Here we go again...!

The "Suffolk Spitfire"

 The 2024 Airshow season started for me over the weekend with a lovely afternoon at IWM Duxford, and some new-to-me aircraft to photograph. It's always great when show organisers make a real effort to get "different" stuff displaying - and hats off to Duxford, they do a good job here. This was their first "Flying day" of the season - a shorter than full airshow programme with just 2 - 3 hours of flying, but they packed plenty in. Members also get free admission to these which is a nice bonus - and is definitely something which guarantees I will renew my membership each year. 

I was probably most excited about seeing the lovely "Suffolk Spitfire" - pictured above, this beauty is unusually seen in a US Air Force scheme and in usual US fashion flies bearing a name and nose-art - "Porky II" in this case - although she also bears a more normal-for-the-UK designation of RW382 as well. I'd seen her on the ground before but not flying so this was a really nice treat. 

Also out to play was a Hawker Sea Fury that I don't believe I've seen before - indeed I have a feeling this a newly restored to airworthiness aircraft. As you can see we had an utterly glorious day for photographing aircraft - and my combination of mirrorless camera with it's new lens was a real joy to use coping well with all the changes in light that occurred during the afternoon...

Hawker Sea Fury

I like the Fury/Sea Fury - in the UK it "just" has WWII heritage, and indeed it has the distinction of being the final propeller driven fighter to see action with the Royal Navy. Because it was developed during the war years you can really see the influence of other aircraft from outside the Hawker "stable" with the streamlined shape being more reminiscent of a Spitfire than a Hurricane. 

Hawker Nimrod

My records suggest that I'd not photographed the Nimrod before, either - another Naval aircraft, and from an earlier time period as this one predates WWII by quite a few years. Compared with the sleek Fury it's a whole world apart, isn't it! Indeed, this one never quite even made it to the beginning of WWII, being replaced by the Gladiator before the conflict began. 

There were a couple more "new to me" aircraft at the show as well - but I haven't yet got to the photos of those, and will be processing those through the week no doubt, aiming to get them completed ahead of show No 2 next weekend at Shuttleworth. Here's hoping it's another lovely sunny day!