Following on from last month’s 50th anniversary celebration, what’s involved in planning IWM Duxford’s flying events in 2023?
So much has changed in the half-century of airshows at IWM Duxford. Some of that has been down to natural development, whether reflecting the ever-growing line-up of based historic aeroplanes or evolving to meet audience expectations. In other ways, external factors have come into play. To offer a slightly varied version of an old axiom, success has many parents, and such is the case here. It’s not all about the museum, its team and Duxford’s based private operators. Running such events requires links with a whole spectrum of other bodies, which may not be immediately apparent.
More obvious is the expansion of the Cambridgeshire venue’s annual flying season. For a few years in the 2010s, it hosted two IWM shows, Flying Legends, and that was all. The Autumn Air Show and a range of other events with aerial elements had disappeared. While Legends may since have left for pastures new, this year sees Duxford running eight flying events on various scales. And, again, it might be easy to go unaware of their broader significance.
The main occasions are now firmly established in their slots on the calendar. The …
