Steve Beebee reports from Duxford’s Air Festival, a two-day spectacular that kicked off the attraction’s airshow year in style

The distinctive shape of Farner Werke Schlepp C-3605 in Duxford skies.

Plane Sailing’s elegant Consolidated Catalina at the Duxford Air Festival.
The first air event of the season at IWM Duxford nearly always draws a large crowd, particularly if the weather forecast is kind. For the Cambridgeshire airfield’s May Bank Holiday weekend special, the skies behaved – although those of us driving home to the Midlands on Sunday night had to battle through some frankly terrifying thunderstorms.