Abingdon Airshow

Some of my coworkers gave us a gift of tickets for the Abingdon Airshow.
I work with some great people!

No Goose, that is not Maverick with the candy floss.

There were only a few static display aircraft but I did not
recognize most of them. Like the Duxford airshow, the planes
were parked behind ropes so I could not get an up-close view.

After walking through all of the vendor tents, we carried all of Matthew's souvenirs toward the flight line to watch the flying displays.  We were highly favored to find a nice spot at show center!

The show opened with a 19 year old former air cadet performing
in an 80 horse power home built. Graceful; he did very well!

The young man decided at 15 years old that he wanted to do this.

The RV8tors RV8 homebuilts reminded me of EAA Oshkosh.

A few of their maneuvers made the crowd gasp. 

A Gnat.

A beautifully restored P-51 Mustang.

The RAF budget must be tight as this TriStar only made one dirty pass.
This aircraft was purchased from Pan Am when they collapsed in 1991.

The announcer called this plane a Harvard, but I know it as a T-6 Texan.

The announcer called this T-28 a Fennec.
I learned that the French used this upgraded T-28 as an attack aircraft.
When I arrived at primary flight training, the T-28 was still in use.
I flew the brand new T-34C instead.

This near-original Hurricane flew in the Battle of Britain and
recorded many kills. This plane was introduced in the mid-1930's
and was the real workhorse of WW-II but was over shadowed
by the more modern high performance Spitfires and Mustangs.

This Lancaster bomber is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise.
I would not want to be on the receiving end of this bomb load.

One of only a few Lancasters that are still flying.

The Brits call this C-47 a Dakota. I know it as the Skytrain.
You may see a DC-3; the civilian designation.

This Jet Provost was small, fast, and hard to see against the clouds.

These ladies started the show strapped to the post on the top wing.
Here they are sitting on the leading edge...

...and later they are standing behind the trailing edge!

This Lynx helicopter was the last act. We started walking away.
How impressive can  a helo be?

How wrong can I be? This little helicopter did loops and even back flips starting from a hover!!

The queue to exit the car park was long so we didn't hurry to the car.
Matthew found this three-wheeled  Reliant Robin in the car park.
I can't believe that people still drive these.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8

This show inspired us to attend the Royal International Air Tattoo in nearby Swindon in July. I can't wait for more airplanes!