Unfortunately, due to operational reasons, the planned formation flypast involving the RAF Red Arrows and the RAF Harrier at Dunsfold has now been cancelled.
We would like to thank all of the teams who had worked hard to stage this special tribute flypast, but unfortunately due to revised positioning of aircraft on the day, the formation will not now be possible.
Whilst the formation flypast has been cancelled, this does not affect the Red Arrows Display nor the RAF Harrier Display which will proceed at Dunsfold on both days.
We apologise for any inconvience this may have caused.
Wings & Wheels are thrilled to announce that on Sunday 29th August the airshow will be paying tribute to the Harrier and celebrating 50 years since the first vertical take-off, which took place at the aerodrome in October 1960, with a very special flypast.
Having taken a break from the airshow circuit for four years, the Harrier is back and joining the Show on both days and in a unique twist organisers have teamed up with the RAF Red Arrows to bring the crowds something a little bit different.
Wings & Wheels are delighted to confirm that the Red Arrows and the Harrier will be marking the anniversary with a special tribute flypast formation.
Gerry Forristal, Air Display Director, Wings & Wheels comments: “The aerodrome at one time was not only home to the Hawk aircraft flown by the Reds but played a key role in the development of the iconic Harrier. With 2010 being such an exceptional year for both us and the Harrier, we are delighted that the Red Arrows and the Harrier have agreed to team up and help us celebrate this landmark with a special tribute flypast formation.”
Jamie McAllister, Event Director, Wings & Wheels comments: “We are extremely proud and very excited to welcome the Harrier back which we know is a firm favourite with our Wings & Wheels visitors. The formation flypast tribute is something not seen before at our airshow and we hope our visitors on Sunday enjoy watching and joining us in our celebrations.”
Dunsfold Aerodrome has an illustrious aviation history and for many years was used as a flight test centre for Harriers and Hawks for the worldwide markets. The Hawk aircraft, flown by the Red Arrows, and most of its components are British made, built and, at one time, delivered from Dunsfold Aerodrome.
Attracting phenomenal crowds of over 25,000 in 2009 with some of the finest aircraft and motoring displays in the UK, Wings & Wheels is not just an Airshow, it’s an exciting weekend of family entertainment.
Tickets are still on sale for the advanced rate of £16 until 5pm on Saturday 28th and can be purchased from Dunsfold Park Estate Office, Guildford Tourist Office, Horsham Tourist Office, Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust and Brooklands Museum.
The Red Arrows will be headlining this year’s airshow and performing on both days, Sunday 29th and Monday 30th August. Also confirmed in the spectacular 4 hour flying displays are the RAF Typhoon, RAF Hawk (Solo Hawk Jet), RAF Tutor (Solo Training Aircraft), Lynx Helicopter, Blades Aerobatic Display Team, Breitling Wingwalkers, Hawker Hunter (Jet), Hawker Hurricane (WW2), Red Bull Matadors, Aerobatic Glider Display, Tigers Parachute Team and Vulcan Bomber.
The ‘Wheels’ of the show is masterminded by Brooklands Museum who have lined-up an assortment of motoring icons, including Aston Martins, Ferraris, Jaguars, AC Cobras, Lotuses, Porsches, TVRs and the McLaren Mercedes SLR, to entertain the crowds as they demonstrate their speed and power up and down the runway made famous by BBC’s Top Gear.
The two day show is being held over the August Bank Holiday, Sunday 29th and Monday 30th August, at Dunsfold Park near Guildford, Surrey and is open to spectators from 9.00 to 18.00.
Tickets prices remain the same as 2009 and start from: £16 for adults, £5 for under 15’s and £36 for a family. Hospitality packages start at £120 per person. For more information or to book a ticket visit www.wingsandwheels.net.
Wings & Wheels is promoted by Dunsfold Park Limited to help raise monies for nominated charities: Brooklands Museum Trust, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance, Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust and Help for Heroes.
The Swift Aerobatic Display Team were honoured to be asked to display at the 21st Battle of Britain Airshow at Shoreham this year. The south coast was plagued by bad weather for the entire weekend, including the displays at Bournemouth and Shoreham. The glider closed the display at Shoreham on Saturday, and opened the show on Sunday morning.
Team Member Mike Newman flew the Swift glider for the Sunday display and had an accident on landing.
The glider has been badly damaged, but Mike freed himself from the wreckage. He was treated by paramedics at the scene and then taken to hospital for detailed checks.
Mike is in good spirits and the whole team wish him a speedy recovery.
CASSARUBIOS, Spain – It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Red Bull Air Race pilot Alejandro (Alex) Maclean, who has died today at the age of 41 following a fatal accident in his native Spain while carrying out aerobatic training for an Air Show. Our thoughts are with his wife Emma and their two children aged 7 and 12.
