Season Premiere, King and Country Airshow 2023 Review

It had been a long winter waiting for the start of the UK airshow season in 2023, and as usual it began with a trip to Old Warden for the Shuttleworth Collection's Season Premiere Airshow. This year’s show was themed around King Charles III being coronated, which took place on the 6th of May 2023 – the day before the Season Premiere, King, and Country Airshow at Old Warden. The event was promoted with a strong mixture of classic and slightly more modern armed forces aircraft, with emphasis on the visiting displays. The event was the first since a new team took over behind the scenes, and whilst there were a few teething issues, something this reporter did experience leading up to the event, overall, there was very little to find fault with as the Shuttleworth Collection put on a very good show! 

As mentioned, there was a nice mixture of visiting aircraft which were the billed highlights of the show, whilst on the day, the Collection’s own aircraft were put through some of the best flying sequences. The early morning arrivals were captured as the flightline began to fill up with the flying treasures as they were rolled out from the hangars – with notable highlights being the Westland Lynx and Fairey Swordfish visiting from their respective base of operations at North Weald and RNAS Yeovilton. Other notable highlights parked out on the flightline by the excellent SVAS volunteers were the de Havilland DH.88 Comet and the Percival Mew Gull. There were other visitor aircraft arriving throughout the morning for static including a lovely Boeing Stearman, and the Navy Wings Stinson Reliant which was working as a support aircraft for the Swordfish. 

It was good to see the carpark filling up nicely as the morning went by, with a real buzz about the showground as midday rolled around, and the commentary crackled into life for the car and motorbike displays. Due to prior days being laden with rain, the ground at Old Warden was spongy and quite muddy in places, leading to a few concerns over what could and couldn’t operate – both ground vehicles and aircraft. We were told a little before 1pm that the Shuttleworth Collection Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Sea Hurricane (both parked up by the hangars still) would be unable to operate in a safe manner from the airfield and would remain on static display, whilst the Avro Anson C19 which joined the collection last year, would too be kept on the ground for safety concerns over the soft ground – it was a shame but completely understandable. The weather was looming during the morning and the threat of rain was omnipresent, right up until about 5 minutes before the flying began when the sun finally broke through and the crowd were dowsed in warm spring sunshine, just in time as the Racers were taken across to the far side of the airfield to begin the flying display. 

The official flying display was to begin with the aforementioned trio of racers, but it has become a tradition for the shows at Old Warden to have a banner flown across the airfield, and this was the plan again with a message reading “God Save The King” being towed behind the Piper Cub – however due to the banner being placed incorrectly, it was upside down and lead to a slightly red-faced moment as the crowd laughed at the banner, rather than applaud it as they were perhaps expected to do. Upon this being radioed to the pilot, it was quickly dropped at the far side of the airfield and the flying display began – nothing to see here. 

The quiet Bedfordshire air was broken by the sound of the de Havilland DH.88 Comet, Percival Mew Gull and Miles Hawk Speed Six bursting into life, as one by one the aircraft rolled down the soggy runway and into the ever-clearing skies to form up for their displays. It was a three-ship display run-in and pass, with the Comet leading the way, before the trio split for short and spirited individual displays beginning with the Mew Gull, which ate up the sky with the smallest of the racers appearing to come alive and carve shapes around the airfield – it was the best solo performance I had seen by this little airframe. The Hawk Speed Six too was put through a series of topsides and low passes down the runway before the pair broke clear to land, and we heard the distinctive sound of the de Havilland Gypsy engines wind up as the Comet emerged from behind the tree line and gave the crowd one of a number of lovely topsides. The Comet is often described as one of, if not the most important British civilian aircraft still flying today, and it is indeed a special moment to witness this MacRobertson Air Race winner still flying today in the very capable hands of Rodger “Dodge” Bailey at Old Warden. As the sun strengthened above us, it poured a golden light on to the ruby red surface of Grosvenor House as she was displayed beautifully. 

Another of the Shuttleworth Collection types flown during the day was the Bristol F.2b Fighter, with this sizeable biplane given a double display, once at the relative start of the flying display, and a shorter one during the WW1 slot later in the day. The earlier display was the better of the two with the aircraft allowed the full spotlight with some topsides and low passes which made full use of the display area at Old Warden. The WW1 types are always a unique point of a Shuttleworth airshow, and the Season Premiere saw the “Brisfit” joined by the Sopwith Pup and Sopwith Triplane – the Avro 504K was due to fly too and technically did before it spluttered back down to terra firma with an engine issue. The final of the WW1 types in the show was the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a, which was a bit of a blink, and you miss it display owing to it being part of what felt a rushed segment for those early types. 

One of the “visiting” aircraft on show was the one with the strongest links to the theme of the day, this of course being the deHavilland Chipmunk in which King Charles III learned to fly, known as the Royal Chipmunk. This airframe is kept in a flying condition thanks to an enthusiastic consortium of owners, and it was making its first flight since moving to its new permanent location at Old Warden, albeit across the airfield from the main Collection hangars. This “chippie” is notable for its bright red paint scheme and a unique beacon attached to the canopy as a visual identification that the then Prince of Wales was flying the aircraft. It was put through something of a photography-friendly display with plenty of topsides and low passes which, with the sunlight, made the aircraft a very enjoyable little item to snap in the programme. 

