Flightline UK is now compiling the 2011 Airshow Calendar. Once again we will have a very detailed calendar covering all UK air show dates that we are aware of with short descriptions of each event, website links and a postcode for car SAT NAV systems.
For 2011, we have also introduced a European Calendar for the first time as more and more continental events are appearing in our reviews, plus clashes between UK and European events can be just as difficult for organisers and enthusiasts alike. Where possible each entry is linked to each shows official website.
To make the Flightline UK Airshow Calendars the best on the internet, we need your help. If you know of or run an event that is missing from the calendars, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Adding an event is completly free! (We welcome extra details such as participation/attractions for the UK Airshow Calendar too!)
Our first airshow review of the year has been published today. Mike Rivett reports on the Al Ain Aerobatics Show from the heart of the UAE desert. The show saw some stunning displays from the like of the UK’s Jonathon Whalley flying the Hunter F58 “Miss Demeanour” ans South Africa’s “Goodyear Eagles.” The review can be found here.
Here in the UK, we still have February, March and April to get through until our airshow season gets underway. However, in other parts of the world, the 2010 season is already getting going. One of the first big shows of the year is the Al Ain Aerobatics Show in the United Arab Emirates. Al Ain in January is a superb venue for an airshow with warm blue skies and the dramatic desert backdrop.
For 2009 and 2010 Al Ain has hosted the AERO GP, an “air-racing” style event organised by Flying Aces who also has an internet broadcasting arm, airsports.tv. For the last two days of the Al Ain Aerobatics Show, airsports.tv has broadcast live footage from the flying displays and AERO GP on it’s website. The Al Ain Aerobatics Show is very much a global airshow bringing the very best acts together from around the world. This year acts came from Croatia, France, Italy, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK, the USA as well as the UAE. While the show does bring in a healthy number of tourists, the live internet coverage gives the show a true global audience.
The footage coming out of Al Ain has been spectucular, though was regular interrupted by adverts for show sponsors and even clips from the 2009 event (infact, I even saw myself in the footage! – Ed) as the footage was also being shown on big screens at the event. However, Airsports.tv’s footage gave a really good feel to this unique event. But why doesn’t such footage appear from UK shows? After all, internet streaming has started to become a popular feature of american airshows and major sporting events.
The cost of setting up the broadcast are perhaps prohibitive; as well as all the camera crews, live production suites and associated facilities are also required. Video footage is professionally captured at many airshows by the likes of Planes TV, but is rarely broadcast live as it’s taken back to their offices to be edited. However, live internet streaming could have some major benefits for some of the UK shows.
The Al Ain show is an important part of Abu Dhabi’s tourist strategy which cites major events such an airshows and Formula 1 motor-racing as vital attractions. In the UK, we also have airshows which are held in support of tourism, namely the big seaside events such as Sunderland, Eastbourne and Bournemouth. Could internet streaming help them? Well yes! Event’s like Bournemouth see themselves growing into international attractions bringing in visitors from Europe for their shows and internet broadcasting would be an ideal platform to promote the event and the town/resort. However, if internet broadcasting is to take off at UK shows, it’s possibly only ever going to happen with some large sponsorship which is unlikely in the current economic climate.
In the meantime, enjoy some of the higlights from Airsports.tv’s coverage of Al Ain 2010:-
We have just posted the review for last year’s Goodwood Revival – you can read it here. Simon Fenwick reports for Flightline UK on this stunning event that encompasses aviation and motorsport in a totally unique atmosphere.
Currently on Flightline UK, we have six previews of 2010 airshows covering Abingdon, Kemble, Biggin Hill, Waddington, RIAT and Shoreham. More will be added in the coing weeks as and when information is released.
2009 has been Flightline UK’s biggest season to date with not only UK shows but visits to events in the United Arab Emirates, The Netherlands and Sweden. It has been a very mixed season with some outstanding highlights as well as a few disappointments. The weather, in general, was kind to airshows with only very few “washouts” and certainly much improved on the very difficult conditions experienced in 2007 and 2008.
The season got under-way very early in 2009 with the Al Ain Aerobatics Show held at the end of January. Al Ain was certainly a unique experience and it was simply such a pleasure to leave a cold icy UK behind for the warmth of the UAE and an airshow. With very few “home” acts, Al Ain imports some of the best acts in the world. 2009 saw teams from the UK, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, the USA, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Russia. For those looking for a military show, Al Ain would have been disappointing despite advertising major participation from the UAE Air Force as well as several other air arms in the region including Russian Su-30s! However, it really was a spectacular show with displays from the Royal Saudi Air Force “Saudi Hawks”, Italy’s “Pioneer Team” and Sweden’s “Scandinavian Airshow” Team – the latter with the extraordinary Pitts Python and “Catwalk” displays. Will Curtis also made a “comeback” in Al Ain and was reunited with his Sukhoi Su-26M2. Al Ain also hosted Aero GP which seemed a little too disjointed (and maybe a little scripted?) for my own personal taste!
