Shackleton MR.3/Phase 3 XF708 was delivered new to No.203 Squadron at RAF Ballykelly on 6 February 1967 and served with this unit from RAF Luqa until her retirement. XF708 was flown to IWM Duxford on 22 August 1972.
F-AZZU taking-off to join the Flying Legends 2009 Balbo. The B-25 came to grief on 31st May 2011, in a forced landing in a field close to her base at Melun-Villaroche after the starboard engine caught fire.
Seen here on the Duxford turf a month before ‘Grumpy’ would cross the Atlantic on 29 August 2009, bound for Seattle, Washington State. She represents Mitchell III HD372 ‘VO-B', No.98 Squadron as based at RAF Dunsfold.
‘Liberty Belle’ will grace the skies once again. Work on the B-17 is underway at Asheville, North Carolina, as well as at the Brooks Aviation Center in Douglas, Georgia. True s/n is 44-85734.
The two Belles over Duxford, with ‘Liberty Belle’ leading ‘Memphis Belle’, B-17G 44-85784, G-BEDF. Both aircraft were built by Lockheed Vega at Burbank, California. True s/n is 44-85734.
A proud Belle on the Duxford platform, three years before she came to grief in a cornfield near Aurora Municipal Airport, Illinois, on 13 June 2011. She is currently under rebuild at the Brooks Aviation Center, Douglas, Georgia. True s/n is 44-85734.
IWM’s B-52D entered service with the 28th BW at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, in October 1957. She made more than 200 bombing missions during the Vietnam conflict. On 8 October 1983, a 7th BW crew flew the B-52 to Duxford.
V7497 was attacked by Bf 109s over Deal on 28 September, 1940. P/O Everett Bryan Rogers, 501 Squadron, RAF Kenley, bailed out unhurt. The Hurricane came down near East Sutton in Kent. G-HRLI took to the air again on 30 August 2018.
In the late fifties, WK991 was in use with 56 Squadron, flying the Hunter F.6 at RAF Wattisham, as a hack aircraft, first coded ‘V’ and later ‘A’. The F.8 is seen here, uncoded, in 56 Squadron markings.
Originally built by the Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco) at Hendon, E8894 was restored to flying condition by Retrotech and Aero Vintage Ltd and made her first post-restoration flight on 13 May 2019 in the hands of Shuttleworth pilot Roger Bailey.
Stewart Dawson taking off in the Comanche Mk.Ia to join the Balbo finale of Flying Legends 2013. On the previous day, he had to return early as the cooling of the Merlin 35 became a concern. Originally this 54 Squadron Mk.Ia had a Merlin III.
G-RJAH, seen here during the Duxford Air Show 2011, has since been reregistered as G-DINS, before becoming G-LIIZ in August 2020. The aircraft was delivered to the USAAC in 1942 as 42-15852.
XX307 taxiing to Duxford's main platform, acting as a spare for F/L Phil Bird's Solo Display Hawk (XX278). Just over a month later XX307 was flown to RAF Shawbury for storage.
P-51C-10-NT 43-25147 in the markings of Lt. William Whisner's P-51B-10-NA 42-106449, 487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group in May 1944, based at USAAF Station 141 at Bodney in Norfolk.
Lt William T. Whisner scored 10.5 victories in P-51D 44-14237 in his second tour with the 352nd FG at RAF Bodney. On 21 November 1944 he downed five Fw 190’s, with another four Luftwaffe aircraft on 5 January 1945.
LZ766 was built in 1944 at Trafford Park, Manchester, by F. Hills & Sons and test flown at Barton. In 1949 the Proctor became G-ALCK. After some years with the Air Training Corps at Tamworth, the machine became part of the Skyfame Collection.
54-2165 represents an F-100D as flown by the 'Yellow Jackets', 352th TFS, 35th TFW, from Phan Rang AB in South Vietnam between 1966 and 1971. This aircraft was delivered new to the French Armée de l'Air in 1958 and never saw active USAF-service.
Delivered to the French Armée de l'Air in 1958, the aircraft served with EC-1/3 (coded '3-IG') and EC-2/11 (as '11-MB' and '11-ML') before being returned to the USAF at Sculthorpe in November 1975. On 17 May 1976, the aircraft came to Duxford.
This Grasshopper (USAAF 43-29854) is in the colours of the 381st Bomb Group operating B-17s out of Ridgewell, Essex, from May 1943 to June 1945. The emblem on the nose is that of the Group's 533rd Bomb Squadron. Little Rock-ette is based at Biggin Hill.
The fin flash colours of 'The Chief' represent those of the 55th (blue), the 77th (red) and 79th (Tactical) Fighter Squadrons of the 20th (Tactical) Fighter Wing. On 1 October 1991, the Upper Heyford-based wing was redesignated 20th Fighter Wing.
MV293 with its 36.7 litre RR Griffon 65 being prepared for the 2011 display season in the TFC hangar. The Spitfire is now based at Sywell aerodrome with Anglia Aircraft Restorations Ltd., still in her J.E. 'Johnnie' Johnson colours, with serial MV268.
P-47D 42-74742 of the 84th FS was assigned to Capt. Julius P. Maxwell. He named her 'War Eagle'. When re-assigned to Lt. Severino B. Calderon, the name 'Snafu' was added. The P-47 was written-off after a belly landing at Duxford on 15 December 1944.
The Comanche Fighters' Mustang seen here in the colours of P-51D-5-NA 44-13382 'February' of the 307th, FS/31st FG of the 15th AF as flown by Lt James L. 'Jim' Brooks. He was credited with 13½ air victories with 2 more probables.
This F.2b Fighter was constructed by the British & Colonial Aeroplane Co. Ltd. and became part of the IWM collection in December 1922. E2581 is in the colours of No.39 (Home Defence) Squadron as based at North Weald aerodrome in 1918.