Biggin Hill Joins Forces with Headcorn International Airshow 2026

15 May 2026

Left to right: Jamie Freeman, owner of Headcorn Aerodrome; Cllr Martin Round, Mayor of Maidstone; Hannah Gray, consultant to London Biggin Hill Airport; and Christopher Yates, Event Director of the Headcorn International Airshow, pictured with P-51D Mustang 'Moonbeam McSwine' at Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar ahead of HIA 2026.

Biggin Hill Joins Forces with Headcorn International Airshow 2026

Four of the headline aircraft at the Headcorn International Airshow on 27 and 28 June will fly in from Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar - including a Battle of Britain veteran Hurricane and the Spitfire Mk.IX Spirit of Kent.

The Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Martin Round, visited the hangar this week with the airshow's production team to see the aircraft being prepared for the show. He was joined by Hannah Gray, consultant to London Biggin Hill Airport and former Mayor of Bromley, alongside airfield owner Jamie Freeman and AMP Productions director Christopher Yates.

Cllr Round represents Headcorn at Maidstone Borough Council.

"Headcorn is my ward, and the airshow matters enormously to the village and to the borough. These two airfields - Headcorn, then Lashenden, and Biggin Hill - both played roles in the air war of the 1940s. It's right that they continue to work together now."
Cllr Martin Round, Mayor of Maidstone

Four aircraft, four stories

P-51D Mustang 'Moonbeam McSwine' wears the markings of triple ace Capt. William T. Whisner of the 487th Fighter Squadron. Whisner ended the war with 15.5 confirmed kills.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX 'Spirit of Kent' (TA805) was built at Castle Bromwich in 1945 and served with 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron and 234 Squadron under Wing Commander Roland 'Bee' Beamont DSO & Bar DFC. Few flying Spitfires carry a Kent connection this direct.

Hispano HA-1112 Buchon 'White 9' is a Spanish-built Messerschmitt Bf 109 derivative, painted as the mount of Unteroffizier Edmund Rossmann of Jagdgeschwader 52. The Buchon is one of a handful of airworthy 109s left flying anywhere in the world.

Hawker Hurricane Mk.I (P2921) is a Battle of Britain veteran. Built in Canada, it flew operationally in 1940- the year that decided whether the war went south.

Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, May 2026: from left, Hawker Hurricane Mk.I P2921, P-51D Mustang 'Moonbeam McSwine' (rear), and P-51D 'Marinell' — all confirmed for the Headcorn International Airshow 2026."

Kent's two wartime airfields

Biggin Hill and Headcorn share more than four decades of aviation heritage. Biggin Hill was one of the key fighter stations of the Battle of Britain. Headcorn - then RAF Lashenden - was an Advanced Landing Ground used by USAAF P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt units in the run-up to D-Day.

Both airfields are still flying. Biggin Hill is a commercial airport and home to one of the largest fleets of airworthy Spitfires in the world. Headcorn remains a grass aerodrome, owned by the Freeman family since 1927 and now run by third-generation owner Jamie Freeman.

"Without operators like Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, an airshow of this scale simply isn't possible. They're supplying four of our most recognisable aircraft, and the engineering credibility they bring is what makes a thirty-aircraft programme deliverable."
Christopher Yates, Event Director, HIA 2026

"Supplying four headline aircraft to a major two-day airshow in Kent is exactly the kind of cross-county collaboration that keeps living history accessible to the public. We're delighted to be part of it."
Hannah Gray, consultant to London Biggin Hill Airport

The 2026 lineup

Thirty aircraft from eighteen operators across the UK and Europe are confirmed for HIA 2026, including three P-51 Mustangs, a P-47 Thunderbolt, three Hawker Hurricanes (including the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Mk.IIc), the F-86 Sabre, two further Spitfires, the Catalina, the Fairey Swordfish, and NEBO Air's Electric Arrows - the world's first all-electric display team.

Civic and diplomatic attendance is confirmed, including the Mayor of Maidstone and four foreign embassies.

Biggin Hill's reach into the 2026 lineup extends beyond the aircraft it's supplying directly. Several other Mustangs and warbirds appearing at Headcorn carry engineering and restoration work done in the same hangar -including P-51D 'Marinell' (G-MRLL). With three flying Mustangs on the bill at HIA 2026, the engineering thread running through the lineup is concentrated at Biggin Hill more than anywhere else.