Lockheed P38L-5 SN 44-53254 Lightning. Pure poetry in motion, such grace, such poise, the elegant sound of the twin Allison V12s and definitely my highlight of the show. In fact I would go so far as to say it was one of the best displays I have seen for a long time, and I have been watching planes for many a year.
Story and Fantastic Photos by Jonathan Sharp
The final part of the jigsaw that is my month of visiting the stately homes of England was a visit to the Shuttleworth Estate in Bedfordshire for their Festival of Flight Airshow held over two days the same time as the Heveningham Hall Concours (June 26-28) so it meant another night in a hotel, which this time did have air conditioning as per the British summer of 2026 it was blooming hot. Unlike the October ‘Race Day’ event, the Festival of Flight is just an air show, but Shuttleworth being Shuttleworth meant there were still some interesting non aviation things to see before the flying commenced in the afternoon, as you will see from the following photographs.
As to the flying! What a show, hats off to the team that booked the aircraft. The start for many being an original Messerschmitt bf109 flown over from Germany and making its first appearance at a UK air show. My highlight however, has to be the aircraft from the Flying Bulls’ collection of Salzburg, Austria. It was a shame that the Grumman Bearcat could not make this trip, and their Corsair went tech (broke down) at their temporary base at Duxford on the Sunday, but never mind, we still had their P51, P38 and B25 to enjoy. I hope the following photos give you a taste of what was a great event.
