Imperial War Museum Duxford - Air Shows and Flying

Air Shows and Flying

Duxford remains an active airfield (IATA: QFO, ICAO: EGSU) and maintains two parallel runways; an unpaved 880 m grass strip, and a concrete runway with a usable length of 1199 m, both oriented at 060/240-degrees. The runway was originally purchased from the Ministry of Defence by the Cambridgeshire County Council in 1977. In October 2008, an agreement was reached between the council and the Imperial War Museum, under which the runways and 146 acres (0.59 km2; 0.228 sq mi) of surrounding grassland would be sold to the museum for approximately £1.6 million.

Since 1973, Duxford has held regular air shows. Duxford is the home of a number of private aviation companies, such as Classic Wings, The Fighter Collection, the Old Flying Machine Company and The Aircraft Restoration Company. Between them these companies provide pleasure flights, historic aircraft for film or television work, and aircraft restoration services. Perhaps the most notable privately-owned and operated aircraft based at Duxford is B-17 Preservation Ltd's Sally B, the only airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress in Europe.

Major air shows held regularly include the Duxford Air Show, the Flying Legends show (organised by The Fighter Collection), and American Air Day, which is held in conjunction with units of the Third Air Force (part of the United States Air Forces in Europe), based at nearby RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall. The Duxford Air Show usually exhibits a wide range of aircraft, from vintage warbirds to contemporary jet aircraft, along with aerobatic flying by groups such as the Red Arrows. while the Flying Legends show focuses on historic aircraft, especially those of the Second World War. In 2008 it was reported that these displays generate up to £1.8 million, while the loss of up to £100,000 due to adverse weather is also budgeted for. The policing bill, necessary to manage the resulting road traffic, was reported as some £8,000. Recent major events have included the Battle of Britain 70th Anniversary airshow, held on 4–5 September 2010. The show was attended by more than 40,000 people, and featured formation displays by four Hawker Hurricanes and sixteen Spitfires.

As an active civil airfield, operations at Duxford are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In 2002 a privately operated Aero L-39 Albatros suffered a braking failure on landing, overran the runway and came to rest on the M11 motorway, a student pilot being killed after ejecting at ground level. An Air Accidents Investigation Branch inquiry recommended a review of arrangements for aircraft taking off or landing towards the M11. As a result, the CAA and Duxford agreed to a reduction in the runway's 1500 m declared length, from 1350 m to 1200 m, in order to provide a greater margin of error.

As a licensed airfield Duxford has its own Fire Service,(currently five vehicles, and 16 fire fighters / officers) which operates as part of the Airfield & Security department, the fire service was originally operated by voluntary crews who were part of Duxford Aviation Society, with the training officers coming from Stansted and other local airports, for the last few years it has been a wholetime operation.