29/09/2026
The skies above Bicester will reverberate with the sound of the Bristol Blenheim once again on the morning of Sunday 4 October.
The Aircraft Restoration Co. plans to fly the only airworthy Mk1 Blenheim accompanied by a Spitfire into the Scramble from its base at Duxford, should the weather permit.
The fly-in will return the Blenheim to its spiritual home for the first time since Flywheel in 2023. In period, Bicester was an integral base following the plane’s introduction in 1937 and hundreds of pilots from all over the world learned to fly the aircraft from the airfield.
The prototype, ‘Britain First’, spent months on the base as the training plane before deliveries began.
The Spitfire, meanwhile, most recently appeared at the Scramble in April 2025, when Hangar 113 celebrated 60 years of the final Royal visit to RAF Bicester and 10 years of the Aston Martin Wings Series.
A Spitfire was on display during the visit in 1965 and P9386 from ARCo represented the plane 60 years on at the sold-out Scramble.
Its appearance was voted as the Scramble highlight of 2025.
If the weather is fair, the Blenheim and Spitfire will arrive during the morning of the Scramble and be positioned close to Hangar Green. They will be joined by some Chipmunks, creating its own tribute to 1976. When RAF Bicester closed in March 1976, the Chipmunk was one of its most numerous planes courtesy of the Oxford University Air Squadron. The OUAS moved to Abingdon as the site prepared to close.
Find the team from Aircraft Restoration Co. in the Trade Village, too.
📸 Aircraft Restoration Co.
