Officials at the Old Buckenham Airfield revealed this year that they would not be staging a day of aviation displays after 11 years of organising a charity airshow at the former second world war base.
However, the new management at the airfield said the Old Buckenham Airshow would be returning in 2012 with an event on Sunday, June 24. As in previous years, the show is being held to raise funds for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), which has a base at nearby Quidenham.
Officials from the Touchdown Aero Centre, which operates the airfield, said the airshow would offer displays from perennially popular vintage aircraft to the latest in modern aerobatic machines. The event will also feature a fairground, military static and vintage agricultural displays.
Claire LeLievre, EACH Norfolk fundraiser, said: “We’re delighted to hear that the popular Old Buckenham Airshow will return again next year. Here at EACH we rely upon voluntary donations for the majority of our income, which is why support from events such as the Old Buckenham Airshow are so important to us. All funds raised will allow us to provide care and support to local life-threatened children and their families.”
Organisers are also eager to hear from steam, military and classic vehicle owners who can display their cars with a parade on the runway. All exhibitors will be given free tickets to the event.
Tickets, which will be £12 per person, and £6 for 16s and under, will go on sale online from January 15.
For further information, call 01953 860 806, email airfield@oldbuck.com or visit the website at www.oldbuckenhamairshow.co.uk
I would like to wish all a very merry and safe christmas and a happy new year! Thanks for all the support throughout the last few years – we’ll be back in the new year for the 2012 season!!!
The Bournemouth Air Festival 2011 was one of the most outstanding events of airshow season. Following a very, very damp Thursday which led to the cancellation of the day’s activities, the following three days saw some outstanding weather with the flying displays enjoyed by huge crowds. Sadly as many of you will know, the event hit the national headlines following the fatal Red Arrows accident that occurred as the team recovered to Bournemouth Airport following their display on the Saturday.
Since the event first started in 2008, the event has been well supported by Hallmark Productions who not only produce the souvenir DVD, but also provide a number of video clips for the Air Festival’s own YouTube channel.
The flying displays are covered in great depth, particularly compared with some other airshow DVDs which sometimes only give a few seconds of airtime to some displays. Coverage is also very complete with every act covered in the main feature except the Red Arrows. The filming of the flying displays is superb with not only some superb image quality and clarity, but also a pleasing number of different angles. The film crews have taken full advantage of Bournemouth’s wonderful seafront venue and there is also plenty of brilliant mini-cam footage from in the cockpit and mounted all over various aircraft.
The main commentary is provided by Brendan O’Brien, but impressively many of the displays feature commentary from the pilots involved. Much of this has been recorded after the event, some of which has been done via Skype and provides a fascinating insight to the displays and how they are performed which means you can forgive a slight drop in sound quality.
However, what I find most impressive are the many bonus features. Perhaps the most notable is coverage of the Red Arrows display on the Saturday which is present minus commentary which is very poignant. There are some extended interviews with airshow personalities such as Paul Bonhomme, Brendan O’Brien and Jonathon Whaley and the RAF pilots. Another feature which also stands out is a time-lapse sequence of the seafront which shows the incredible scale of the event.
The Red Arrows accident clearly made coverage of the Bournemouth Air Festival very difficult, but Hallmark have produced a wonderful reminder of a truly great event!
A rare Russian-built helicopter never before seen in the UK is among the first aircraft to confirm participation in next summer’s Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford.
The Polish Navy will be sending one of its Mi-14 ‘Haze’ helicopters, which are used in Anti-Submarine Warfare and Search and Rescue, to the Air Tattoo on July 7-8 along with a maritime and reconnaissance variant of the Soviet-made Antonov An-28.
Both Hungary and Latvia have also confirmed they will be sending Russian-built aircraft, the former sending an Antonov An-26 transport aeroplane and the latter an Mi-8 helicopter. This performs a search-and-rescue role as well as transporting troops and supporting Special Forces. Other aircraft from Brazil and France have also been confirmed for the Air Tattoo.
