The Imperial War Museum Duxford will be staging an air display with a difference when it hosts the Large Model Association's (LMA) air display on Sunday 23 September.

In the 25th anniversary year for the LMA, visitors will be able to see whole squadrons of Spitfires take to the air, as well as World War I dogfights re-enacted and aircraft, such as the Second World War Wellington bomber, in the air where airworthy examples no longer exist.

The aircraft are models but no ordinary ones they can be as much as half the size of the original aircraft with wingspans of 18 ft or more. They're heavy too, weighing in at over 44 lb.

The aircraft will be on static display in an exclusive enclosure on Saturday 22nd September and will be flying from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm on Sunday 23 (subject to weather and serviceability). On both days, there will be a small charge for visitors to enter the enclosure to view the models and talk to the pilots.

An exciting programme, from the Edwardian era through to jets, is planned which is sure to have visitors enthralled. There will be some 75 aircraft taking part from a massive one third scale Spitfire through to a Eurofighter, all authentic in every detail.

A Vulcan based on XH558, the last real Vulcan to fly, having an impressive 19 ft wing span and 30 lb of thrust mini jet engines, will also take to the air. Also scheduled to appear is a British World War Two Mosquito and a World War I team of models including Sopwith Pups, SE5As and more.

Says Duxford's Marketing and Public Relations Manager Tracey Woods "This is a tremendous opportunity to see the history of aircraft design and development unfold before your eyes as well as see aircraft, albeit scale versions, like the Wellington and the Vulcan, which have not been seen in the skies for many years."

What makes these beautiful models even more amazing is the fact that they are, for the most part, hand-built. Many hundreds, sometimes thousands, of hours of painstaking and skilled work has gone into building each model, with every part authentic in detail.

All the pilots have to learn to fly these incredible models and it can take up to two years to reach a required standard, with a permit to fly certificate awarded from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for those flying models over 20 kilos in weight.

Duxford is located just south of Cambridge on the M11. The Museum gates open at 10.00 am. Admission to the Large Model Association Flying Show on Sunday 23rd of September is included in the Museum admission of £14.95 for adults, £11.50 for concessions and £8.50 for young persons. As usual, children under the age of 16 are granted free entry.