Four of the UK’s finest warbirds, four highly accomplished display pilots — meet the Ultimate Fighters
As far as I’m concerned, putting four dissimilar fighters up together is touching on the holy grail of warbird flying”. Jon Gowdy, leader of the Ultimate Fighters display team, knows the significance of this new endeavour. Inevitably there will be comparisons with certain great teams that have gone before, but this recently formed four-ship outfit is already forging a reputation all of its own.
And what a spectacle it presents. There is, undeniably, something inherently special about watching well-flown warbird formation aerobatics, about that combination of men and machines in perfect harmony. The Ultimate Fighters exemplify that, as the tens of thousands who have already seen them at some of 2019’s biggest summer air displays can already testify. With four aircraft from the Fighter Aviation Engineering and Anglia Aircraft Restorations fleets, operated by Air Leasing, they debuted at Flying Legends in July and won immediate praise. How could a combination of Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, Hispano HA-1112 Buchón, Supermarine Spitfire and North American TF-51D Mustang not?
Make no mistake, though: this i…