Pollish Navy Mi-14 Haze - RIAT 2012
Air Tattoo Chief Executive Tim Prince said: “Russian-built aircraft are very popular among UK enthusiasts because of their rarity on these shores. To have one making its UK debut is a real coup and one the enthusiasts will look forward to seeing.
“With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics taking place in the UK next year, I think there’s a feeling that this is the place to be in 2012. Although it is still early for most international air arms to confirm their participation we are already hearing whispers from Asia that might see some extremely rare and exotic aircraft heading for Fairford next summer. It’s very exciting.”
Next summer’s Air Tattoo, which is staged in support of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust, will see the airshow join forces with the RAF to stage a special Diamond Jubilee celebration in honour of Her Majesty The Queen.
A limited number of special Super Earlybird tickets, priced £29, are available until January 4 by visiting www.airtattoo.com or by calling 0800 107 1940. All Air Tattoo tickets must be purchased in advance. All accompanied under-16s go free.
This morning the Royal International Air Tattoo has announced its first aircraft participants for the 2012. RIAT have taken the unusual step of giving its participants pages a complete make over showing confirmed aircraft as well as invited countries as well as further information such as Frequently Asked Questions on the process of securing participation.
It may not even be Christmas yet, but the Shoreham Airshow Committee have met for the first time despite the cold weather. I’m lucky enough to be on the committee being responsible for the management of the website which is donated by Flightline UK. Over the coming months I hope to run a series of blogs detailing some of the latest news from behind the scenes at one of the UK’s most popular airshows.
2011 was a good year for Shoreham in terms of the execution of the event – most things went very well indeed. However, there was a marked drop in income for the show. It is not something that is unique to Shoreham. Several other shows have suffered similar stories and sadly some of them will not be re-appearing in 2012. Sadly in these days of few wage increases, ever increasing fuel costs and so on means that everyone from the aircraft operators to the family are having their budgets squeezed. Despite this, the airshow did manage a significant donation to the Royal Air Forces Association Wings Appeal which is a great achievement in these tough times.
So what of the future? Firstly, at the wash up meeting in September the committee overwhelmingly voted to carry on, but changes would have to be made to the airshow in order to protect it from the costs. Every bit of spending has been reviewed in the essential business meetings and where necessary changes have been implemented. The committee itself has been restructured too to help spread the demands over the membership.
The changes are not just behind the scenes and some will be very noticeable to regular visitors. A tricky balance needs to addressed between the show’s own expectations and finances, those of the traders and particularly those of the thousands of visitors who together have helped to bring in over £1.6 million for the annual RAFA Wings Appeal. Attending a show must be of value to traders; if they turn up and are bypassed or missed by visitors they will not come again and some of the changes being discussed at the moment will hopefully improve their exposure to the crowds. Equally, the show should be attractive to not just aviation minded visitors, but the whole family and the show will bring in changes to to maximise the appeal.
There will changes to the flying display, and I’ll hopefully be able to detail these in future blogs but for the now I can say the main theme of the airshow will be the “100th Anniversary of the Central Flying School.” The flying display team will be liaising with the RAF Events Team over the coming months as well as private operators to have some fitting aircraft to celebrate this important milestone.
This blog may mention ‘finance’ and ‘money’ quite a bit, but that is possibly because it is one of the biggest worries facing airshow organisers in 2012 alongside safety throughout the show. It is not only display act costs that increase each year as fuel and maintenance costs rise. In particular Policing, Security and Insurance costs seem to rise year on year too and any event organiser will tell you they are feeling the squeeze. It may seem all doom and gloom, but the changes being made to Shoreham Airshow should end up having a positive outcome for all! More next month!
Tickets for the RAFA Shoreham Airshow 2012 will be on sale in the near future – keep checking http://www.shorehamairshow.co.uk for more details.
The Service Inquiry investigating the circumstances of the death of Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, Red 5, at RAF Scampton on Tuesday 8 November 2011 is still ongoing. However, sufficient technical and safety advice has been provided to allow the MoD to release all Hawk MkT1A aircraft, including those of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows, back into service.
