Large-scale flypasts in southern England and northern France marked the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on Wednesday 5th June.

The Daks Over Normandy event brought together over 30 vintage Dakotas from around the world, coinciding with official commemorations in Portsmouth and in Normandy.

The UK’s official commemorative event was be held at Southsea Common in Portsmouth on Wednesday 5th June, attended by the Queen, the British Prime Minister, the US President, 16 other world leaders and 300 veterans of the operation.

The event included flypasts of 25 military aircraft, including a Spitfire, Hurricane, Wildcat helicopter, two Merlins, two Hercules, a Sentinel, A330 Voyager, four Hawk T.1s, two Typhoon FGR.4s and the nine Hawk T.1As of the Red Arrows. The Red Arrows returned for a full flying display later in the afternoon.

On the same day, a formation of over 20 Dakotas, escorted by P-51D Mustangs, Beech 18s and T-6 Texans, took off from Duxford en-route to France as the culmination of Daks Over Duxford. In addition, Duxford saw warbird displays and flypasts, flying displays by C-47s and DC-3s and a flyby from the United States Air Force over the weekend.

The main Dakota formation flew low over Colchester, Southend-on-Sea, Medway, Maidstone and Eastbourne before crossing the English Channel to France, flying over Le Havre before commencing a parachute drop at Sannerville, landing at Caen shortly afterwards.

Also on the 5th June, a variety of aircraft staged flypasts and parachute jumps at Carentan, including Dakotas, Spitfires, a Staggerwing and military aircraft from France, the UK and the USA. Hundreds  of jumpers took part, including re-enaction groups and military teams such as the  Red Devils and Golden Knights. Several veterans of the operation also participated in tandem jumps.

The French and US heads of state met in France on the Thursday 6th June for further commemorative events, which included a flypast of specially-painted F-15s. On the same day, the RAF Red  Arrows staged a flypast over Arromanches.

Further jumps from the US military and historic aircraft continued around Caen over the following days.

Four iconic Second World War fighters representing the UK, USA and Germany will team up as part of a brand new display team this year.

The team was announced in a breathtaking trailer video on Facebook earlier today and will go by the name “Ultimate Fighters”. The display has been put together by Ultimate Warbird Flights, a supplier of warbird experience flights and aerial displays.

From the the video, it appears the aircraft involved will be P-47D Thunderbolt “Nellie”, Supermarine Spitfire T.IX ML407, TF-51D Mustang “Contrary Mary” and ME109 Buchon “Red 11”. Ultimate Warbird Flights said on Facebook that more information on the team will follow.

OLD WARDEN | The Shuttleworth Collection have updated their aircraft participation lists for this year’s airshows, with the Military Airshow standing out for hosting seven Hurricanes.

The Military Airshow on the 7th July will feature the Collection’s Hurricane and Sea Hurricane, as well as five visiting examples of the type. We believe this will be the largest selection of Hurricanes at a single show in recent years, with Flying Legends reaching five in 2017.

As if that is not enough, the show will also include P-47D Thunderbolt “Nellie” and the four Extra 300LXs of the Royal Jordanian Falcons, returning to Old Warden for the first time since 1997.

The 15th June Evening Airshow will also feature several Hurricanes, with one visiting type joining the Collection’s own Hurricane and Sea Hurricane.

Also attracting attention is the Flying Festival on the 2nd June, which will be headlined by the RAF Red Arrows.

Spitfire Mk.IX MH434 has been added to the lineup for the Evening Airshow on the 18th May. The Family Airshow on the 4th August has also had aircraft added, including the Turbulent Team and Calidus Autogyro. The Vintage Airshow on the 1st September will include the Global Stars, three Miles Magisters and P-51D Mustang “Contrary Mary”.

BRUNTINGTHORPE | The UK’s last flying Gloster Meteor in private hands touched down for the final time on Saturday 5th January, and will now be maintained in a taxyable condition.

Meteor NF.11 WM167 arrived at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome as part of a celebratory ticketed event. Other classic aircraft, including a Vampire T.11 and Strikemaster Mk.80A, joined the Meteor for an impromptu fly-in.

WM167 was built in Coventry in 1952 and flew with the Royal Air Force  until 1975, seeing out the final years of its service as a target tug. It was  purchased by a private collector and reverted to NF.11 configuration shortly afterwards.

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The jet was operated until recently by the Classic Air Force, a now-defunct aviation museum and warbird operator based first in Coventry and then Newquay. She was a regular airshow performer during this time, and the only flying Night Fighter Meteor in the world. The charity, who owned two Meteors, folded in early 2016.

Both Meteors, as well as two ex-CAF Venoms, were purchased by American collector Marty Tibbitts in 2017. The first Meteor, T.7 WA591, was taken to the United States and made its American airshow debut at Oshkosh last summer, while the remaining jets stayed in the UK. Meteor NF.11 WM167 was donated to the Classic British Jets Collection at Bruntingthorpe following Tibbitt’s death in an accident last July.

The jet will be maintained in a fast-taxy condition, along with a collection of other Cold War-era jets at Bruntingthorpe, and will likely participate in public events such as the biannual Cold War Jets fast-taxy events.

A further pair of UK-based Meteors are used by Martin Baker as testbeds for their ejector seats, but these are rarely seen in public. The only other airworthy Meteor in the world is a Meteor F.8 owned by the Temora Aviation Museum in Australia.