Shoreham’s final countdown

Posted by Flightline UK on August 26, 2008 under Any other business | Be the First to Comment

The countdown is on for this year’s 19th Royal Air Forces Association Shoreham Airshow which takes place at Shoreham Airport this weekend Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st.

Don Bean MBE airshow organiser said “Advanced ticket sales have exceeded expectations and broken all records and to add to that the long term weather forecast looks very good indeed for the weekend with plenty of sunshine and warm weather – what more can we ask for except a safe show and some first class flying.”

Gates will open at 0830 am both days and Christian Moullec from France will start the flying display at 1115 am (which lasts well over five hours) with his micro light and geese flying in harmony – Christian was last hear three years ago and is returning by popular request.

“The Vulcan” is scheduled to appear one day over the weekend but this will be subject to serviceability and as we go to press there are currently concerns regarding its undercarriage following a rather heavy landing at RAF Brize Norton last Friday. “We have been assured they are doing everything possible to make an appearance at Shoreham – but it is airworthiness takes priority when it comes to display flying” said John Periam Airshow Press Officer.

With over 50 aircraft flying from the latest RAF Eurofighter Typhoon through to a full scale airfield attack resulting in a mass Spitfire and Hurricane scramble there will be plenty to entertain the crowds.

Add to that – lots to keep the children entertained from clowns to meeting members of the armed forces through to a fun fair – static aircraft park – craft tent – trade stands and autograph enclosure where one can meet the pilots and celebrities attending the show – the day should be action packed.

“EARLY ARRIVAL WOULD BE APPRECIATED AS THIS HELPS THE TRAFFIC FLOW – SO DO MAKE THE MOST OF THE EARLY OPENING TIME AT 0830” said Sussex Police.

For more info go to www.shorehamairshow.com

Visit the Vulcan at Southend – 21st September 2008

Posted by Flightline UK on August 23, 2008 under Warbirds and Classic Jets | Be the First to Comment

Visitors will be able to inspect ex-RAF V-Bomber Avro Vulcan XL426 at close quarters, and have a guided tour of the cockpit. VRT Team members will be on hand to answer questions, and various stalls and refreshments will be available. A line-up of gleaming Triumph Stag sports cars will add to the vintage British history on show. Entry is £1.50, plus £2.00 for the cockpit tour. Gates open at 10am, and close at 4pm.The public will be able to inspect the latest work carried out on XL426 – known as ‘The Southend Vulcan’ – as the ‘426 Return To Power!’ appeal program progresses. A number of items that have been removed from the bomber for restoration will be on display. During the day the aircraft’s Airborne Auxiliary Power Unit (a small Rover jet engine) will be run, allowing various systems on the bomber to be operated, such as the vast bomb doors – which once would have held Britain’s nuclear deterrent, the Blue Steel nuclear missile. One very lucky member of the visiting public will be able to take the controls during this demonstration, for a fee, on a first come basis. A very unique opportunity.

Click Here for the official website for the VRT

First victory for Arch at the Budapest Red Bull Air Race

Posted by Flightline UK on August 20, 2008 under Red Bull Air Race | Be the First to Comment

Austrian ace Hannes Arch won the Red Bull Air Race in Budapest today, claiming his first-ever victory, in only his second season. Britain’s Steve Jones was second while compatriot Paul Bonhomme, the current leader, was third after uncharacteristically making an error in the semi-finals. The result means Arch is now in second place in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship with three more races to go.

“It is just overwhelming, an amazing feeling,” said an elated Arch, who has had a stellar rise from rookie last year to one of this year’s championship contenders. “I couldn’t believe it. You have to stay focused right until the very end and now I am just really happy.” Arch also had the fastest time of the day with 1:03.34 in the semi-finals.

Some 600,000 spectators lined the banks of the River Danube on Wednesday, a Hungarian national holiday, to watch the race under clear blue sunny skies.

The race in Budapest, the sixth of the season, was full of surprises. Mike Mangold finished fourth overall while local hero Peter Besenyei finished fifth, despite a last-minute operation to install a new engine in an effort to increase his speed.

The biggest blow was dealt to 2006 World Champion, American Kirby Chambliss, who in a dramatic reversal of fortune failed to qualify for the Super Eights. He finished last in the Point One competition after he hit one of the pylons and was penalised for Incorrect Level Flying incurring a total of 13 penalty seconds. That capped off a disastrous week for the American and puts his hopes of winning the championship this year in jeopardy.