The Red Arrows will, weather permitting and following a short period of staff continuation training, resume display training for the 2012 display season at the earliest opportunity.
OC RAFAT, Squadron Leader Jim Turner, would like to thank everyone who has contacted the Team and Sean’s family with messages of sympathy, support and encouragement. Once again, the Service and public support has been overwhelming. With the express consent of Jim, Monika and Nicky Cunningham, he is pleased to announce that Squadron Leader Martin Higgins, currently Red 10, will take Sean’s place as Red 5 for the 2012 display season. Squadron Leader Mike Ling will re-join the Team as Red 10
Produced by Adrenalin Television; available from airtattoo.com priced £16.95 DVD, £24.95 Blu-Ray
The Royal International Air Tattoo is the UK’s biggest military airshow and this year celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the NATO Tiger Association as well as it’s own 40th anniversary. In forty years the show has grown from relative modest beginning to one of the most important dates on the military aviation and defence calendar.
Adrenalin Television’s production is suitably pitched for the event covering all aspects of the event from the flying displays, static displays and some of the most important events take took place around RIAT such as the naming ceremony for the RAF’s new Airbus A330MRTT Voyager KC1.
The production is superbly narrated by one of the Air Tattoo’s commentators, Ben Dunnell. There are many different interviews with important personalities from the show and pilots interspersed amongst some superb filming of the flying displays.
2011 saw very mixed weather conditions throughout the six days of aviation activities at Fairford which is something the filming crews have coped with admirably. It also has meant some of the sequences are particularly dramatic with vapour streaming from the aircraft during their displays.
Like most airshow productions these days, the DVD allows viewers to turn the commentary off and on during playback via the audio button, but the commentary is very well pitched and is kept to a minimum during the displays.
The flying display filming contains an impressive amount of minicam footage from on-board the display aircraft. Some displays such as the French Air Force Rafale display contain multiple on-board minicam angles giving a superb sense of the work of the displays pilots during their routines.
The 2011 DVD is a superb production whether you went to the show or not. It’s high quality presentation and production means it is another stand out product.
Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton has been selected as one of the winners in the ‘Tourism Event of the Year’ category by the South West Tourism Alliance. The annual Air Day which took place in July this year attracted nearly 30,000 visitors who experienced one of the best Air Days in recent years.
The South West Tourism Excellence Awards are the official tourism awards for the region with winners going on to represent the south west at the national VisitEngland awards. This year’s judging was the tightest ever requiring lengthy debates amongst the Judging Panel, whose Chairman, Alistair Handyside, commented: “These finalists represent the best of the best tourism businesses in the South West. The visitor economy is crucial to our region and these businesses are an example to all of us, to show what can be achieved in these challenging times”.
Air Day 2011 celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Lynx helicopter which has developed an enviable reputation over decades of service as the best small ship’s helicopter in the world and is used by the Royal Navy and many foreign navies. The show attracted exceptionally rare displays to the UK by the Polish Air Force MiG-29, French Navy Rafale and Super Etendard, and Royal Netherlands Air Force Apache. It also featured a unique flypast by the world’s only airworthy Sea Vixen and Vulcan Bomber – a formation of British built classic jets that will probably never be seen again.
Although the show put on an exceptional display in the air the whole visitor experience was scrutinised for the awards. Commodore Paul Chivers OBE, Commanding Officer of RNAS Yeovilton said: “This is an outstanding achievement for the Air Station community and our commercial partners, AHA Events Ltd. Despite being extremely busy delivering the high demands of our operational commitments worldwide I am very proud of my team in putting on a top class event on the ground and in the air. I look forward to welcoming everyone to Air Day 2012 on Saturday 23 June.”
Robin Barker, Director of Services for Tourism Ltd, who coordinate the Awards on behalf of the South West Tourism Alliance, added: “Five years ago the Awards judges were often comparing good with bad, but that time is well passed. Now it’s simply about who is the more excellent! I offer my congratulations to everyone involved.”
