Anyone been to the "Flying Legends" at IWM Duxford recently?

[John Cecilia]

Looking for information about attending this European Warbird air show. In particular, any tips on lodging, dealing with crowds, whether to buy tickets in advance, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

John Cecilia

[Jeff Boatright]

Hi John,

I don't have anything useful to say on your specific requests, but I will say that no matter the crowds or other logistic challenges, Duxford itself is fantastic and one of the highlights of my travel experiences. I am envious! If you can manage it, spend time within the museum hangars themselves. I could've spent days there rather than the hours that I had available.

Jeff

[Mayhemxpc]

Ditto on Duxford. I was not there during an airshow either, but I counted sixteen airworthy Spitfires on station, with regular flight activity at the airport. This activity included a Dehaviland Dragon, a B-17, a P-51 and a sampling of ex-RAF trainers. All-day is a must even without an airshow. Yes, you could stay inside the hangars all day long…but there is so much outside to see, too. There are some nearby hotels. I stayed in a Holiday in Express near the train station, which was nice. They had a meal arrangement with the B&B next-door. Most of the lodging, however, is likely to be in Cambridge. There is bus service from Cambridge to IWM Duxford.

Watch the movie, "The Battle of Britain" (again) before you go. Much of the movie was filmed on Duxford. (They even blew up one of the WW2 era buildings in making the movie.)

[Bill Greenwood]

Duxford is cool, as a matter of fact it can be really cold. I left Colorado and it was colder at Duxford than here. It is an Island in the North Atlantic and can feel like it, the wind can go right through you.
I would stay in Cambridge, a fine old town. It is likely expensive, but the Duxford Lodge Hotel is next to the airfield, is a historic place,and has a nice restaurant. A friend arranged for us to have lunch there with Alex Henshaw, and Alex even bought lunch as a Spitfire and a Mustang flew over.
Unless you smoke, you might want to make sure the any hotel is really non smoking. The last time I was there, England was still in the 1950 s as to smoking. Even if the hotel room is non smoking,, the lobby and bar were not.It may be better now.
I would try to have a whole day other than the airshow to look around and then the show day. Entrance traffic to the show can be bad, go early say 8 am. I would buy a pit pass if they are for sale, otherwise unlike Oshkosh, they keep the great unwashed massed separate from the planes.
Food is not what the Brits are famous for, but many pubs have at least acceptable fish and chips. Restaurant at the airport is about a C, but the bookstore there is good.
You may be able to buy fligth in a Tiger Moth or Rapide or something cool.
My info might be a little dated, but them the Brits aren't known for rapid change of their ways if ever.

[John Cecilia]

Everyone, thanks! All good ideas and suggestions.

Turns out we have some remote connections to some people who live in Cambridge, who are helping out. Can't wait to see the new/old Spit talked about on his forum!

[champ driver]

John, look at this web site which has lots of beautiful photos around Duxford, maybe it will help you get a feel for the place and the planes there.
It's called Plane Talk and look at the index page under "Aviation Banter" and "Airshow Photo Threads", there you'll find some extremely good photos of the field and the planes there.

http://forum.planetalk.net/index.php...6a02af69fd026d

Here's the latest photo thread with the Spitfire,
http://forum.planetalk.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11344