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The Dream of Legends
I will never forget my first visit to Duxford and Flying Legends. Me and a friend of mine came up from London after a late evening drinking beer at a pub in Piccadilly Circus. While my friend was quite hungover, I felt fine. Oddly enough. I didn't know what to expect though. As a long-time historic aviation "fan" since the age of 7, I had never dug into the British airshow scene simply because I never had the chance to go to the UK to take it all in. While doing some research for my first ever trip to England in 2005, I ended up at the Imperial War Museum's website and discovered that an airshow called "Flying Legends" fitted perfectly with our time in London. And so we went. The sight from the bus window when it turned it's wheels into the airfield car park was a sight I will never forget. There it was, this historic airfield I had only seen in movies like Battle of Britain. Amongst crowds of people, I saw Spitfires, Corsairs, B-17's and P-51 Mustangs. My eyes were wide open from the moment I saw them until they disappeared from view when I got inside to pay for my ticket. I did not take my eyes off them, being scared they might somehow be gone if I blinked.
It was the most peculiar sensation. The sight of the airfield, the airplanes lined up and the brilliant, bright blue sky that Sunday in 2005. I felt at home. For all the time I had spent in London those past days, it all had felt quite alien. Duxford was something else. Something entirely different. An atheist like me, I suddenly had a better understanding of religion. I had found mine. I felt as if I had finally come back to somewhere I had been before. Spiritualists will point to a romantic theory of past lives and me being a Spitfire-pilot at Duxford during the war. I point to upbringing. Those worn out cartoons of Spitfires, Hurricanes and British Spitfire-hero Battler Britton had done it's job. I'm sure watching Battle of Britain about 200 times have it's fair share of blame as well. From 2005, I took my religion to an entirely new level. And in the center of it was Flying Legends. The Spitfire tail-chase in the hot, blazing sun was a life changing moment. I never really expected to see more than one Spitfire flying. In front of me, I had about 10 of them roaring past me. It was one of those few life-changing moments. It was a fantastic show.
The last airshow I had been to was 10 years earlier. I was just 14. Now I was 24, and an adult. I went home from Flying Legends and Duxford that evening a different person. I knew I had to come back. No matter the cost. And, I did come back. Every year. Flying Legends is a life changer. A once a year chance to see something you can't see anywhere else. A step into a world long gone. Sights in the sky that is the best history lesson you will ever witness. Living history in front of your eyes. It simply don't get any better.