Duxford Autumn Airshow 2003, IWM Duxford - 12th October

It's mid October already and it's the last airshow of the season at Duxford and the UK as a whole. So it's one last blast before the aircraft are hangered for the winter and we can all sit back and look back at the season. Duxford's Autumn show took "Aircraft at the Movies" as it's main theme for 2003. This once again drew critism from some for being just another theme to suit the same old Duxford based aircraft, but is this really a bad thing? After all, it gives the commentators something else to talk about as well as highlighting an important part of the airshow business. Back to the show itself, the weather while sunny was very windy so we must commend all the pilots for flying to the schedule as well as showing some great airmanship in keeping their displays infront of the crowd. Most of the aircraft display had played a part in at least one movie or TV appearance in their career. Perhaps the most famous of all was the Breitling Fighters Spitfire LFIXb MH434. Sadly, this would be the last time we would see the Breitling Fighters display as the sponsorship came to an end at the show. Also, the P-40E Kittyhawk is departing off to New Zealand after difficulties with the CAA. Joining it will be the FG-1D Corsair, although it is thought that will return after Wanaka in March. Much less certain is the future of the stunning Lavochkin La-9 which is rumoured to be returning to New Zealand for good along with the P-40. We also said goodbye to Tom Moloney and his always impressive BAC Strikemaster display. Tom is hanging up his display boots after several succesful seasons to concentrate on running the Transair Pilot Shops. We wish him good luck and thanks for the memories. As well as Duxford residents the show did bring together a number of other aircraft including the Gypsy Moth from "Out of Africa" and a return by Air Atlantique's DC-3

Overall, it was another solid show; very good when you consider it was the last show of the year and many aircraft had already been hangered for the winter months and are undergoing servicing. We're already looking forward to 2004!

 copyright Flightline UK 2003