Duxford Air Show

[Guest]

Hello

I'm going to my first ever air show on SUnday at Duxfordf, in particular to see the lancs flyover.

Has anyone been before who could give hints about what to do. Does it involve sitting for ages in traffic waiting to enter and park, for instance? Any info would be received gratefully.

Thanks

[stona]

Aidan I'm a regular Duxford visitor. There is good traffic management and you will probably be taken on a cross country route to the museum, not directly off the motorway at junction 10. The only time I've experienced serious traffic problems was for the BoB anniversary show in 2010 when everything went badly wrong and it was taking many hours to get in.

As you are driving I would suggest arriving at Duxford by 10.00am at the latest. The flying usually starts at 2.00pm but you'll find plenty to do and the flight line walk usually closes at midday and is something I like to do. You are in Bedfordshire I think so you won't have too far to go. I used to do some work for a company in Bedford itself and sometimes nipped over to Duxford for an afternoon

Depending on where you end up parked it might take you a while to get out. My membership gives me preferential parking at 'the bottom' near the exit, but if you end up at the top, by the land warfare museum, be prepared to wait a while, or eat a picnic whilst everyone else queues up.

The airfield is obviously open and quite exposed so even on a nice day in September a breeze can make it surprisingly chilly so be prepared!

I would have gone to this show, but unfortunately I'll be working up in Glasgow on Saturday night and won't make it back in time ):

Have a good one.

Steve

[Dave W]

I'm taking my mum and dad to the show on Sunday.I aim to get there early.I went to the Warbirds show last month on my own and got there at 8am.No que to get in and I left during the final flypast,so no problems getting out either.

[Neil]

Me too, early start to drive from Birmingham and I was aiming to be there by 9am so good to know that is recommended, I may look to see if I can get there by 8-8:30 then. Got to get my camera batteries charged and make sure got clean lenses. Never been so I'm looking forward to this.

Google maps shows the M6 then A14 for me but you are suggesting M6/M1 Steve?

Neil

[Dave W]

There are usually several kit dealers at these shows.So anyone going might want to take some extra money with them!.I know I will.

[stona]

Google maps shows the M6 then A14 for me but you are suggesting M6/M1 Steve?

Neil

M6 then A14, last bit M11 is how I go. The traffic control system usually takes you off before junction 10 of the M11 (where you'd normally come off) and takes you on a little cross country jaunt. I assume this is to avoid traffic backing up onto the motorway at junction 10 which is very close to the airfield.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Aidan I'm a regular Duxford visitor. There is good traffic management and you will probably be taken on a cross country route to the museum, not directly off the motorway at junction 10. The only time I've experienced serious traffic problems was for the BoB anniversary show in 2010 when everything went badly wrong and it was taking many hours to get in.As you are driving I would suggest arriving at Duxford by 10.00am at the latest. The flying usually starts at 2.00pm but you'll find plenty to do and the flight line walk usually closes at midday and is something I like to do. You are in Bedfordshire I think so you won't have too far to go. I used to do some work for a company in Bedford itself and sometimes nipped over to Duxford for an afternoon

Depending on where you end up parked it might take you a while to get out. My membership gives me preferential parking at 'the bottom' near the exit, but if you end up at the top, by the land warfare museum, be prepared to wait a while, or eat a picnic whilst everyone else queues up.

The airfield is obviously open and quite exposed so even on a nice day in September a breeze can make it surprisingly chilly so be prepared!

I would have gone to this show, but unfortunately I'll be working up in Glasgow on Saturday night and won't make it back in time ):

Have a good one.

Steve

Many thanks Steve!

[Dave W]

Many thanks Steve!

Did you manage to get to Duxford today Aidan?. I decided a few weeks back I would take my parents when they suggested it to me.Went on line but pre booking of tickets had finished.It said you would be able to pay on the day though.So I left Southend nice and early and picked the parents up at their home in Royston.We then spent over two and a half hours queuing in the car to get in.With Duxford finally in sight,a Police bike went slowly past.On the back of the bike was a sign saying that Duxford was now closed to anyone without tickets.I won't repeat what I said on here,but we were absolutely gutted.And to add insult to injury it took us another hour to get back to Royston.Mum was very disappointed.But we did catch a few glimpses of the Lancasters circling over Royston. the moral of the story? Book well in advance.Might sound obvious with hindsight.But I went to the Warbirds display there last month,drove straight in with no trouble,and paid on the day.

[Guest]

Hi Dave

Exactly the same thing happened to us. I'm still using profanities.

That was my first and last airshow

There must have been hundreds in the same boat.

[Neil]

I drove early (so I thought) from Birmingham and arrived in the queue at 8am - still took nearly 2 hours to get in, the queue then was 4 miles or so but I did book in advance and did get in. Mind you I noticed loads of cars parked on the side when I came back where previously there had been "no parking on the verge" signs. Guess they got ignored.

They emailed to all advance holders before to get there good and early but you'd have had to be there by 6:30 or 7am I would have thought to avoid any kind of queue.

[stona]

This is exactly what happened on the BoB anniversary air show in 2010. It's very unfortunate for those trying to get there but it also shows the pulling power of a couple of Lancasters.

For every other show I've ever been to at Duxford I have driven straight in at between 8 and 9a.m.

It is worth booking tickets in advance, but of course you leave yourself open to the vagaries of our beautiful British weather. This year I definitely picked the wrong day for the July (Legends) show. At least I got in with no problem.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

I went on Saturday. It was my first time at Duxford for a couple of years, and I have to say that I was...underwhelmed. It seemed that, unless you are a Gold or Silver pass holder, or a member of X, or a supporter of Y, or a friend of Z, then you can't get that close to the centre of the display line - it was all very corporate. The aircraft seem to display further away from the crowd line than they used to, and, aside from the Mk1a Spits and the Vulcan, the line-up was a bit, well, dull. Considering it was a 2-day show, it didn't seem that good to me.