Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show

Easily the best show I have been to in some while. Admittedly it has been difficult to get to a decent sized air show for a couple of years but there was a nice selection of aircraft on display, including some classic helicopters, the Army Historic Flight, WWI selection and many Duxford regulars. The weather was grand and my good friend Gaz was there too. Additionally we had stopped over the previous night so got together with Gaz for a meal and a post Covid catch up and this gave us a relaxed start to show day as we were not far away.

All in all a 'grand day out'!

Capel Le Ferne

Capel Le Ferne, just outside of Folkestone, is home to the Battle of Britain memorial. It is only around 30 minutes from me so I have been a few times over the years and even seen it from the air when we flew in a helicopter alongside a Spitfire a few years ago. It's a great replace that remembers 'the few' and the visitor centre is worth a look. The upstairs cafe has a balcony that overlooks the site.

Here are some pictures from different visits - the Spitfire and Hurricane are of course replicas and the Stuka a full size sculpture.

Chester Cathedral Memorials

Chester Cathedral is a grade 1 listed building and construction dates from 1093 to the early 1500s. It has been the seat of the Bishop of Chester since 1541. As is the case with many churches and cathedrals it has space dedicated to the armed forces connected with the local area. These memorials relate to the RAF.

Duxford drop in

On the way home from a couple of days away and it seemed rude not to pop in to Duxford as I was kind of passing by. After all, there is always something to see.

Midland Air Museum

So today we headed over to Coventry, or Baginton to be more precise, for a visit to the Midland Air Museum which is on the edge of an industrial estate next to the airfield. There is quite a large collection of aircraft, most of which are situated outside although  a few rarer older aircraft are inside a display building along with a number of artefacts and historical displays.

If, like me, you time it OK you can have a tour of the Vulcan cockpit and the staff seem quite prepared to go out of their way to give you a closer look at some of the aircraft. We found them very friendly and approachable. Certainly a museum worthy of a visit.