AN Autumn air show will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the iconic Tiger Moth with a display by the only team to use nine of the planes in formation.

The Imperial War Museum Duxford will host a showcase from The Tiger Nine formation team on Sunday.

The team were created in the summer of 2005 in response to a request for a fly-past of nine Tiger Moths at the 25th de Havilland Moth Club Rally at Woburn Abbey.

A spokesman from the museum said: “Its crowd-pleasing, spectacularly entertaining display will be a significant highlight of the Autumn Air Show 2011.

“There is something quintessentially British about a group of men from a diverse range of backgrounds, including airline pilots, ex-RAF pilots, a farmer, a sales executive, a company director, an anaesthetist and an RAF Wing Commander, coming together for the camaraderie and fun of flying such a special aircraft.”

The Tiger Moth requires a sure and steady hand to fly it well, enabling instructors to easily weed out inept student pilots. Whilst generally docile and forgiving in the normal flight the machine can prove tricky to handle in manoeuvres.

More information on the show is available from www.iwm.org.uk/duxfordairs