RNAS Yeovilton will have to wait until 6th February to learn whether they have won Gold, Silver or Bronze at the prestigious Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Independent and BBC Travel Writer Simon Calder at Torquay’s Riviera Centre.
A FICTIONAL fast jet pilot named ‘Ace Mandala’ has been unveiled as the face of next summer’s Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, organisers have announced.
Ace will feature prominently on billboards, in advertising and on poster sites around the UK in the run-up to next summer’s airshow on July 7-8.
Ace is the creation of renowned artist David Bent, who was inspired following a trip to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus in 2007 at the invitation of the Red Arrows. The Red Arrows first saw David’s work on display at the Air Tattoo and shortly after his visit to Cyprus, the artist was invited to become the Reds’ artist in residence.
It was whilst photographing one of the display pilots in his Hawk jet that the idea for Ace came. David said: “Although Ace made his first appearance on the 2011 posters we hadn’t given him a name or an identity. I believe he symbolises all the skilled, adventurous and brave airmen who fly. We decided we’d develop him as a character so that he could become the face of the Air Tattoo. Ultimately, I hope Ace will be to the Air Tattoo what The Stig is to Top Gear.”
Air Tattoo Marketing Deputy Director Helen Webb said when she first saw David’s artwork she was immediately struck by his vivid use of colours and his ability to convey all the excitement aviation has to offer. She said: “We felt that if David could apply the same eye-catching techniques to creating a poster image for the Air Tattoo then it could have a big impact. In the past, members of the Red Arrows have said their journey to becoming a world-class pilot was first inspired by a visit to the Air Tattoo. By bringing ‘Ace Mandala’ to life, we hope to convey the sort of excitement and thrills that can spark the imagination of a future fast jet pilot.”
Next summer’s Air Tattoo on July 7-8 will see the airshow join forces with the Royal Air Force to stage a special Diamond Jubilee celebration in honour of Her Majesty The Queen. A limited number of special Super Earlybird tickets, priced £29, are available by visiting www.airtattoo.com or by calling 0800 107 1940. All tickets must be purchased in advance. All accompanied under-16s go free.
May does seem a very long time ago now, 2011 was a very long season. Sadly, 2011 will be remembered more for the tragic events that befell the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team in late August and early November. The loss of both Flt Lt Jon Egging and Flt Lt Sean Cunningham were keenly felt across the airshow fraternity. It was amazing and heart-warming to see the public reaction, particularly at Bournemouth where floral tributes where left both at the airport and at the town hall and there were long queues to sign Books of Condolence.
In many ways, 2011 had already been a difficult season. Airshows hit the headlines in July again for the wrong reasons following the dramatic collision between P-51D Mustang Big Beautuful Doll and the AJBS Skyraider at the end of Duxford’s Flying Legends. However, Rob Davies’ amazing act of abandoning the stricken Mustang must go down as one of the most incredible escapes to captured in superb detail in film and still photographs.
The UK airshow season got underway at the beginning of May at Old Warden. Even though the skies were clear it was very windy which forced a small rethink on the running order but the show did manage to show off the collection’s newly restored Polikarpov Po-2 which has been subject of a long restoration.
The Po-2 was just one of a number of new aircraft to UK skies. Flying Legends is always a place to see some fantastic debut appearances. The Red Bull operated P-38 Lightning and F-4U Corsair both made their long awaiting first appearances in the UK during the show which also included some stunning warbirds from across Europe.
Despite the global military cutbacks, RIAT still attracted a number of highlights, not least the UK debut of the Turkish Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon solo display. The ‘Solo Turk’s” display may have been very good, but did it really deserve flying display awards over the quite fantastic displays from Mitch Buelen in the Belgian F-16?
RIAT also welcomed back the Ukrainian Air Force with static displays from a giant Ilyushin Il-76 Transport and a Sukhoi Su-27UB Flanker. Both were stunning additions to a very spread out static display, but will probably be remembered more for their slightly over spectacular departures – the Il-76 first cycling his landing gear slightly too early shredding tyres on the runway and the Su-27 performing a low roll shortly after takeoff!
