WWII Airshows

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#1

I thought someone might be interested in knowing about 2 really great airshows I attend each year that concentrate their efforts on WWII. I’m certain there are more than just 2 around the country each year, but these are 2 great ones I know about.

Each year Reading, PA puts on a GREAT WWII weekend. This is probably the greatest event centering on WWII each year. There is much MUCH more than just an airshow going on, and they always have GREAT speakers and the like to offer. The website for info on it is http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html.

The other really great airshow to attend is Thunder Over Michigan very near to Detroit. This year they had (GET THIS) 8 B-17’s at the airhow, all of which flew together at the end of the day for quite some time. The really great thing about this airshow is that there is no timetable they follow. The planes fly at random throughout the day, and you get to sit less than 70 feet away from where they all taxi by, and get to be very close to them as they start up and return. It is a small airshow by airshow standards, but it is nice because there are no loud announcers and uninterested people. You have a lot of room to wander and see the airplanes, a lot of time to talk to the people who fly them, and - best of all- no noise so you can HEAR them! Their website is http://www.yankeeairmuseum.org/airshow/. They also have symposiums each year that are FANTASTIC! This year they offered 5 gentlemen speaking, one of which was Alexander Jefferson who flew with the Red Tails (Tuskeegee Airmen).

#2

Interesting stuff! What month(s) do these airshows occur in? :? And wow 8 B-17 :shock: Yessssssssss :smiley:

#3

I remember many years ago being at Duxford in the UK when they had 6 B-17’s that were filming Memphis Belle tooling around, very impressive that was, and they went into formation, did the ones there do that?

#4

The airshow in Pennsylvania occurs in June, and the airshow in Michigan occurrs in August. They flew in a formation as best as they could. The pilots have to have a special rating to be able to fly in formation, and not all of the pilots had it. They flew quite close together though. All of the B-17’s that were at this show were from the US. They talked about more that still flew in the UK. It would have been especially neat if they had been there too! We are definitely going back next year. They always have some sort of special “attraction” like that. They also had 4 P-51’s, 2 P-47’s, 2 B-24’s, and 4 B-25’s among other WWII aircraft.

#5

There was an airshow at Ellington Field here in Texas this weekend. They always have WWII airplanes flying and WWII reenactors there. I go every year usually.

#6

Further to Firefly’s post - I heartily recommend anyone visiting the UK at the same time as one of Duxford’s airshows, to visit. WELL worth it.

Hell, if you’re passing on a non-show day, still pay a visit to the IWM Duxford. Top museum. There’s even the American Air Museum to make our American cousins feel right at home.

#7

As Firefly & Festamus say, Duxford is well worth a visit.
It’s a part of the Imperial War Museum but also has privately owned planes/projects there too.

On just about any weekend in the summer you’ll see some of the birds take off or land as they return from a show somewhere.

#8

Duxford has some amazing terrain and rolling hills. Man, to see hundreds of Spitfires buzzing around back in the 1940s…bliss.

#9

In 98 they had sixteen Spits in formation which was impressive, there’s a video of it here:
http://www.sendit.com/video/item/7000000048082

US readers NB - This is in PAL format, you need to check if your VCR will allow playback in NTSC.

I’ve not checked but the DVD may be available here: http://films.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/cpc_149201_gs_15483479_category.html

And if you’ve a couple of bucks you don’t know what to do with, try this link…
http://europeanhistory.about.com/b/a/068743.htm
:smiley: