By The new Hampshire Air Festival has confirmed the appearance of a rare MiG-17F in the festival’s opening year flying display.
Taking place at Thruxton Aerodrome on 12–13 September 2026, Hampshire Air Festival is a new two-day aviation weekend created to celebrate “The Age of Flight” through flying displays, static aircraft and a Saturday evening extravaganza of afterburners from the MiG-17, pyro aerobatics, a drone display and fireworks.
Organisers say the event has been designed to tell the story of aviation across more than a century, from early flight through to vintage warbirds and aerobatic displays to more modern jets.
Travelling from Poland, the FUBAR Aviation MiG is currently the only airworthy MiG-17F in Europe and one of the rarest jet displays available to airshow audiences.
Built in 1958 at WSK Mielec, the aircraft is actually a Polish-produced Lim-5, a licensed version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F. The type was a key Cold War fighter, known for its swept-wing design, strong low-altitude agility and rugged construction. Powered by a Klimov VK-1F turbojet with afterburner, the MiG-17F delivered improved high-speed handling over the iconic MiG-15 that went up against USAF F-86 Sabre jets in the Korean War. In turn, though ‘near supersonic’ the agile MiG-17 was a worthy opponent for the supersonic F-105 Thunderchief and F-4 Phantoms in the Vietnam War of the 1960s.
Visitors will be able to see the MiG-17F flying (weather permitting) on both days of the festival.