RIAT may have suffered more than most with smaller military showing in 2011, but if affected shows up and down the country. The RAF’s involvement in Libya meant that RAF Coningsby was unable to support the Typhoon display and threatened the increased involvement in air displays by XV Squadron’s role demonstration team. The latter eventually was confirmed available for displays representing the RAF’s front line at almost all of the major UK airshows and some further afield.
Despite the cutbacks however, Waddington and RIAT both welcomed different national display teams who were touring Europe. Waddington welcomed the United States Air Force Thunderbirds with their fleet of pristine F-16s who put on powerful and thunderous displays throughout Europe during the early Summer. RIAT saw the UK debut of the Royal Saudi Air Force’s display team, the Saudi Hawks who were making their first appearances in Europe since their formation. Sadly, RIAT’s poor weather meant the team only appeared once over the weekend for their long awaited debut. USAF also contributed their A-10C Thunderbolt II solo display to RIAT which was particularly unlucky to not win a display award. Other stand out displays were the looping Italian Air Force C-27J Spartan, an impressive flypast celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Air Cadets as well as rare static display appearances from a RAF C-17A Globemaster and the newest aircraft in the RAF inventory, the Airbus A330MRTT Voyager KC1. RIAT also provided the only oppotunity in the UK to see a Eurofighter Typhoon display with an example from BAE Systems. However, for me the stand out display at RIAT was that provided by one of the show’s sponsors, Breitling. To see the four Boeing Stearman of the Breitling Wingwalkers and the seven L-39C Albatros jets of the Breitling Jet Team perform together was perhaps one of the most unique sights at any airshow this year, anywhere in the world.
One military airshow that did buck the trend was Yeovilton. The main theme of the show was the 40th anniversary of the Westland Lynx, and this was celebrated in style with not only a massed formation and the role demos, but also the public flying display debut of the AgustaWestland Wildcat which is the latest development of the Lynx airframe and will shortly enter service with the Army Air Corps and Royal Navy. However, it was the visitors that really made the show. The static display saw a rare appearance by a German F-4F Phantom II and an impressive collection of historic Lynx airframes. In the air though there were some really impressive fast jet displays. The Belgian F-16 maybe a regular visitor the UK but is always a highlight and it was joined by Polish Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum and a quite superb role demonstration by a French Navy Super Etendard and Rafale M. The icing on the cake was a very special flypast by the Vulcan and Sea Vixen! For me and many others, Yeovilton was show of the year!
The effect of military operations did not only affect big military airshows. One of the biggest annual events is the Sunderland International Airshow. Despite a very early announcement on it’s 2011 dates, the RAF still managed to book it’s annual block leave over that shows weekend due to various different events in August. Full credit must go to Flying Display Director Ian Sheeley and Sunderland Council for producing such an enjoyable event despite only having the Tutor T1, RAF Falcons and Royal Navy Black Cats available from the military which are such an important part of seaside airshows.
Sunderland is one of a number of seaside airshows which are becoming some of the most innovative airshows in the country. Both Sunderland and Bournemouth have led the way with their evening displays. Both venues featured the SWIP Team with their wingtip pyrotechinics for the ‘Launch Party’ at Sunderland and the impressive ‘Night Air’ as part of the Bournemouth Air Festival. Bournemouth went one better inviting two further displays, O’Brien’s Flying Circus and GliderFX, to provide further pyrotechnic displays and the Tigers Parachute Display Team jumping with glowing jumpsuits. Both shows will hopefully feature evening events again in 2012 with further developed concepts.
The imagination at Bournemouth was not just restricted to the night shows – there were some superb formation flypasts feature the De Havilland Sea Vixen and Hawker Hunter Miss Demeanour and the RV8tors joining up with a Spitfire TIX to promote a fly2help competition. Such flypasts were not just restricted to Bournemouth either. Other standout flypasts were the P-40/F16 and Spitfire/F16 flypasts at Eastbourne. But perhaps the most enjoyable of the year was the pair of Hawker Hunter Miss Demeanour and Royal Navy Historic Flight operated Hawker Sea Fury T20 at Dunsfold. Jonathon Whaley and Chris Gotke’s formation passes were superbly presented were very well received – let’s hope something similar can be repeated before too long.