Bonhomme was putting on a brave face after picking up a three-second penalty for Incorrect Knife Flying finishing third overall. “I am annoyed that the fastest time that I posted was in the last round when I was competing for third place and not before,” said Bonhomme. “I also made a mistake earlier on that was completely avoidable.”

“It has been a tight competition all summer but I am hoping that this will now heap some pressure on Hannes,” he said. “But I have to say that he is flying beautifully at the moment.”

After Budapest, Bonhomme leads the World Championship with 45 points while Arch is second followed by Chambliss. The next race is in Porto, Portugal on 6th and 7th September followed by two further races in Spain and Australia.

Eastbourne: Entry fee leads to airshow flop

Posted by Flightline UK on under Seaside Shows | Be the First to Comment

From BBC News:-

A “top-to-tail” inquiry is to be held after poor attendance figures put a south coast airshow in jeopardy.

Visitors to Eastbourne Airbourne were charged to enter the seafront area for the first time in its 16-year history but only 48,000 paid the £5 admission.

Attendance figures in previous years have been put as high at 800,000.

“Council tax payers have sent a clear message – they do not want to pay for Airbourne,” said Eastbourne council leader David Tutt.

The airshow was kept aloft by sponsors until 2006.

But last year none came forward and the show made a loss which had to be covered by the borough council’s taxpayers.

The council hoped the £5-per-day charge for last week’s show would help secure its future, with profits being pumped into tourism in the East Sussex town.

Exhibitors and trade stands were sited inside the paid-admission area, from Eastbourne Pier to the end of the Western Lawns.

Ticket sales were negligible after 1600 BST on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so organisers threw the gates open on Sunday afternoon to allow traders to sell leftover merchandise.

The traders are furious about the poor attendance, threatening not to return unless the entry fee is scrapped.

Bryan Benning, who runs a bungee jump company, said takings were down 85% on last year and he did not even made enough money to cover staff wages or the rent for the pitch.

The council admitted the low attendance was “a blow”, as visitors and residents demonstrated they did not value the show highly enough to pay for tickets.

It said that weather was better than forecast, but the current economic climate and the Beijing Olympics may also have played a part in keeping spectators away.

It said serious questions would now be asked about the structure of the event in the future.

“We will be investigating what went right, what went wrong and looking very seriously at ways of ensuring the event for future years,” said councillor Tutt.

“Although nothing can be ruled out, Airbourne fans can be assured that this administration will do all that it can to ensure that there is an event for 2009.”

Kemble Airfield Open Days – 13th-14th September

Posted by Flightline UK on August 18, 2008 under Civilian Organised Airshows and Trade Events | Be the First to Comment

Admission (Both Days): £10 per person (Children 15 and under free!)
£8 per person (In Advance)

Featuring: Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire and Hurricane, Piston Provost, Hornet Moth, Ryan PT22, Douglas DC3 Dakota along with Vintage jets from the 1950’s including Hunters, Jet Provosts, Gnat & Vampire, and a host of other vintage aircraft.

Kemble Airport will be open again over the weekend of the 13th & 14th September for its annual Open Day to commemorate Battle of Britain Day. Kemble Open Day will try to recreate the atmosphere of the old RAF “At Home” Days that were common on most service stations up until the 1970’s.

There will be a small afternoon flying display of vintage aeroplanes on each day starting at 2.00pm with the highlight being a display on the Sunday from the Spitfire and Hurricane from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Pleasure flying will be available and Air Atlantique from Coventry will bring along a couple of vintage piston engined aircraft from their collection of 1950’s transport aircraft.

You will get the chance to visit all the flying organisations based at Kemble, including The Flying Club, Cotswold Helicopters, Fly2Help, Ultimate High, the Britannia Preservation Society, Kemble Flying Club and of course Delta Jets, and their outstanding collection of privately owned vintage jets. Refreshments will be available and the popular AV8 restaurant will be open. The RAF Benevolent Fund and Fly2Help, our two favourite charities, will also be involved.

A welcome addition to this years Open Day will be the attraction of aircraft that usually attend the Great Vintage Flying Weekend. Kemble Airport has secured this events future and teamed up with them to invite their pilots to visit Kemble over the open day weekend. If all goes according to plan with the weather we should see a wonderful collection of vintage piston engine aircraft join us and to this end we have now included entry on Saturday 13th.

Advance tickets at £8 per person – on sale soon at local tourist information offices in Cirencester & Tetbury.

