SHUTTLEWORTH MILITARY AIRSHOW 2026 - Ragatha’s take

Video from the channel Ragatha about Shuttleworth Military Air Show 2026, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 28:35. Language: English. Video type: Air show.

The video captures the Shuttleworth Military Air Show 2026 from the crowd, with the show's public address system in the background. The commentators accompany each display with historical and technical notes on the aircraft in flight.

At the start, a Miles Magister and a de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk fly together, two trainers the crowd can compare side by side in the air. They are followed by a North American Harvard decorated as a wartime example of the No. 20 Service Flying Training School, and then a Harvard IV. Later the loudspeakers introduce a 727 trijet. An aircraft that flew the King's Cup in 1936, when it was owned by William Humble, also appears; it was sold to Spain in 1937, where it was used by the Republicans. The video ends with a modern military display, presented through its casualty evacuation, rapid incursion, humanitarian aid and firefighting missions.

The Magister is said to have been a monoplane trainer ahead of its time in the RAF of the 1930s. It had very gentle handling, good brakes and good behaviour on the ground and in crosswinds, better than the Tiger Moth's. At least five remain airworthy, all in Europe and four of them in the United Kingdom. The example on display, with an open cockpit, is owned by David Bramwell.

The Chipmunk featured aerodynamic devices such as stall-warning strips, designed to make it as docile and predictable as possible. It flew on the front line in Cyprus in the 1950s. During the Cold War, RAF Chipmunks flew missions whose official cover story was keeping senior officers current.

The Harvard is remembered for training pilots in the Rhodesian Air Training Group. Some carried machine guns for light attack work in the Second World War. It was an aircraft that could catch a careless student out, something the commentators consider valuable, since a pilot who flies it well can move on to front-line fighters without major difficulty.

The 727 is explained as having been powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofans; it was smaller than the 707 and designed for short routes between smaller airports. It was the first trijet to be certified and to enter commercial service. It served with the US Air National Guard as the C-22. It no longer carries passengers in civil service, its use as a freighter is declining, and some still fly as corporate aircraft.