Seaside Airshows once again proved highly popular events. Southend and Margate survived the typical british summer grey skies in the early part of the season. 2011 was a significant year for Margate which changed venue from Palm Bay to the seafront in the main town area which in our eyes was a great move with the break water providing a superb ventage point to watch the flying displays from. Both Eastbourne and Bournemouth also saw their opening days wiped out by the weather which actually caused significant flood damage in Bournemouth town centre. The same weather at Bournemouth also affected the popular Dawlish Airshow. However when the sun shone, the seaside venues come in to their own. Southport enjoyed a particularly good airshows set against the extensive sands and bright blue skies.
2011 also saw the 60th anniversary of the Hawker Hunter. The Cotswold Airshow at Kemble, RIAT and Dunsfold all held special displays by Team Viper taking centre stage. Kemble and RIAT saw some exciting visiting Hunters from overseas with the pair of Dutch Hunters at Kemble and the Swiss Tiger Hunter T68 at RIAT. Sadly though these rare visiting Hunters were under-used and only seen as part of the mass formation flypasts.
Both Duxford and Old Warden enjoyed successful seasons hosting some of the best airshows of the Summer. Duxford 2011 was particularly fine with three very varied flying displays. Of particular note were the September and October shows with the visiting USAF F-15E Strike Demo team making their own weather systems in September and the debut of the Meteor Flight’s stunning Gloster Meteor T7 at the season ending Autumn show.
Some of the UK’s more traditional airshows enjoyed mixed fortunes. Cosford was a near wash-out but did at least put on a credible show whereas Shoreham enjoyed much better weather than 2010 though more than it’s fair share of bad luck with classic jet serviceability and the unfortunate knock-on events from the Red Arrows accident at Bournemouth. Shoreham was just one of three shows that booked the Sea Vixen at late notice to cover the loss of the Vulcan and other jets to technical problems and it was undoubtely a highlight of those events; hopefully it will be more widely seen in 2012. Dunsfold too returned with another enjoyable Wings and Wheels which is always a great family day out mixing flying and mooring displays on the main runway at the secretive Surrey airfield. Some of the UK’s smaller shows also enjoyed mixed fortunes; a great discovery for me this year was the airshow at Baxterley which must be one of the most compact airshow venues there is. Sadly though it seems as though there will be no more airshows at Rougham after the death of Sir John Agnew which is a sad loss to the airshow circuit. Seething Charity Air Day though will return in 2012 and was in fine form this year with superb displays by Kennet’s Skyraider and the Harwick Warbirds Mustang Duo and Harvard.
2011 was definatly a mixed year with some great high points during a season where the weather was mostly kind. It was actually a very sigificant year for UK airshows seeing the formation of the British Air Display Association (BADA). The association hit the ground running being at the forefront of negotiations of 2012 Olympic airspace. The Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority recently unveiled revised plans for the airspace which are now much kinder to affected airshows such as Dunsfold, Duxford and Farnborough. And 2012 is already looking very promising – several new events will be taking place, not least major seaside airshows at Portsmouth, Rye and Folkestone. May 2012 can’t some fast enough!
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I would like to wish all a very merry and safe christmas and a happy new year! Thanks for all the support throughout the last few years – we’ll be back in the new year for the 2012 season!!!
A rare Russian-built helicopter never before seen in the UK is among the first aircraft to confirm participation in next summer’s Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford.
It may not even be Christmas yet, but the Shoreham Airshow Committee have met for the first time despite the cold weather. I’m lucky enough to be on the committee being responsible for the management of the website which is donated by Flightline UK. Over the coming months I hope to run a series of blogs detailing some of the latest news from behind the scenes at one of the UK’s most popular airshows.
