Southend 24/25-05-2009

HI
Perhaps as a result of two washed out shows over the previous two years affecting finances, the show, now called a festival was very much slimmed down
Nevertheless the huge crowd lapped up what was on offer and some were in awe when the Mustang d the display and pulled up in to a loop. I have no doubt the show can be claimed as a success.

Bearing this in mind and hoping for better financing maybe the show can be expanded again next year to include a few larger aircraft such as the Catalina and Flying Fortress . At seaside shows with aircraft tending to be further away from the crowd sometimes smaller aircraft displays can be lost in the background.

I enjoyed the helicopters aerobatic displays the most mainly because they were closest to the crowd. Admittedly I was further back up on the higher parade but I did not think it would have made a big difference if I was down on the shore. The Typhoon display on Monday was seriously impressive on. I thought the Hawk level display passes were rather high. Most aircraft seemed to be a bit closer on Monday.

Photography was awkward. Not much you can do about that. During a slack period I took a few photos of a bubble floating about.

Thanks

Martin