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Saturday was the first day of Waddington's two day show, with almost unbroken sunshine for the whole day. As usual the static line-up was very varied, with over 100 aircraft on display. The flying got off to an early start at 10am, with the usual fly-past by base aircraft, with a Nimrod R1, Sentinel and E-3 Sentry. The flying programme included the Red Arrows flying an 8-ship formation due to one of the pilots being ill, a role demo by a pair of GR4 Tornados and a Spitfire, Hurricane and the Lancaster.
Also an interesting pairing of the old and the new, a BBMF Spitfire and a Typhoon. After many years absence it was nice to see the routine put in by the Turkish Stars and hear their well polished commentator describing the manoeuvres as they were performed. Probably one of the highlights of the Waddington weekend was the Avro Vulcan. The question was, was it going to get to Waddington or not? I am reliably informed that the Vulcan ground crew put in a tremendous effort to get the aircraft serviceable for this weekend, having disappointed so many people at last years show due to a paperwork error, but Vulcan fans were not disappointed as the aircraft turned up on time and put in a tremendous display, which was well worth the journey.
Later in the afternoon it was the turn of the World War II fighters simulating dogfights overhead Waddington's runway. The sound of Merlin engines reverberating around the airfield brought back memories of the War time years.
Copyright Chris Cannon - simplyplanes.co.uk
