Sywell 2024 Airshow Weekend
Saturday 22nd June - Sunday 23rd June 2024
Sywell 2024 came charging onto the scene in the run-up to the 2024 UK airshow season, enticing enthusiasts with a mouth-watering array of classic warbirds and unique display items. Under the watchful eye of Richard Grace, this was a show that intended to put itself firmly on the map of the airshow calendar with a "10/tenths" approach. That ethos paid off, with the show garnering plenty of praise from those in attendance.
travelled all the way from sunny Scotland to report for UK Airshow Review. Photography from the UKAR Staff Team..
Nowadays new airshows within the United Kingdom are a bit like solar eclipses; they only appear every so often and at varying degrees of success. This is sadly part and parcel of the UK airshow scene post-COVID - all too often we’ve seen brand new shows appear before quietly fading away. The exception to this has been the Midlands Air Festival, cementing itself as an extremely solid show for enthusiasts and the more "casual" airshow goer alike. However, a gaping hole was left in the calendar for a bona fide warbird-themed airshow after the rebirth of Flying Legends at Leeds East Airport (Church Fenton to most people) struggled to get a firm footing, before organisers announced that it would not return in 2024. Step up to the plate Richard Grace and the team at Ultimate Warbird Flights, with a new show announced at the tail-end of 2023 which would be held at Sywell Aerodrome, a location that hadn’t hosted a full-blown airshow for 10 years.
Momentum for the show accelerated extremely quickly, arguably the earliest we’ve ever seen updates roll through, with regular airshow announcements being made almost daily during January. That momentum slowed a touch as the Winter months gave way to Spring, although one wonders if this was a conscious tactic by the organisers to get a high number of ticket sales in as soon as possible. Early bird prices started at £38, with ticket prices then rising to £49.95. Billed as an advanced ticket only event, a U-turn via social media just a day prior to the show stated that tickets could in-fact be purchased on the gate. The 11th hour change to ticket purchasing does beg the question as to whether an uptake in the advanced tickets, coming in at nearly £50, had severely faltered. Perhaps the effort to generate that early momentum for the show was slightly premature, and some of the confirmed aircraft could have been held back a touch in order to keep interest in the show alive. Whilst the social media team can be commended for posting regular updates on various semi-related aspects, such as the history of the aerodrome, it’s the confirmation of aircraft that really is the bread and butter for ticket sales. Regardless of this, the big issue comes at charging nearly £50 for an airshow ticket, which is an almost exorbitant amount for a single day! By comparison, the Shuttleworth Collection charge £38 for an airshow that’s of vaguely similar content and duration. And whilst it cannot be disputed that Sywell 2024 was of an extremely high quality, that’s something that can only be ascertained after attending the show, rather than using it as a basis for buying a ticket. It would be interesting to hear how many tickets were sold on the day, as I imagine the face value alone would have been enough to put most people off.
Come show weekend, and a bit of nervous fidgeting due to a weather forecast that was about as indecisive as an 8-year old trying to buy a new pair of trainers, the trek to the Northamptonshire airfield commenced. The airfield itself is a bit of a faff to get to, nestled deep in the countryside with not much in the way of main roads skirting past it. Thankfully getting into the show seemed pretty straightforward, despite arriving at the venue a good 40 minutes after the gates had opened onto the airfield. Queues on foot seemed to go down relatively quickly as well, although a bit of argy bargy did ensue as people parking from the opposite end of the car park attempted to muscle the way in at the front of queue. Frustrating for those that were affected, but these are the kind of inaugural event kinks one can expect, which will hopefully be ironed out in the future.
The airfield itself, for those who haven’t visited before, is predominantly grass and features a limited number of concrete taxiways and two concrete aprons. On first impression, it did feel like the showground area was a touch sparse, with a huge expanse of grass area set aside for vehicle displays being mostly empty. Interestingly the show programme and poster made reference to a "classic motor rally", which come show weekend consisted of no more than about 11 cars parked towards the crowd line. A particular highlight, for the author at least, was the inclusion of several race cars located within one of the hangars. Featuring a mix of vehicles owned by both Michael Bletsoe-Brown, Managing Director of Sywell Aerodrome, and locally based Dawn Treader Performance, the opportunity to see the likes of Ayrton Senna’s Lotus 98T, Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams FW18 and Emerson Fittipaldi’s Penske PC23, amongst others, was an exceptionally rare treat. Perhaps bringing some of these into a more centralised location would have done wonders for making the showground look less empty. That static aircraft display was also extremely small - featuring just a Beech D17S Staggerwing in temporary Fleet Air Arm markings and Douglas C-47A "Placid Lassie", the latter a last-minute addition. It was evident beforehand that the static park would only ever be a small affair, but more to come on "what could have been" surrounding this aspect of the show a little later on.
