Battle of Britain Air Show

I grew up going to air shows as a kid with my dad and my brother, who both really enjoy flying.  I hadn't been to one in a while though before last month when we attended the 70th Annual Battle of Britain Air Show at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, which is about 30 minutes from our house.  The air show was extra special because my dad was in town so we actually got to go with him.

Historic aircraft flying at the Battle of Britain: A Lancaster flanked by a Spitfire and a Hurricane

Yummy lunch at the air show

Tens of thousands of people attended the event, which made traffic a nightmare.  In fact, there was a 9-mile long queue the first day, which we waited in for almost 2 hours before giving up and returning home.  (It was a good thing we did too because news articles later that day said the event had reached capacity!)  The next day, we tried again, this time leaving a lot earlier and we were finally able to make it into the event. 

The show commemorates the flight battle that was a strategic turning point in World War II.  It featured historic aircraft and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows, which is an acrobatic flight team similar to the Blue Angels in the United States.  The Red Arrows started the show with an amazing flight routine, and then a fighter jet did its own display before the historic aircraft came out for their turns. 

The Red Arrows

A Belgian F16 puts on its brakes

Before and after the show, we also toured more of the Imperial War Museum that has an actual Concorde you can walk in plus an entire hangar devoted to American aircraft.  My dad and Brian enjoyed getting out the big cameras to get cool pictures, and they put me on video camera duty for the day.  It definitely wasn't the best weather for an air show, but we enjoyed it nonetheless and were happy that we finally got in the second day! 

Camera duty as we entered the Concorde!  =)