After a couple of years absence, the flagship airshow at the Shuttleworth Collection returned. The event celebrates the rich and diverse history of naval aviation and specifically, albeit not exclusively, the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. The event was joint led by Navy Wings, the charity behind the continued support and remembrance of the history of the Royal Navy. Held on a grey July day, the event was penned to be the jewel in the crown, the icing on the cake of a packed year of airshows at Old Warden in Bedfordshire. Leading the display was, of course, the Navy Wings Supermarine Seafire, but the types on show ranged from First World War biplanes and gliders to the late WW2 aggressive American carrier fighters, through to Naval helicopters which served with the Royal Navy up until only a few years ago – the Edwardians even got an outing.
On an early 9:30am arrival, there was already plenty of action on the ground as aircraft from the collection were wheeled out and parked on the grass strip for the show which began at 2pm. There were air tests from the Collection’s Hawker Sea Hurricane and Gloster Gladiator (which later went tech and didn’t fly in the main airshow), as well as plenty of arrivals from across the country. The most exciting of the morning was the pair of Historic Helicopters from Chard, as well as the four Gazelles from their base in Hampshire. Other types out on the flightline was the Collection’s Tiger Moth, Supermarine Spitfire and Avro Anson – recently acquired from Bae Systems in a donation which saw the type join the Collection as a permanent resident at Old Warden. One of the highlights of the static display was the debut appearance by the Maurice Farman Longhorn. The behemoth of wood and string broke cover for the first time at Fly Navy, designed in 1913 as a recon and training aircraft, this airframe is the only Longhorn on its way to airworthiness and will be the only flying type in the world when it does eventually fly.
The flying display began at 2pm as per usual for the Shuttleworth Airshows, kicking off with one of the best displays ive seen in 2022, and something new for this year – The Gazelle Squadron with four of their Aerospatiale Gazelles. The four ship was making only its second flying display appearance following its debut earlier in the year. The team brought a mix of types, including a recent QinetiQ machine formerly based at MOD Boscombe Down. The display featured some sedate flypasts, mixing with some dynamic crowd-centre breaks, crossovers and climb and peddle turns. The 15-minute display brought something new to the UK airshow scene, rekindling “The Sharks” display team of old, which also used the Gazelles operated by the Royal Navy in the 1980s and 1990s. The “Whistling Chicken leg” really did take centre stage and was the perfect opening act for a jammed-packed afternoon of flying.
Back on more familiar ground for a Shuttleworth Airshow came the following display, this seeing the Collection’s Hawker Sea Hurricane MK.I and Supermarine Spitfire MK.Vc joined by the Navy Wings Supermarine Seafire 17 for a few formations before the aircraft broke for some individual passes and manoeuvres. The Seafire was flown by the experienced Chris Gotke, and he led the aircraft through some fantastic topsides and low passes round the infamous Shuttleworth bend. It was a moody sky and rain was ever threatening, but the Seafire was one of the stars of the show. Glider participants were in attendance with the very sleek, glamorous looking EoN Olympia glider, as well as the EoN Primary later in the day – towed high above the crowds before they were released to gently cascade back to terra firma.
As well as British Naval types, the show featured a plethora of American types. Two of those came in the form of the Kennet Aviation Boeing Stearman alongside its stablemate in the North American T-6G Harvard and joined by the Navy Wings T-6 as well, carrying its particularly loud corporate colours. The three American trainer types came through with the triple radial roar before giving the crowd some topsides and various passes together both in formation and separately. More trainer types came from the Shuttleworth Collection with their de Havilland Tiger Moth, de Havilland Chipmunk, Avro Tutor, and Miles Magister. The British trainer formation was a short and sweet affair with a handful of passes for the sedate aircraft, before a quick break to land. Whilst not as glamorous as the Seafire and Spitfire earlier, the types were great to see as part of both the show, but also this celebration of everything Navy.
The second of the visiting helicopter displays were firing up down the far end of the airfield, with the hulking cab of the Westland Seaking alongside the Westland Wessex lifting off to begin a rare pairs display. Seeing a Seaking back in the air again was a treat in itself, let alone being joined by the Wessex HAR.5 with its vibrant orange and grey scheme. Whilst the Seaking was put through a slightly more spritely routine, the Wessex kept it a bit calmer as it gave a few passes for the crowds, with the Seaking holding elsewhere before it ran in for a few passes on its own. The grey and ever-darkening skies didn’t lend themselves particularly well to the Sea King in its commando green scheme for photos, the Wessex was certainly the easier of the two, as I’m sure photographers will agree. After a 15-minute routine, the two large helicopters departed off back home to Chard, beating a heavy shower which soon descended on Old Warden.
A Shuttleworth classic and another Westland design was in the air for a short solo in the form of the Westland Lysander. A type often seen at any Shuttleworth show, but often sent up when the worst of the light tends to roll in, purely by chance of course – Fly Navy was no different, with the frankly hideous light due to the worsening weather making the Lysander look like a shadow as it gave a very photogenic routine (had it been slightly more light friendly!). Another solo from the Collection came in the form of the newly acquired Avro Anson, with the sleek aircraft giving the crowds what was once a rare chance to see this type in action – now something much more accessible with it now under ownership of the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden. It was a remarkably agile display with the aircraft being piloted expertly as it was, and for many a nice treat, with the Anson being a previously rare aircraft at a UK airshow in recent years.