Slightly buoying the on-ground attractions was a morning flightline walk, priced at a vaguely reasonable £5 per head, providing an opportunity to see most of the aircraft in the flying display up-close. The organisers can’t be faulted for giving attendees an opportunity to get almost within touching distance of the aircraft, however photography during the flightline walk was a struggle (unless you were doing close-ups). Punters had the opportunity to walk every which way around the aircraft, meaning the opportunity to take advantage of Sywell’s tree-lined backdrop was lost. Granted, the flightline walk was never publicised as a feature aimed squarely at photographers, but perhaps limiting people in-front of the aircraft for the first hour or so might have allowed for a pleasant compromise.
In the lead-up to the show, members of the public and the UKAR forum alike had almost universally gravitated around the opinion that Sywell would be the natural successor to Flying Legends. In terms of initial line-up it looked like those people were bang on the money. But getting the aircraft is one thing, the execution of how the flying display goes through the motions is quite another. Luckily the opening segment of the show demonstrated from the outset that Richard, and his team, had used their own personal airshow experiences to inject plenty of thought into the five-hour flying display.
Those who attended on Saturday were treated to an opening display as close to a USAF Heritage Flight as you can get, sans national anthem and occasional Bald Eagle, with Ultimate Warbird Flight’s latest acquisition and overhauled P-51D Mustang "Jersey Jerk", and the P-47D Thunderbolt performing a handful of flypasts with an F-35A Lightning II from the 495th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath. Announced just two days prior to the show, the chance to get a USAF-operated F-35A, a type still seldom seen in the flying display at UK airshows, is an exceptional coup that should not be sniffed at. Thankfully no-one on the crowdline could be heard recounting that line in Bohemian Rhapsody that refers to "thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening". The high-tempo continued with a well-timed set-piece illustrating the aerial conflict experienced by the USA over Germany during World War 2, culminating in a tail chase between a pair of Hispano HA-1112-M1L Buchóns and three P-51D Mustangs. That trio then went on to perform a beautifully choreographed formation sequence, not too dissimilar to that seen performed by the The Horsemen. The commentary team, comprising of historian James Holland and ex-Red 10 Mike Ling on the Saturday, did a commendable job in "keeping quiet" during this act, and others throughout the afternoon, in order to let the aircraft do the talking. The twosome worked incredibly together – James providing the deeper historical context whilst Mike stuck more to the technical aspects of the displays and the aircraft. It was a shame that the former wasn’t in attendance on the Sunday, with Mike "enlisting the help of ChatGPT" to help bolster his commentary notes.
Set-pieces and formations certainly punctuated the entirety of the flying display, thankfully in such a way that each aircraft got plenty of time in-front of the crowd, rather than being potentially confined to a distant display line lacking any real impact. The US naval fighters opening formation was a great example of that, providing a great opportunity to see a mixed formation of classic warbirds, before the aircraft split into their respective routines. Following the FM-2 Wildcat’s punchy solo display, it was incredible to see three Corsairs (TFC’s FG-1D, Flying Bull’s F4U-4 and the Casques du Cuir Collections’s F4U-5N) perform another wonderfully choreographed formation routine. This was the first time since Flying Legends 2015 that a trio of Corsairs had displayed together in the UK, which could well have been four had the Germany-based F4U-5NL not been performing at the Antidotum Airshow in Poland.
Where the organisers had done a stellar job at giving the show its own unique feel, rather than a copy & paste of Flying Legends, was to move it away from being purely warbird focussed. This is arguably what has made shows like Melun's Air Legend stand-out in comparison to other shows; a core warbird element to the flying display but interspersing the line-up with alternative routines. Part of this effort was the inclusion of two unlimited aerobatic routines during the weekend, which can sometimes be rather unfairly met with a bit of grimace. Dispelling any of these pre-conceived negative feelings was the Gamebird GB1, which made its UK debut at Sywell. Owner and pilot Steve Jones mentioned that this display in his uniquely tiger-striped aircraft was likely to be a one-off and that it wouldn’t be repeated at any other venues. And whilst the Extra 330SC has been a regular attendee with various pilots, this was Mélanie Astles’ first display in the UK. Not only did she perform a full unlimited aerobatics routine, the finale saw her bring the aircraft in for a number of low, Red Bull Air Race-esque slalom passes. A nice touch that provided more photographic opportunities than the usual aerobatics routine.
At completely the other end of the spectrum was an extremely rare appearance from 2Excel’s Boeing 727-2S2F. The display itself was very much blink and you’ll miss it, comprising of a single pass before powering into a climb-out. But its presence on the Saturday was amplified somewhat by its extremely low crowd-rear arrival, even catching out the commentary team. Can we make airliners at airshows a more regular thing please?
