Freddie March Spirit of Aviation at Revival 2023

The show features a whole host of stunning pre-1966 aircraft, in sight of Goodwood’s original scramble hut form World War 2, the FMSOA serves like the Cartier Style et Luxe at the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, as a bit of peaceful respite from the fumes furore and fury of the being trackside and in the paddocks at the Revival race weekend.

That is, when aircraft aren’t taking off and landing on the airstrip and helipad just a stone’s throw away.

The oldest aircraft on the lawn hails from almost a century ago, having been built in 1928. It’s a Travel Air 4000 Biplane, whose primary use was as a sightseeing plane. They were often used as prop aircraft in the movies of the day and in the years beyond, too. A P51 Mustang, a Hawker Hurricane and numerous Supermarine Spitfire fighters are present and correct – some in the air too – while one of the most dramatic leviathans on display was the Grumman Albatross, a famous sea-faring twin-prop built in 1953.

Many machines besides from Auster, Beech, Bucker, de Havilland, Douglas, Fairey, Harvard, Luscomb, Miles, Percipal, Pilates, Rearwin, Spartan and Westland made up the rest of the ranks, for a display totalling 32 pre-'66 birds. As ever, you could have lost an entire day mooching around these majestic machines.