Page 36 - World Airshow News Q3 2024

...SYWELL SAtISFACtION.

The meat of the program, however, centered on the thirty- showed their mercy by blessing Sywell with warm temperatures
plus vintage and warbird aircraft present – Mustangs, Spitfires, and white puffy cloud-infused blue skies all weekend. Almost as
Hurricanes, and Corsairs, plus other fighters and multi-engine if on cue, during the fabled “Golden-Hour” late Sunday after-
bombers, both Axis and Allied. The aircraft came courtesy of The noon, the clouds parted directly over the aerodrome for a special
Fighter Collection, Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, the Flying Bulls, performance by the RAF Red Arrows 60th Anniversary tour to
Fighter Aviation Engineering, Thomas Castle Heritage Collec- close out the show. It was a fitting salute to everyone who went
tion, and numerous private owners from across the UK and Eu- above and beyond to make the 2024 show happen.
ropean continent. Every participant had a story to tell, and for We certainly hope that the show was a viable success in the
four solid hours Saturday and Sunday, virtually non-stop action eyes of the hosts. Steady and enthusiastic crowds, good food, re-
told those stories and ruled the skies over Northamptonshire. enactors, vintage race vehicles, static aircraft displays, and ample
One feature that made the event enjoyable was having sever- amenities were evident all around. With a few tweaks here and
al of the show pilots joining the announcers on the microphone there, the Sywell event could quickly become among the pre-
over the course of the day, giving first-hand narrative of what it is mier vintage experiences on the far-side of the pond – certainly
like to sit in the cockpit of these rare aircraft. It added a personal worthy of a return trip, and highly recommended for all of our
touch to what was going on, spread out in front of the crowd. North American readers. All-in-all, it was a thoroughly satisfy-
After a miserably wet and dreary spring, the airshow gods ing experience.

Three of the four Mustangs
present at the show,
“Jersey Jerk” (lead), “Miss
Helen” (bottom), and
“Nooky Booky IV” (top) as
part of the salute to the
U.S. Eighth Air Force.

A Rolls Royce Symphony!
One of the highlights of the
Sywell 2024 show was a
daily formation and tail-
chase of nine Supermarine
Spitfires.

www.airshowmag.com 36 Quarter 3, 2024