The return to UK was quite a shock having left Dubai in 30C and arriving back to a snowy -2C at Heathrow. However, there was no break! A week later, there was a hugely enjoyable Twilight Burner Extravaganza at Bruntingthorpe followed by small flying display at Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey, the Cradle of UK aviation! A month later, we were at RAF Northolt for a new type of event – a night-time phtoocall. Phil Dawe and No 32 Squadron at RAF Northolt have been busy all year putting on Night Photocalls as well as their traditional June event and they are all excellent opportunities to capture something different.
2009 saw significant change to the Royal Air Force displays. Over the winter it was announced that the popular RAF Role Demonstration would not be returning for the 2009 display season leaving just the solo Typhoon and Hawk displays as representatives of RAF fast jets on the display circuit. An accident during display practice at RAF Linton-on-Ouse also left the RAF without it’s Tucano solo for the 2009 but thankfully Flt Lt Mike Rutland has made a full recovery.
In the UK, the season got under-way in May and saw events at Abingdon, Kemble, Duxford and Southend. All were blessed with relatively good weather, though it was a little windy at Duxford. Abingdon had a particularly strong year with good support from the RAF and excellent displays from the Swift Team and John Dodd in the DC3. At the end of May came a second international trip for the Volkel in de Wolken (Volkel in the Clouds) show in the Netherlands. It’s a fair sized airshow but takes place away from Volkel AFB over farmer’s fields! Even so, the local F-16 squadrons at Volkel put on a noisy highlight with a fiveship of F-16s performing some formation passes and low overshoots! It’s a shame the same can’t be repeated in the UK when airshows are being held close to RAF bases!
June was another very good month starting off with fine displays at Old Warden, Margate and RAF Cosford. The latter saw the 2009 début of the Avro Vulcan bringing chaos to the roads outside Cosford by mid morning with people eager to enjoy the good weather and the return of the big delta. Kemble also provided an exciting day out with an amazing collection of classic jets. Highlights were again the Vulcan and Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield’s punchy account of the Sea Vixen. The month was closed with the Biggin Hill International Air Fair which is always a season highlight but perhaps more so this year with the stunning flypasts by a Virgin Atlantic 747-400 and the Red Arrows.
July was perhaps much more a mixed bag. London City must be one of the best kept secrets of the UK calendar and Waddington was another solid showing despite the Vulcan’s Permit-to-fly debacle. Weather badly affected the Yeovilton International Air Day but that didn’t stop the French Air Force Rafale B making a stunning debut nor the impressive “Fly Navy 100″ celebrations. Though I didn’t attend Flying Legends for the first time this year, it was another vintage show despite the lack of TFC aircraft in the flying display Christophe Jaquard’s stunning Flug Werk FW190 was very much the star. One event however that failed to deliver was “Dover 2009 – Bleriot: The Celebration.” Through a catalogue of errors, the event in Dover were a shambles despite the best efforts of the those flying and those trying to organise the flying. The event was woefully under publicised and having one free event on the shoreline and another “pay” event up above the town just confused the public. The losses eventually led to the event organisers and promoters going bust before the air display acts and management could be paid.
July is also time for the Royal International Air Tattoo. A successful event was dearly needed after the cancellation of the 2008 show. 2009 saw the new ticketing scheme in full effect and it has to be said despite the sell out the traffic did keep flowing (just.) Though it did rain (a lot) the show survived thanks new schemes to preserve the car parks. However, without the Fly Navy 100 portion of the 8 hour flying display, RIAT 2009 was a pretty average edition as far as exotic aircraft and flying displays go. Among the highlights were the stunning Royal New Zealand Air Force 757 display and that Vulcan take-off on the Sunday. 2010 will hopefully be much better if plans come to fruition.
August is my personal favourite month of the year for airshows, and 2009 proved to be particularly special. First came the change to join the Swift Team in the back of a Chipmunk tow-plane for the first weekend of the month and the delightful show at East Kirkby. Despite a very threatening weather forecast the show went ahead as planned. It was show packed with variety with everything from Justin Needham’s O-1 Bird Dog right through the awesome RAF Chinook display.
The real highlight of the year though was Flygfesten in Sweden. Held at a the small Dala Jarna airfield, right in the heart of Sweden, this show really is a hidden gem. The friendly atmosphere and perfect flying display just made this weekend such a joy. Sweden and Scandinavia are home to such a diverse range of displays and these were boosted by some Europe’s finest military and civilian acts. The Swedish classic jets like the J29 Tunnan and J32B Lansen are obvious highlights for the British enthusiast, but so were Michael Carlson’s antics in the Piper L4 Cub and Jurgis Kairys’ impossible aerobatics in a Sukhoi Su-26.