The entire Red Bull Air Race community and the aerobatic fraternity have lost one of their most vibrant and passionate characters. Alex’s significant contribution to the growth and development of the Red Bull Air Race over the past six years and to aviation in general will be remembered forever by those who shared this journey with him.
The former captain of the Spanish national aerobatic team began his Red Bull Air Race career in 2003 and was a key figure in the evolution of the championship. A fiercely competitive streak led the Spaniard to accelerate the development of the MXS-R with fellow pilot Nigel Lamb and Alex kept his longstanding technician busy with an aggressive modification schedule.
Known at the Race Airport for his expressive Latino temperament, Alex was a deeply sensitive and emotionally charged character who fought against obvious frustration when results weren’t forthcoming. Despite this, he continued to push forward with his loyal team and finished the 2010 season on a philosophical note, taking personal responsibility for a disappointing result.
While he worked his race team hard and expected absolute commitment, Alex treated his technician Jesús Cañadilla, team coordinator Carola Bisci and coach Eneko Larumbe like family. He showed a deep respect for those who supported him and placed great value on building genuine friendships. Definitely not one to suffer fools gladly, the articulate and considered pilot often made journalists work hard for their quotes but his level of introspection and self-awareness added a fascinating dimension to any interview. His colourful character was a welcome contrast to many of the more reserved pilots.
Outside the Red Bull Air Race, Alex was a dedicated ambassador for flying and was recently named as the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Paul Tissandier Diploma for his contribution to sporting aviation. Fascinated by the idea of flight since childhood, he started flying ultralight aircraft before moving on to high performance aerobatic planes and was a celebrated competition pilot on the European stage before embarking upon the next chapter of his career with the Red Bull Air Race.
LAUSITZ, Germany – Britain’s Paul Bonhomme won the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship by taking second place behind Austria’s Hannes Arch in the final race of the season at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany on Sunday. In another thrilling duel in front of a crowd of 65,000, Australia’s Matt Hall got the third podium of his career with third place in the 50th race in the sport’s history while Germany’s Matthias Dolderer finished seventh to the delight of the big home crowd.
Bonhomme, who also won the 2009 championship, finished the six-race season with 64 points and two victories — in Abu Dhabi in New York. Arch, the 2008 champion, ends the year with 60 points and four wins — in Perth, Rio, Windsor and Germany. Britain’s Nigel Lamb ended up third overall on 55 points.
Arch stopped the clock through the 15-gate track set up in the infield of the EuroSpeedway Lausitz race track in 1:12.30 while Bonhomme took second in 1:12.66 and Hall was in 1:17.41 — hurt by four seconds in penalties. Lamb was knocked out of the Final Four due to a flat tyre suffered just before take-off.
“It’s very special,” Bonhomme said, who let out a loud celebration cheer over his cockpit radio after he clinched the title. Bonhomme, the most successful pilot in the history of the sport with 13 career victories, admitted he was disappointed that he failed to beat Arch in the season finale even though he did get a record 13th straight podium with second place on a sunny afternoon in Germany.
“It feels good,” Bonhomme said. “The key thing is that we won back-to-back championships, that’s what I’m going to be taking away. I’ve been saying all year I’ve been relaxed and had stayed that way right up to this race. But I knew this race could make or break the whole championship. The day didn’t go exactly as I planned but I’m very pleased about the whole year.” Bonhomme is the first pilot to win back-to-back titles and joins American Mike Mangold as the only two-time champion in the eight-year race history.
Arch, who now has seven career wins, pushed Bonhomme to the limits all season and kept the pressure on his British rival to the final round. Bonhomme had posted faster times than Arch all weekend and had won the Qualifying point earlier on Sunday. But Arch pulled out all the stops in the Final Four, posting a blistering time that Bonhomme could not match.
“I knew I could win the race because the plane is fast and it’s a fast track,” Arch said, taking great satisfaction about winning four of the six races this year. “We might not have won the championship but we have four races and have lots of track records this year. We’re happy about that, it’s a good feeling. “
Bonhomme, Arch, Lamb, Hall and Dolderer told a news conference after the race they hoped the race would return to the EuroSpeedway in the future. “It’s a superb venue,” Bonhomme said. “We’re a motor racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I hope that when the air race season fires up again we have a lot more venues like this and that we indeed come back here again as well.”
From the RAF Hawk Display Facebook pages and official website:-
It is with considerable regret that Flt Lt Tom Saunders has been withdrawn from his role as the Hawk solo Display Pilot for the remainder of the Summer display season. This follows an incident which took place recently involving the Hawk Display aircraft.