Perhaps the most entertaining display of the weekend however, and probably the one act that no-one really saw coming in terms of spectacle, came from 46 Aviation’s Danielle and Emiliano Del Buono and their wingwalking display. Neither of them are strangers to performing in the UK, Danielle being part of the AeroSuperbatics team and Emiliano appearing at the 2018 Duxford Air Festival in his C-3605 Schlepp, but this is the first time they had appeared with their bright pink Stearman display. And what a display it was! As well as performing all of the usual aerial gymnastics we’ve grown accustomed to, Danielle and Emiliano have spent several years crafting an incredible routine that is now leagues above similar acts. Perhaps the biggest gasp from the crowd came towards the end of the display, with Danielle hanging upside down from the leading edge of the wing, thankfully still tethered to the aircraft. That’s what put the display as a stand-out act of the weekend – it made people’s jaws physically drop.
Attendance by aircraft from overseas operators was extremely good, particularly for a brand new show, with the Flying Bulls providing a quartet of piston-powered aircraft. As well as the aforementioned Corsair and Mustang, they were joined by the immaculate P-38L Lightning and B-25J Mitchell. We’ve seen the team at numerous UK shows throughout the past decade, but this was a rare opportunity to see the team perform as a brief four-ship before the fighters conducted an incredible formation display, the high chrome finish of the P-38, P-51 and B-25 contrasting beautifully against the darkened cumulus clouds. Also making a welcomed return to a UK show was Mikael Carlson, with the man himself piloting his Fokker DR.I whilst Stu Goldspink provided a slightly more gentle demonstration of the Fokker D.VII. It was fantastic to see these two extremely high quality reproduction examples flown together, with both aircraft never straying too far from the crowd and illustrating their exceptional agility.
Wrapping up the main airshow element of the Saturday, and also being the final set-piece element of the day, were a total of nine Spitfires. Opening with a pair of FR. XIVs, they eventually joined up to perform a handful of formation passes before conducting an 8-minute tail chase. Come late afternoon the sun had swung to crowd left, making photography very challenging. But that gave those in attendance a chance to just put the camera down and witness the kind of display we’d grown accustomed to seeing at Flying Legends of yesteryear. Whilst the Red Arrows closed the flying on the Sunday, those who attended the Saturday were treated to a short evening display. Comprising of solos by P-51D "Jersey Jerk", Spitfire Mk.Vc EE602 and a DH.82 Tiger Moth from the Thomas Castle Aviation Heritage Trust, the latter will have been a momentous occasion for its pilot, Danny Williams. Performing a simple yet effective display, this was Danny’s first ever public flying display, the low evening sun silhouetting the aircraft as its Gypsy Major engine thrummed away. The short evening display acted as a clever firebreak for diluting the number of people leaving the airfield en-masse on Saturday. A bit of a concern for those attending on the Sunday due to the closing act being the ever-popular Reds, thankfully it appeared there were no such issues for those attending, despite reports of a few satnavs sending people down all manner of country roads.
As is always the case with airshows, cancellations tend to rear their heads. Sadly, two of the most highly-anticipated participants, Jack von Egmond’s Fokker D.XXI replica and Fighter Aviation’s Hawker Tempest II, were announced as being unable to attend in the weeks prior, as well as the Commemorative Air Force Douglas R4D (subbed last minute for the aforementioned C-47 which was meant to be flying, only for the pilot to reportedly still be in Germany). But perhaps the weirdest saga was that which befell Million Air’s Douglas A-26C Invader. Making a surprise, and previously unannounced, visit to Europe, it was only a matter of time before people wondered if the unthinkable might happen. And then it happened – a static appearance by an Invader for the first time in several years! With the aircraft and its crew gallivanting around Central and Eastern Europe, it then came to light that the aircraft would be appearing at the previously mentioned Antidotum Airshow at Leszno. Despite poor weather in Central Europe, and a myriad of conflicting social media posts between Sywell and the Million Air team, it was still hoped that the aircraft would make its arrival during the weekend. Unfortunately, the aircraft never did materialise, arriving in at Duxford on Monday following the airshow. It was extremely frustrating that the carrot had been so tantalisingly dangled, especially for such a rare aircraft that every enthusiast desperately wanted to see. But if there was ever proof that the, perhaps rather cringeworthy, adage that an aircraft’s attendance is not guaranteed until its wheels are on the ground, then this was it. And perhaps that’s the only slight gripe of the show; the team lost their stars of the show. That’s not to say the rest of the aircraft in attendance were lacklustre, far from it, and the set pieces, solo displays and mixed formation flying meant it was one of the highest quality flying displays seen in the UK for quite some time. But had even at least one of the aircraft that had to cancel their attendance managed to make it to Sywell, then it would have been a fair assumption that the show would have probably been the best of 2024.
For a first time effort however, things could not have gone much better, particularly with the added fortune of favourable weather throughout the weekend. There can be no doubt that Sywell can indeed be fairly compared to Flying Legends and, if anything, was a far more relaxed and enjoyable affair entirely. Airshow goers can be a fickle bunch; naturally wanting the very best from the organisers and usually not shy in pointing out the flaws. Thankfully those flaws were extremely few and far between, save for a couple of small blemishes. It’s therefore extremely refreshing to see that almost everyone who attended Sywell 2024 left not only sunburnt, but saying the same thing; roll on the next show in 2025!