On Sunday 22nd July I hauled myself out of bed and set off for Blenheim Palace. But, I had no intention of spending the day wandering through majestic halls and gorgeous gardens. I was there to attend the air display at Fly to the Past: Festival of Flight.
The air display began with a rather strange display of geese flying behind a microlight. This was followed by an awesome WWI "dogfight". It was at this point my girlfriend realised I was corrupted when I pointed to the sky and squawked "ooh look an SE-5 and a Sopwith triplane!"
This was followed up by the usual array of WW2 aircraft - Spitfires, Mustangs... but the highlight of the whole day had to be the Lancaster Bomber clawing its way across the sky, so close you could almost count the rivets.
These legends of the sky were followed by the more modern aircraft - jet fighters, stunt flyers and a Bell "Huey" (which always reminds me of Apocalypse Now). Having recovered from the disappointment of the non-showing Harrier, I was then confronted by the much-maligned Eurofighter Typhoon. Now, to be honest, all I have heard about the Eurofighter is what has been in the news - overpriced, underperforming, delayed and obsolete. But nothing prepared me for the sheer magnitude of the machine. The noise, speed, movement... imagine this:
and then multiply the experience by 10. That's how good it was. Even if an F-15 would take it to the cleaners...