CONFIRMED! Avro Vulcan to display at Air Festival

Posted by Flightline UK on August 13, 2008 under Seaside Shows | Be the First to Comment

The vintage bomber was last seen in Bournemouth on 26th August 1991, captained by Paul Millikin, and only returned to the air show circuit this year after ten years’ hard effort and many thousands of hours of hands-on restoration work, by the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

When asked to describe his feelings on the return of the Vulcan to air shows, Dr Robert Pleming, Vulcan to the Sky’s CEO, said: “Pride – pride in a unique achievement by an amazing team, who battled on through some desperate times to return the Vulcan to flight. Pride for Britain, in being able to demonstrate a truly innovative and historic aircraft, designed over 60 years ago. And pride that we are at last able to bring the Vulcan back to her loyal supporters, the great British public.”

Commented Jon Weaver Air Festival Director: “Securing the Vulcan is a great achievement for the town and the Festival; we are delighted to have this fantastic aircraft in the display line-up. In addition to the Red Arrows’ three-day appearance and the impressive list of aircraft coming to the resort, the Festival promises to be a historical event for the town”.

The hard work of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, has been at a cost so far of some £6million, including £2.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The rest – the majority – has come from public donations, from more than 20,000 people worldwide, making XH558 truly ‘the people’s aircraft’.

The Vulcan appearance at the More Bus Air Festival has been secured by the generous donations of the following local businesses – Poole Audi, Aruba, West Beach, Hot Rocks, ROBERTS Estate Agents, Mediawise Ltd, Davison Electricals and Bowmill Engineering.

Commented Andy Price from West Beach and Aruba; “We are proud and delighted to be able to support the momentous appearance of this historic aircraft at the Festival – it will truly be a spectacle for everyone to enjoy.”

Donations to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust can be made at www.tvoc.co.uk

With the announcement of this much loved aircraft displaying at the Air Festival, organisers are urging people to use the Park and Ride service. On Saturday, Kings Park, Bournemouth University (Talbot Campus) and Littledown Centre, gates will open at 0830, an extra half an hour to accommodate the additional festival-goers expected to see the Vulcan – click on the link below for details.

Countdown to Shoreham Airshow

Posted by Flightline UK on August 2, 2008 under Civilian Organised Airshows and Trade Events | Be the First to Comment

One thing that the RAFA Shoreham Airshow prides itself on is the true ‘FAMILY DAY OUT’ – the event now in it’s 19th year plans to do just the same with some top class flying displays lasting approximately six hours with around 50 aircraft participating – stunning ground displays – trade stands – craft tent and clowns for the children with a participation area for them to join in.

Unlike many of the popular sea side events Shoreham is a real airshow with many of the aircraft being based at the airfield giving one the opportunity to meet the pilots and look at the aircraft from close quarters,

A FIRST WILL BE THE GUINOT WING WALKING TEAM DOING A FIVE SHIP DISPLAY – VIC NORMAN THE TEAM’S LEADER SAID “WE FELT SHOREHAM WOULD BE AN IDEAL VENUE TO PERFORM THIS – IT IS OUR FAVOURITE AIRSHOW AND WE FEEL PART OF THE FAMILY HAVING BEEN PARTICIPATING FROM YEAR ONE – TO SEE FIVE AIRCRAFT WITH WING WALKERS WILL BE UNIQUE AND THERE WILL BE NEW EXCITING SEQUENCES NEVER PERFORMED BEFORE BY THE GUINOT TEAM.” This will not been seen at other airshows this weekend and will be a first for Shoreham and has only been performed to our knowledge twice before.

The return of several other popular aircraft including the B25 Mitchell from Holland – The Vampire T11 – Black Cats Helicopter Display Team – Mustang – Curtis P40 Kittyhawk – PBY Catalina – The Blades Aerobatic Team lead by Andy Offer OBE and his team of Ex Red Arrow Pilots.

CHRISTIAN MOULLEC – FROM FRANCE HAS NOT GRACED THE SKIES OF SHOREHAM FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW – SO WE WELCOME HIM BACK WITH HIS MICROLIGHT AND GEESE WHICH FLY ALONGSIDE HIM – CHRISTIAN BRINGS THE GEESE UP FROM CHICKS AND THEY LOOK ON HIM AS THEIR FATHER FIGURE. “Remember the Film Fly Away Home.”

The RAF as usual are supporting us with the Typhoon display alongside the Chinook – Hawk – Tucano – Grob Tutor – Merlin – RAF Falcons Parachute Team – Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (The Spitfire and Hurricane will be basing at Shoreham). It is hoped that the Hercules will be landing with the RAF Falcons!

FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OF LAST YEAR WE WELCOME THE RETURN OF THE SPITFIRE AND HURRICANE SCRAMBLE AND AIRFIELD ATTACK –THIS WILL INCLUDE MORE PYROTECHNICS THAN EVER AND MORE GROUND LOOKALIKES – FROM THE OUTSET THE AIRFIELD WILL BE ATTACKED BY GERMAN ME108 AND ME 109 AIRCRAFT AND YOU CAN SEE FIRST HAND THE BRITISH RESPONSE WITH A MASS SCRAMBLE OF AIRCRAFT FROM THE AIRFIELD – ADD TO THIS THE VEHICLES AND CREWS ON THE GROUND TAKING DEFENSIVE ACTION AND YOU WILL TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME.

Guy Westgate will be back with his Swift Glider performing aerobatics that gets a standing ovation every time he flies; not only from the public but from the other participating crews.

ANOTHER FIRST WILL BE ‘THE DUKES OF CASSUTT’ DISPLAY TEAM – THESE THREE AIRCRAFT WILL BRING BACK THE EARLY DAYS OF AIR RACING REACHING SPEEDS OF UP TO 250 MILES AND HOUR. This team is led by Richard Grace the son of Carolyn Grace who will be opening the show each day in her Spitfire ML 407.

Now recognised my many aviation publications as “Being one of the most popular and proven Airshows on the UK aviation scene” Shoreham has raised record funds for RAFA of over ‘One and a Quarter Million Pounds.’

“IT IS A SHOW THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS – YOU CAN MEET THE PILOTS AND SEE THE AIRCRAFT CLOSE AT HAND WHILST WATCHING THEM TAKE OFF AND LAND TO CREATE THE ACTION OVER SHOREHAM WHICH IS THE OLDEST AIRFIELD IN THE UK.

For more information and advance tickets sales (at discount prices) go to our website or go to our Tickets Hotlines 01903 213386 (Argus) or 01903 215615 (Theatrical Experience).

Bournemouth’s flying display takes shape

Posted by Flightline UK on August 1, 2008 under Seaside Shows | Be the First to Comment

Taking place between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers and along the promenade, the resort will be bustling with, what could be, up to a million visitors over the 4 days, holiday makers and residents.

The More Bus Bournemouth Air Festival will host the following headline military displays – bringing aviation pleasure, enjoyment and entertainment to hundreds of thousands of visitors:

Led by ‘Red One’, the Red Arrows will return to the skies over Bournemouth; recognised as one of the World’s leading military aerobatic display teams, the 9 scarlet Hawks will be taking to the skies not once, or twice, but a record three times this year, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Eurofighter Typhoon will be astounding the crowds with combat performance displays on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.The RAF Falcons will ‘drop in’ each afternoon and perform their unique and colourful aerial display including the ‘no contact’ canopy stack.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will take us back to the 1940s as the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Avro Lancaster take to the skies on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, The Lancaster will be flying solo. We will also see displays by the Royal Air Force’s current line up of training aircraft – the Tutor, Tucano and Hawk on every day of the festival. And The Royal Navy will be supporting with The Royal Navy Black Cats Helicopter Display Team on Thursday and Friday, featuring Lynx helicopters and beach landings, with expected air support, from the naval ship RFA Mounts Bay.

The King Air, with a new prize winning display, will also be taking to the skies on all four days.

Civilian aircraft includes the world’s only formation wing walking team – Team Guinot and locally-based Yakovlevs Aerobatic Team performing on each day of the festival.

The Blue Eagles helicopter diplay team will be thrilling the crowds every afternoon and having been away from the Air Festival circuit for a number of years The Sea Vixen takes to the skys on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

A Falcon 20 jet will take to the skies on Friday whilst on Friday, Saturday and Sunday crowds can enjoy a display from a restored folland Gnat jet. The Gnat will also be performing exclusively with the Red Arrows on Friday and Saturday.

Part of the Royal Navy Historic flight, The Sea Hawk will wow audiences on Saturday and Sunday and the weekend will also enjoy a dynamic routine from a DC-6 jet.

Flying their two seat Extra 300 LP’s The Blades will be performing too on Saturday and Sunday as will The Plane Sailing Catalina.

Not just based upon visual acrobatics and feats of breathtaking sky-high aviation, ground displays, events, ‘Big Bang’ firework display on Saturday night, live music and entertainment will be taking place throughout the day and into the early evening to maintain an action-packed festival theme – watch out for the stunning balloon glow!