Sywell 2024
Following last year’s successful visit to the Duxford Battle of Britain air show, Helen and I headed down towards Northampton at the end of June for the Sywell 2024 show. This was the first time in around 10 years that Sywell has hosted an event of this nature and it was very clear that a huge amount of effort had gone into making it a success.
It’s hard not to do a compare and contrast between the two events, which may be slightly unfair given that they differ in nature. I have made a few observations through the post. However, suffice to say that this was a fantastic weekend, hugely enjoyable, well organised and well worth the trip.
Supermarine Spitfire PR XI
Sony A9ii | 600mm f/8.0 1/400s ISO100
DISCLAIMER: the edit for the images was not small and, certainly towards the end, felt more like a long slog than a labour of love. While I’m generally pretty pleased with the images, there are a few that may have escaped the final cull and certainly some that could do with another edit. That is a job for another day.
I’d also like to say that I’m no expert on these machines. There are others with a much greater level of interest, enthusiasm and perhaps obsession who are far better qualified than I to talk about the aircraft. Meantime, I hope you enjoy the pictures…
American Classics
Loosely speaking, the flying display opened with some of the American classics; the B-17 and a selection of US made fighters. Also on display were a number of the Navy craft, including a fanstastic trio of Corsairs. Looking back at Duxford, there were a range of differences in the programmes as well as some commonality; the unifying feature was that both displays were absolutely fabulous.
North American P-51 Mustang
Sony A9ii | 420mm f/8.0 1/320s ISO100
Also included in the section is the stunningly pretty Lockheed Electra 12A. This was billed as the Lear jet of it’s day, but without being anywhere near as vulgar. The example here covertly flew reconnaissance over Germany before the outbreak of war.
Lockhheed 12A Electra
Sony A9ii | 420mm f/10 1/320s ISO 125
Modern Machinery
The Duxford show was branded as the ‘Battle of Britain’ show which, while not a straight-jacket, does pretty much define the content and the focus. Sywell 2024 was branded as an airshow, and while the emphasis was on the vintage warbirds it gave a little space for a bit more variation in the programme.
One undoubted coup was a fly-past on the Saturday by an F-35 Lightning from RAF Lakenheath. This is about as state of the art as it gets and a truly impressive (if slightly scary) piece of machinery. It was accompanied by a couple of the vintage US fighters and the contrast of the F-35 managing it’s speed down to keep pace with the WWII planes emphasised the contrast.
There was also a fly-past from a 727 oil spill response plane as well as a couple of demonstrations of modern aerobatics craft. The demonstration from Mélanie Astles in the Extra EA-330 was particularly spirited… around 7G of spirited apparently.
TLockheed F-35 Lightning II
Sony A9ii | 600mm f/8.0 1/1000s ISO250
Best of British
Hawker Hurricanes in Formation
Sony A9ii | 420mm f/8.0 1/320s ISO 100
There is no doubt, however, that for many the draw for the show was the classic Battle of Britain era fighters. There were a total of nine Spitfires flying, as well as a pair of Hawker Hurrianes and a Hawker Fury.
Despite the age of these machines, and that there are now very few people left alive who can remember them flying in anger, there is still something very visceral about the noise of nine Spitfires in formation!
No Show without the Germans
Fokker DR.VII
Sony A9ii | 600mm f/8.0 1/320s ISO100
If you’re going to show the battle machine, then you need to show what they were up against. We had on display a couple of Ha-112 Buchóns as well as a pair of rather attractive First World War Fokkers.
Interlude: Look, No Hands!
Don’t try this at home…
Sony A9ii | 420mm f/8.0 1/320s ISO100
Away from the WWII displays we had husband and wife team of Danielle and Emiliano Del Buono giving a display of wing-walking. While no explicit “don’t try this at home” warning was given, I think it was very much implied. The routine managed to be spectacular, dynamic and utterly bonkers!
Red Bull Collection
Mitchell B-25, Mustang, Corsair and P-38 Lightning from the Red Bull collection
Sony A7R V | 200mm f/8.0 1/320s ISO100
One other coup for Sywell was having four aircraft from the Flying Bulls collection. Brought over from Austria for the show were a North American P-51 Mustang, a Vought F4U Corsair, North American B-25 Mitchell and a Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
While a purist may argue that these aren’t in original livery, they are all immaculately presented and, for me at least, probably the highlight of the show. Without doubt, the whine of the P-38 is unforgettable!
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Sony A9ii | 600mm f/8.0 1/320s ISO100
On the Ground
The final act, of course, was the Red Arrows display but before that it’s worth sharing a couple of thoughts on the wider shows. With the flying displays only starting in the afternoon, the mornings are free to wander around the show, see the planes and the plentiful characters and stalls. The obvious point of comparison with Duxford is that while Sywell had a good range of ground-based attractions, Duxford and the Imperial War Museum has a huge natural advantage. That said, we weren’t short of things to see and do, whereas I left Duxford feeling that I could have easy spent another day in the museums.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress ‘Memphis Belle’
Sony A7R V | 200mm f/6.3 1/800s ISO 100
The Flightline
The flightline itself was another point of difference. Whereas Duxford only allowed access to the show side of the flightline, at Sywell visitors were free to wander around both the front and back of the line up. While this gave the enthusiasts (of which there were many) to take in these beautifully restored machines in all their glory, from a photographer’s perspective this was a bit of a nightmare. Getting clear backgrounds was almost (but not quite) impossible… It did however mean that it forced attention on some of the many details.
The Aviators
We managed to position ourselves quite centrally on the second day, meaning that we had geat views of the flighline and the flight preparations.
Reenactors
The show also attracted a fair slew of dedicated reenactors. While the numbers were nowhere near as large as at Duxford, I suspect that if the show continues to run their ranks will only swell. I’ll also confess that (for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me) I didn’t make the most of the opportunity.
Red Arrows
… and finally, the Red Arrows. I don’t think it would be an air show without an appearance from the Red Arrows. While the images of what they do are pretty ubiquitous, as I said last time out it’s a different thing to see them live. Neither photographs nor video really convey the speed and control involved in a display.
As I also said last time out, I found photographing them bloody hard… Hopefully there’s enough here to give a sense of the display.
Precision
Sony A9ii | 420mm f/8.0 1/3200s ISO 400
Kit Corner
Learning from last year, I made a couple of changes to the kit I took down:
I didn’t even bother packing a tripod or monopod - the planes are moving around in the sky too much to adopt a static position. Hand holding is definitely the way to go for versatility.
I did, however, take a foldable stool. It’s a long two days to be shooting and being able to take the weight off your feet (and back) between displays was a real boon.
Rather than the 100-400mm I took last year I took down the 300mm F2.8. (This was a serious indulgence). This is an optically superb lens and (importantly in this circumstance) about half the weight of the 400mm and 600mm lenses, adding to the versatility.
I also added the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. The teleconverters can degrade quality in two ways: (a) they magnify existing flaws in the lens; and (b) they can introduce flaws of their own. The Sony kit is extraordinary sharp, and as the final image below hopefully illustrates, any deficiencies in sharpness are entirely down to my technique!
Finally, it’s fun to have company. Thanks, of course, to Helen for coming down and sharing the experience (and drive) as well as finding some seriously good evening entertainment. Many thanks also to Guy, David and Michael for their company at the show.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk V
Sony A9ii | 600mm f/8.0 1/400s ISO 100