One of the surprise stars of the show was what was billed as a simple flypast, before it became the biggest talking point from the show – that, of course, being the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Avro Lancaster B.II. The aircraft arrived slightly earlier than planned, but due to the unique nature of Shuttleworth having everything on site, they could clear the airspace easily for the Lancaster to be brought in for its appearance. FLt. Lt. Seb Davey and a full crew inside the Lancaster seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially after the disappointment of cancelling their portion of the Coronation flypast the day before, as the first pass brought the hefty jewel in the crown of the BBMF tight to the crowd as the four Rolls Royce Merlins roared overhead. The second pass was a more sedate pass which was more to be expected from flying such a rare and large warbird, however clearly the crew did not think it was quite good enough, as the final pass saw the Lancaster brought round the unique curve of Old Warden with the aircraft nearing what would be seen as a knife edge pass, as the hulking WW2 bomber pulled round the tower like there was an invisible thread between them. The duration in which the aircraft was held in that pass was outstanding, with a good 15 seconds of pure, unfiltered, very rare topside from the Avro Lancaster – superb! It will be hard for anything to beat that this year. 

Some more biplane types in the flying programme saw the wonderful the deHavilland DH51 “Miss Kenya” flying with the Avro Tutor in a sedate pairs’ routine. Whilst these two performed low level, the Collection’s DHC-1 Chipmunk (adorned with red, white, and blue streamers) gave some fluid aerobatics above, with the yellow of the RCAF livery almost glowing against the blue skies in which it was flying. Another patriotic themed display saw the Shuttleworth Collection’s DH60X Moth (returning to the air after a few years absent) joined by the Southern Martlet and David Cyster’s DH.82 Tiger Moth for a red, white, and blue formation display. Each aircraft had the Union Flag adorning the wing rigging as the trio flew some gentle formation work together before commencing with a tail chase sequence. The Shuttleworth Collection flew their Tiger Moth as part of a glider slot, with the aircraft performing low level, as the Piper Cub towed the Czech Letov LF-107 Lunak to height for a musical interlude of flying back down to the ground. The colourful yellow glider trailed smoke as it was gracefully flown across the skies, weaving its way around the airspace above the crowd. 

More powerful WW2 types were seen later in the afternoon when the Gloster Gladiator and Westland Lysander took centre stage, with the two flying back-to-back solo routines. The Gladiator was first, with the enthusiast favourite given plenty of topside and high-speed flying for the crowds. One of the joys of seeing the Gladiator is seeing that unusual enclosed cockpit, although it’ll always be seen wide open during displays, as was often the case in period as well. The Westland Lysander was in next, with the nighttime spy plane shown off in a more spirited fashion than I have personally seen in recent times. The sunlight glinted off of the aircraft and made it look more sinister than it is, with some moments, where it caught the grey clouds in the distance, conjuring up images of what it may have looked like on those clandestine missions of the Second World War. 

The most modern of the aircraft in the flying programme came from Project Lynx XZ179 based at North Weald, with their immaculate Westland Lynx AH.7. This was the debut display by this airframe following a lengthy restoration. It was found in a state of despair by the team, owing to its usage as a testbed following its service life. The way it was described is as a garden ornament, almost impossible to believe it could fly again. The actual display was spirited and agile, which was a small surprise given we were told it was unable to perform anything close to aerobatics – something which the old Army Lynx displays were famous for! Loops and rolls were commonplace for the Lynx, and so it was great to see this civilian flown example channeling the spirit of those bygone displays – what a treat it was to see one again in a full display.

Closing the main display was the British Army with their Red Devils Parachute Display Team. They flew in at 3000ft for their drop, diving out the back of a Cessna Caravan. The drop was far lower than they would normally perform at events, owing to restrictions imposed on them by the proximity to Stanstead or Luton Airport. The drop was full of red smoke and colour though, with yet more flags on show, the Union Flag, as well as the Shuttleworth Collection flag – it was certainly a day for any Vexillologists out there! Following their drop, they lined up for their salute, and this was taken in the company of Swordfish veteran David Barry who had made his way down to greet them alongside family and friends. 

As always with Shuttleworth, the flying display does not conclude without at least an attempt to get the Edwardians involved, and the Season Premiere was no different. The light winds meant it was just safe enough to fly the Bristol Boxkite and Avro Triplane, however the fragility of the other aircraft kept them firmly on the ground. The two larger types flew two displays, allowing two pilots in each aircraft to show off their piloting skills. A further treat came from the eccentric little English Electric Wren taking a short hop for us after a couple of failed attempts due to the damp ground. With all of the magnificent machines back on the ground, the flying display was at an end, and with the sun still beaming warmly on our backs, it felt like a classic Shuttleworth day. Special mention to the SVAS volunteers who spent much of the day running end-to-end of the airfield to recover various aircraft due to the soggy ground - great job to all invovled that side of the fence!