Another vote for RAF Duxford, especially if they have a show on. I went to a Battle of Britain special (I think) 4 or 5 years ago and it was incredible. Rather than pay the extortionate entrance fee, I went across the motorway, where the old runway used to end, and stood on top of one of the old airfield buildings, along with a few other tightwads.
That day, IIRC, there were 15 Spitfires, a couple of Hurricanes, a P51 (or maybe a P47), a B17 (the Memphis Belle plane) plus all sorts of other stuff like a Vampire. I stood on that roof and nearly came in my pants, the planes were level with me as they came in to land just across the road, I could see the whites of the pilots' eyes. The roar of those engines was just incredible, really rousing stuff. Even the roar of the B17 was incredible, imagine seeing a massive formation of those heading over to pound the Hun, it must have been awesome.
Anyway, I spent the afternoon there, got sunburnt, didn't have a clue what was going on, but just to see those pieces of history in flight, so close up, was really one of my favourite days out (considering I only decided at the last minute to go, jumped on my motorbike and hammered up to Duxford at 100mph). The final mass flypast was like nothing I've seen or heard since, really stirring stuff.
Ha! Just found that building on Google Earth - 52 05 N 0 08 E.
What's the betting you can't get there these days?
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