Is that a Sombrero?!

We were back at the Shuttleworth Trust a couple of weekends ago for their "Festival of Flight" show. Some of my little group went both days, but it was also MrEH's birthday weekend so I opted to attend just on the Sunday - which was an excellent choice as the temperature was a LOT cooler thank goodness - those who were there the day before said it was really quite unpleasantly warm! The show days are structured into two parts with the main flying during the afternoon, then a shorter evening display after a 90 minute break, thus getting the "golden hour" light. 

As always the Trust get together a cracking mix of aircraft - choosing from both their own collection and many wonderful visitors too - it's always hard to know what to peg as the highlights and sometimes it can be the most unlikely things too! I think most people would probably include the beautiful Avro Anson Mk 1 at the top though - it flew alongside Shuttleworth's own Anson (a Mk 19) and then did a beautiful solo display too - ticking all the boxes for almost being worth the ticket money on its own!

The Flying Bulls aircraft are fairly rarely seen in the UK and so always create a bit of a buzz when a show books them - this time was no exception with them bringing over their DC3, P-38 (pictured above), B-25, P-51 and Corsair. Originally planned to be hosted at Shuttleworth itself for the weekend as I understand it, they ended up staying at Duxford instead (they were also booked for their summer airshow the following weekend) possibly because there were simply so many visiting aircraft at the Bedfordshire venue they ran out of space?! Their P-51 flying with the DeHavilland DH88 Comet was quite spectacular - two utterly beautiful aircraft, both of which are a joy to see fly, and truly special to see in formation.

Invariably mixed in with the serious stuff we are presented with a bit of lighthearted fun too - the "Barnstorming" is a favourite and not something you see in too many places, but this year's "World Cup formation" made up of an American,  Canadian and  Mexican aircraft got the crowd alternately laughing at the awful jokes being made and enjoying seeing a couple of aircraft types not frequently seen. The pilot of the Mexican Cap 10 - Stu Goldspink - got fully into the spirit of it too - look...

Somehow that stayed in place right through his display too!

A more mainstream - but none the less popular for that - attendee was the RAF Typhoon Display team - sadly just a #BoringGreyJet this year but it did at least display in the evening slot and during possibly the best light of the day. The timing on the display also served to start to thin the crowd out a bit with a fair few folk heading away straight afterwards, helping to avoid problems with getting out. It's always good when a venue plans like this and it is something that Shuttleworth are really very good at. Indeed, other venues not all that far away would do well to take notes!

Bristol Blenheim

All in all an excellent day with good pals, some great flying and very nice weather indeed. I chose to shoot with the Canon R5 borrowed from my pal Tim - and it confirmed my suspicion that Shuttleworth is just perfect for a full-frame camera. Indeed I have now taken the plunge and ordered a full-frame mirrorless camera of my own in the shape of Canon's fairly new R6 Mk3. It will be the single most expensive camera I have ever owned, so here's hoping it is the right choice for me!

Robyn