer shape – a bane of contention amongst purists. This airframe is carrying a temporary scheme following filming work for a new docu-series.
At a Battle of Britain Show, it would perhaps be seen as mainly British and German types – however this year’s show featured a healthy number of American warbirds. The Aero Legends fleet includes two North American T-6 Harvards, ands both took part in several formations – the pair of heavy metal trainers with their raspy radials gave an incredible sound as they echoed under the low cloud base. They joined up with the two Douglas C-47 Skytrains of the Aero Legends collection, and the pair of Spitfires for a formation display of the six aircraft, as well as solo displays and aerobatic routines. The C-47s took part in a pairs routine which saw the two aircraft, 'Drag-Em-Oot' and 'Pegasus' carve across the skies with their pair of Pratt and Whitney Radials hard at work. The C-47s also took off to join with a special guest aircraft, which saw the gorgeous Boeing B-17G 'Sally B' fly a three-ship display of the American “heavies” – a truly spectacular sight and sound. Following several passes from the trio, the B-17 broke away for a solo display routine, including an unusual sight of some glorious topsides, passes with bomb bay open, and the tribute pass with the smoke system on to close the display.
Boeing B-17G 'Sally B' leading C-47s 'Drag-Em-Oot' and 'Pegasus' of the Aero Legends fleet.
Breaking away from the Military, both old and new, a couple of civilian types made an appearance across the weekend. The new team on the airshow circuit was The Starlings Display Team, made up of Tom Cassells and Michael Pickin in an Extra 300NG and Mudry Cap232 with sponsorship from NUII Ice cream – of all things (which is also a very good ice cream it must be said!). The display duo was fantastic, it showed some very tight-knit formations, and some dynamic aerobatic passes which showed every angle of the two similar but different aircraft. The second civilian display making its debut at Headcorn at least and returning to the UK for the first time in ten years, was the iconic Goodyear Blimp. It wasn’t a planned display, but on the Saturday, the airship came over Kent to appear at Brands Hatch for the day and flew through Headcorn with a slow flypast for the crowds. The blimp stuck around in the UK for a week following and flew over London and the south of England.
The Aero Legends Battle of Britain Airshow was hindered badly by the poor British Summer weather, but two of the three days went ahead with a nearly full programme of flying which saw a feast of warbirds, and some civilian and military displays to bolster that impressive schedule further. On the ground the show felt well organised, with friendly faces, quick entry and it felt like a pre-pandemic airshow in the best possible way. Once again, Aero Legends collaborating with Headcorn Aerodrome have put on a truly wonderful day of flying – lets hope next year the show gets the warm sunshine it truly deserves! I will definitely be there again, and I hope others will do the same. Fingers crossed for better weather!
Words and Photos by Matt Silvaire.
The Nuii Ice Cream sponsored Starlings Display Team Extra 300NG and Mudry Cap232.