Day 2 (American Air Base in Duxford) - July 23, 2012

Our first full day of the summer residency began at 8:30am and didn’t conclude until 10:30pm.  Most of us who traveled from the US were extremely tired today and it showed.  After we taxied over to the museum in Duxford, we were given a brief overview and welcome from the director of the museum, who reports to the director of the Imperial War Museum, who reports directly to the Queen of England.  Next, we did an ice breaker activity with all of the members of the group who said were they were from, their education background (sound familiar LCPS teachers…haha), and showed an artifact that we were required to bring along to relate to our area/school.  I brought with me my LCPS badge and explained that it was our key card to enter the building; as well as some Virginia wine corks to let everyone know how big the wine industry is in Loudoun County.  Also, I did bring a small joke book titled, You Know You’re a Republican-Democrat as a joke to inform everyone how much of a role that the US Government plays in NOVA due to our close proximity to Washington, D.C. 

We had a morning break around 11:00am with tea and crackers (cookies to us in America), then followed that with a 30 minute history presentation of the background of the Duxford Airbase.  The brief history is as follows:

·               Built in 1918 as a place to train and educate Royal Air Force Pilots.

·               Between WWI and WWII years, base continued to train pilots and conduct air shows

·               1940 (Battle of Britain) = Duxford housed fighter planes and bombers that would eventually be the sinlge           

                  greatest difference between the Allies and Axis Powers of WWII.  Duxford’s role during the BLITZ 

                  was to defend the industrial works in Britain from German air attacks and support/aid/defend North 

                  and Lower London

·                 In 1943, the first US plans arrived (US 78^th Fighter Group) and the base changed over to US hands from 

                   the British.  B-47 Thunderbolts would eventually arrive as well to escort bombers over Germany 

                   and aid the ground attack missions.

·                  In 1953, US built a new runway and hanger for planes; also, the British introduced the first jet planes in 

                   British history here as well (Meteors).

·                  In 1954 a brand new control tower was built to accommodate the heavier airplane traffic

·                  In 1960, due to increasing Cold War military costs, outdated aircraft, and the distance from London (1+ 

                    hours) the Duxford Airbase was closed.

·                  Mid 1970s =the base was not maintained after its closure and it was starting to ruin.  Volunteers who 

                    cared about the area and the role that the base had in local history began to restore, house, and 

                    show historic/vintage aircraft since WWI and the role of the American military in the development 

                    and expansion of Duxford.

      2 movies have been filmed on the air base.  The first was the Battle of Britain in 1968 and the second 

               was The Memphis Belle in 1990.

Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch on the grounds of the airbase and watched vintage planes take off and land; then we began our tour of the American Aircraft Museum.  This museum is the largest museum in the world (outside of the USA) that houses the most US aircraft from our aviation history.  Next, we had our afternoon break which consisted of mingling with the Imperial War Museum officials along with coffee and cake.  Then we got in the jeep and were given a car tour of the runway and surrounding area of the base.  Finally, our last big event of the day was a ride in a vintage 1943 Dragon Rapide that lasted 15-20 minutes.  That was awesome.  I took a 5 minute video of our takeoff and circling of the airbase that I will upload when I get the opportunity. 

We departed Duxford at 5:00 to make our way to the Red Lion Inn in Duxford for a group dinner; I had bangers and mash!  J  This gave everyone to debrief on our first full day and continue bonding.   After dinner was over, we returned to the airbase and watched 3 vintage short propaganda films from WWII at the Astra Cinema…the same cinema where WWII soldiers watched movies and relaxed when they had free time.  We arrived back at Homerton College at 10:30pm to finally get to bed, and considering we were exhausted from yesterday’s travel day and the long first full day, it didn’t take long for any of us to crash.