Duxford this weekend anyone?

[dr_gn]

Looks like a pretty stonking dispaly in store:

http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/upload/pdf/Final_Partici...

Can't wait!

[dr_gn]

Mr_B said:

That's a lot of Spitfires ..

Yeah, all but one flying in the dispaly too at the moment. Red Arrows, Patrouille de France Alpha Jets, F-16 and Typhoon as well as all those warbirds...should be quite a good display, better than Flying Legends it would seem.

[dr_gn]

Well, that was the worst 'day out' of my life...car parks full. No choice but to turn around and drive 2 1/2 hours home without seeing a thing. And to add insult to injury, the missus said the Red Arrows flew right over our garden at about 3:00. She saw more aircraft than we did by staying at home!

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

Sorry to hear that.

I think WW2 is "enjoying" a massive upsurge in popularity and airshows with Spitfires and other warbirds that one could have breezed into a couple of years ago are now probably oversubscribed.

I was thinking of popping along to Hendon next weekend as they are holding a special BoB day there.

It was my fault really: it was the first 'big day out' for my 3 year old son, so I didn't want to get there too early before the display. Even so, we weren't that much earlier for Flying Legends, and there was no problem at all there (nor has there ever been a problem with any of the Duxford shows I've been to over the past 4 or 5 years). According to plod, 2 miles of standing traffic each way on the M11, and 4 miles of standing traffic each way on the main road...and this was at 11:00am. We were in a jam on the Duxford slip-road, stationary for about 30 minutes before giving up.

I'll know for next time! Very disappointed though. No problem for the boy - he was happy looking at tractors on the A1 - never really seen aircraft at close quarters apart form at an airport.

[dr_gn]

Just browsed a few other forums, and apparently the car parks were full very early on - it was packed to capacity well before we got there, and apparently they simply closed the gates. What else could they do? Some were saying it was the worst Duxford traffic theyd ever seen. I'm kind of worried about ever going again now!

[dr_gn]

roger1197 said:

???????????????????

Arrived at 11.45, queued on M11 at jct 10 for 30 minutes, signs said car parks full but stayed in queue & after futher 15 minutes eventually parked in overspill field car park couple of hundred yards past main entrance, plenty of further parking allowed on main road grass verges.

I can't explain that...we were there at about the same time on the J10 sliproad, and there was no traffic movement at all for at least 30 mins. The police said all car parks were full, and gates closed, so there seemed little point waiting. Went for a bite to eat further down at Stanstead services, and on the way back up, J10 had been closed completely.

[dr_gn]

Based on what I saw on Saturday, they ought to double the entrance fee and give the profit to restoring a few more aircraft I reckon...