The RAF is aware of how popular the Hawk solo display is and apologises for any disappointment caused. Unfortunately, it is not possible to find a replacement display pilot in time for the remainder of the current season but we are looking at whether it is possible to offer alternatives to the solo Hawk display at the scheduled events instead
Why has the RAF cancelled the solo Hawk Display?
� An incident has occurred involving the pilot of the RAF Hawk Display aircraft, who has since been withdrawn from his role. The incident is being investigated and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
How long is this cancellation going to be in effect ?
� Unfortunately, it will not be possible to restore the full Hawk display during the current season but alternatives are being considered.
Is this linked to the grounding of the Hawk fleet ?
� No, this is unrelated to the ongoing safety checks of the Hawk ejection seats.
Why not get another display pilot?
� It is not possible to substitute another pilot at this late stage in the season as it takes months of practice to learn the display and achieve the high quality performance.
What about the Hawk Display fundraising activities for the RAF Benevolent Fund?
� The Hawk Display team is involved in fundraising activities for the RAF Benevolent Fund. The RAF regrets any impact the cancellation of the solo Hawk Display may have on these fundraising activities and is looking at alternatives to mitigate any loss in fundraising.
There’s just a week to go until Eastbourne International Airshow zooms back to the UK’s sunniest place with visitors ready to enjoy hours of spectacular flying, seven days of live Radio Airbourne broadcast, 35,000 ice-creams, brand new Picnic on the Proms and a dazzling firework finale!
Airbourne returns to Eastbourne seafront next week from 12-15 August and now in its 18th year, promises to be bigger and better than every before with fantastic flying, evening entertainment, arena displays, Bandstand concerts and more!
Headlining this year’s free event is four days of displays from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, commemorating 70 years since the Battle of Britain was fought out over south east England with Saturday evening offering a special anniversary display. Visitors can look forward an exciting Dogfight re-enactment between the Spitfire and Buchon Messerschmitt 109 in an attack on a pleasure boat before a new evening extravaganza.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism, Cllr Neil Stanley said “I am extremely excited for this year’s Airbourne and the fantastic programme of displays and entertainment coming up next week! Not only do we have a brilliant flying programme and the chance for visitors to get their hands on the latest flying schedule when they buy the souvenir programme, but there are great new evening events, the popular Bandstand concerts, the wonderful RAF Village and of course, the acclaimed firework finale to round off four bumper packed days! Set on our stunning seafront, with lots to see and do, Airbourne is the perfect event to keep you entertained for a long weekend by the coast!”
Crowd favourites the Red Arrows, whose display is sponsored by TravelInsured.co.uk, are back for three days of flying on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with a special ground appearance on Saturday afternoon finishing with a flypast on Sunday. And the Reds will be joined by a top line up of international aircraft over the four days including the Belgian F-16, Eurofighter Typhoon, P-51 Mustang, and Catalina.
With such a vast line up of flying, Airbourne is going into the evening on both Friday and Saturday night in 2010. Come Fly With Me! returns on Friday evening with the Typhoon, Gnats, Blades, Spitfire and Hurricane Bomber performing an evening display from 6-8pm while the Swing Street Band perform in the arena playing a variety of music, from Frank Sinatra to Michael Buble!
Brand new for 2010, Saturday evening offers another evening extravaganza with Picnic on the Proms. Following the special Battle of Britain 70 display, The Shades of Blue Big Band, part of The Band of the RAF Regiment, will perform in the arena and visitors are invited to bring a picnic to the lawns and chill out as the sun goes down on a busy day at Airbourne.
With plenty of reasons for visitors to have their eyes to the skies, there is also lots to look forward to on the ground including the RAF Village on the Western Lawns offering a fascinating insight into life in the Royal Air Force. Children can sit in a replica Red Arrow cockpit or climb aboard a replica Chinook, while the RAF Careers team speak to budding young pilots, and the Mobile Catering Unit carry out field cookery demonstrations.
For those who want their own personal soundtrack to the airshow, visitors can buy Airbourne radio headsets from the Information Tent at the event and tune into Radio Airbourne on 87.7FM promising 165 hours of live commentary, pilot interviews, music, weather and travel updates with a programme and radio headset available together for only £6.
The airshow opens from 10am – 6pm each day from Thursday 12 – Sunday 15 August, with extended flying until 8pm on Friday, a live band until 8pm on Saturday, and a firework finale launched from Eastbourne Pier at 10pm on Sunday night.
For more information on Airbourne 2010 visit the Airbourne website or telephone 0871 663 0031.
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CASSARUBIOS, Spain – It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Red Bull Air Race pilot Alejandro (Alex) Maclean, who has died today at the age of 41 following a fatal accident in his native Spain while carrying out aerobatic training for an Air Show. Our thoughts are with his wife Emma and their two children aged 7 and 12.
