I would like to devote this editorial to the wonderful weekend I spent at the Flying Legends airshow at the Imperial War Museum Duxford on July 9 and 10. I must mention the incident at the end of the show on Sunday, of course, but only to say what a huge relief it was to see Rob Davies, beneath his parachute canopy, and the Skyraider land back on the airfield. All of us here at Aeroplane pass on our very best and sincere wishes to all those involved in any way. Others better qualified than I report on the circumstances in this month’s News.

A trio of Hispano HA-1112-M1L Buchóns was one of numerous highlights during Flying Legends at IWMDuxford over the weekend of July 9–10. Credit: Gary R. Brown

I spent much time at the event catching up with many friends from far and wide; from New Zealand to the USA in fact. Some of them I have not seen since Duxford airshows last year, and some for even longer. That is what is so great about events like Flying Legends. We all congregate to see the wonderful historic aircraft and to watch them flying, but a huge social aspect envelops such occasions too. I also met a number of people connected with Aeroplane whom I had not previously known, which added further to my enjoyment of the weekend.

As for the variety of aircraft and flying, what can I say? Just a few of the highlights for me were seeing the four Hawker biplanes in the air together, the three Hispano Buchóns, three Curtiss P-40s, a Lockheed P-38 Lighting and the welcome return of the Fairey Swordfish to the airshow circuit. It all combined to make it one of my best Legends for some years, and, listening to what others had to say, I was not alone in that opinion. There are several months of the UK airshow season left and I plan to make the most of them, and hopefully meet even more Aeroplane readers, advertisers and contributors along the way. Blue skies!

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