WW1 types were, of course, represented well being a Shuttleworth show, with the Collection’s Sopwith Pup and Triplane in the air for some calm solo displays, with the nostalgic whine of the rotary engines hauling them across the skies. An aircraft I have long wanted to see was the Bristol Scout owned by David Bremmer – finally at Fly Navy I got to enjoy his unique display in full flow, with a handheld prop machine gun and a trailing scarf for added effect. It is an aircraft with a fascinating history, in the main due to his grandfather flying the type himself. I highly recommend his book “Bristol Scout 1264” to learn the full story behind this rare airframe. Another biplane type I was longing to see up close was that of the Hawker Nimrod from The Fighter Collection, and it was great to see flying in an unfortunate solo slot, both because it was meant to fly with its contemporary; the Gloster Gladiator from the Shuttleworth Collection, but also as it was hosing it down still during that segment of the show afternoon. However, undeterred, both me standing in the downpour whilst others took shelter in their cars, and the pilot, up it went and put through it paces, albeit very damp ones. The only participation from the RAF came in the form of a solo flypast from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – this originally was meant to be their Hawker Hurricane, but due to circumstances was instead their Supermarine Spitfire MK.Vb which was doing the rounds at other events in the South of England that day. It came through for what was thought to be one pass, but instead gave us four flypasts before it departed back towards RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
The third and final of the helicopter formations came in the shape of the unusual Westland Wasp HAS.1. The Falklands era helicopter was meant to be a unique four ship, but one of them, Terry Martin’s well-known machine, decided it didn’t like its oil very much on the morning of the show. The trio still put on a unique display sequence which, through the rain, was surprisingly good for what looks like such an ungainly aircraft, with those shopping trolley-akin undercarriage oleos. Made infamous for its part during the Falklands conflict and its assistance in terminally damaging the Argentinian submarine the ‘Santa Fe,’ it was great to see three of this type together in a flying programme for the first time in many years.
As the show grew to its climax, and following the worst of the weather passing through, the Consolidated PBY5A Catalina from Duxford came through for a surprise pass down the runway before beginning a (thankfully) full display, following an issue at the season premiere earlier in the year. As displays go, for an aircraft as large as the Catalina, she was put through her paces as always, with some low passes and a couple of lovely topsides. Shuttleworth has a way of bringing the best of most warbird displays, and the “heavies” are no different. The post-rain light meant the Catalina illuminated against the black skies which were retreating into the distance – something special for the many photographers.
Firing up on the grass were a pair of what were billed as a three-ship and the finale of the main flying display, with two at Old Warden, and the third en-route from Duxford. On the runway was the Grumman FM2 Wildcat and Goodyear FG-1D Corsair from The Fighter Collection, ready to depart and meet their stablemate, with the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, as well as the Navy Wings Seafire also taxiing to depart. Once the five-ship had taxied and departed, with the British types holding, we were told one of the American warbirds had gone tech once in the air, so unfortunately, we lost the Wildcat, but from Duxford, the Grumman F8F-2P Bearcat joined us, also from the legendary Fighter Collection. The Corsair and Bearcat gave us a joint flypast before breaking off for some solo routines which, whilst demonstrating the immense power these two rare, late and post war aircraft have, didn’t really make the most of the venue, with neither giving the crowds many opportunities to see the topside and were vertical more often than not, which left a slight sour taste for the now very damp photographers who had waited all afternoon for that opportunity (perhaps a lesson could be taken from John Romain!) - however it should be said it was great that they landed on at Old Warden, something they don't do often, and in reality the displays were still fantastic to see. The Bearcat was handled more like a modern aerobatic aircraft at times, highlighting the compact but incredibly powerful nature of the type, with the unique gull-wing design of the Corsair being highlighted as this most iconic of American Naval fighter was put through its paces. Once the solos had finished, the two fighters re-joined the British types for one final flypast to close the main show.
As always, Shuttleworth doesn’t end with that, and some of the crowd patiently awaited the announcement on whether we would get to see any of the Edwardians, which given the weather did not seem likely. A few minutes later we got our answer when the Avro Triplane spluttered into life on the far side of the airfield and was sent trundling down the runway and into the skies. The winds have to be almost non-existent for these fragile aircraft to fly, and indeed, only the Triplane was allowed to fly, but it was a perfect way to end what had been a wet, but delightful Shuttleworth Fly Navy Airshow.
Shuttleworth have done it again, with another top-notch air display with some of the premiere flying displays from the civilian circuit in attendance, at one of the highlights of the vintage airshow events of 2022. Fly Navy was a huge success and will live long in the memory as one of the finest days out you can have, with what must be considered for best Airshow of 2022. Whilst there was bound to be some technical hitches with such a vast cast of aircraft, the show went off without a fault – besides the ever-temperamental weather (of course we all saw that the UK had a heatwave for subsequent weeks afterwards, typical!). The only negative was that there was an element of being short changed with The Fighter Collection displays which really didn’t feel like the aircraft were displayed in a way which took full advantage of the unique flying display layout on offer at Old Warden, considering their hype and attraction. However, that is all the reason to return next year, if and when Shuttleworth announce the 2023 Fly Navy show. Few airshows can enthral and keep spectators from start to finish in the way Fly Navy did in 2022, and we certainly hope to be there in 2023 and once again, Fly Navy.
Words and Photos by Matt Silvaire and Chris Gurney.
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