However, it’s the South Coast of England that’s the place to be come mid August. Eastbourne kicked things off with a brilliant return to form after the difficulties of 2008. Highlight of the four days had to be the formation of John Romain’s Spitfire IXT and the Dutch Air Force golden F-16. A week later saw two other major shows on the coast. First off was Bournemouth Air Festival and what a year for that show. Good weather brought out over 1.2million people over the four days and it enjoyed strong support from the RAF, Royal Navy, OFMC Fighter Pair, Vulcan and a myriad of civilian display teams. The same weekend also saw Shoreham’s 20th Anniversary Airshow. It, as always, was a top notch weekend at the Sussex Airport with the Spitfire Scramble and the début of the Vulcan being the outstanding moments.
Sadly, August also saw tragedy with the loss of American competition Vicki Cruse at the World Aerobatic Championships at Silverstone. The loss was marked by the American team on the last day of WAC which also saw the closing ceremony and airshow. Closing the month was the ever popular Dunsfold Wings and Wheels. It’s fair to say Dunsfold had reached it’s capacity as a single day airshow this year with packed car parks and even more packed local roads. Despite this and the weather it was another great show and will return as a two day event in 2010.
The closing month and half of the season during September and October was perhaps a little more low key. Seething was a nice little surprise while Duxford’s September show was good, but not a truely memorable event. Kemble’s Battle of Britain Airshow is definitely one to watch in the future and Southport was another enjoyable event. However, it wasn’t an airshow as such which captured my imagination the most. The Goodwood Revival was quite simply a total assault on the senses with some spectacular flying alongside some classic motor-racing and a totally unique atmosphere. The Revival was particularly noteworthy for a combined display by the OFMC, TFC and HAC that was reminiscent of the Breitling Fighters Team and final public appearance of the Vickers Vimy replica . The latter’s sunset display on the Sunday was a spectacular farewell to a truly historic aircraft in it’s own right.
The Old Warden and Duxford Autumn shows brought 2009 to a positive end during early October. While 2009 may not have been the most spectacular display season, it was one of the most successful which huge crowds enjoying shows up and down the UK in relatively good weather. Much of the off-season news has been regarding the future of Vulcan XH558 whose financial struggles would rival any soap opera. While airshows could quite easily survive without the Vulcan, it would be a great shame if the mighty delta didn’t fly again in 2010. Elsewhere, there should be plenty of new displays in 2010 as well as some exciting débutantes from overseas if plans come together.
Most of all, I would like to thank everybody that’s helped make 2009 such a fun and exciting year and wish everybody a very happy and prosperous new year!
A new feature from Flightline UK in 2010 will be regular reviews of the latest Airshow DVD releases. I should confess that I actually haven’t bought an airshow video or DVD for a number of years. I suspect a lot of this is down to the emergence of Video Sharing websites and pretty “iffy” productions in the past.
Planes TV setting up another angle at Biggin
However, the companies producing these videos have not gone away and the advent of the DVD and it’s versatility as well as the online “On demand” TV channel may mean these productions make something of a come back. From what we’ve seen so far, the productions are far more professional and the image quality has been superb.
We be looking a various different productions and we must thank Planes TV and Hallmark Productions for kick starting this new feature.
Flightline UK hopes all it readers had a very merry christmas and have a very happy new year. Hopefully the good weather we had in 2009 will continue for the next air display season. 2010 is promising to be an exciting display season with the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain providing the focus for a number of airshows.
There should be plenty of Spitfires and Hurricanes gathering at venues such as Biggin Hill, Duxford and Shoreham for some spectacular set piece displays. Biggin Hill is looking to attract some of the allied air forces that also took part in the Battle and things are looking look for a couple of spectacular performers to make their Biggin début. The modern day Royal Air Force will of course pay tribute with major displays at Cosford, Waddington, RIAT and Leuchars.
Elsewhere, RNAS Yeovilton will be celebrating it’s own 70th Anniversary and Shoreham Airport it’s 100th! Both should see some very special displays at their respective airshows. RIAT is looking good in 2010 having already announced participation from the Romanian Air Force with MiG-21 Lancers and a C-27J Spartan. Waddington too is finally hosting some decent foreign military participation with a sizeable contingent from the Czech Republic (Gripens, L-159s, Mi-24 and An-26.) Hopefully, both shows will be announcing further débuts in the coming weeks.
There’s also plenty of new display acts for 2010. Richard Grace is putting together a Pitts Special Duo while Pete Wells, Andy Preece and Guy Westgate will be seen displaying a pair of Silence Twisters. The “Duo” concept is proving to be popular with Bob Grimstead working on a Fournier pair and also a pair of “Boredom Fighters” available for displays in 2010. Hopefully the Royal Navy Historic Flight will be back with it’s unique and varied collection of naval air power back to full strength. Another historic collection that will hopefully be making a comeback will be the Fighter Collection after some paperwork issues with the CAA. In any case, TFC will undoubtedly be putting on the finest warbird flying display at Flying Legends Airshow in July.
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Our first airshow review of the year has been published today. Mike Rivett reports on the Al Ain Aerobatics Show from the heart of the UAE desert. The show saw some stunning displays from the like of the UK’s Jonathon Whalley flying the Hunter F58 “Miss Demeanour” ans South Africa’s “Goodyear Eagles.” 
