Eastbourne Air Show news

An excellent video of XH558 at Beachy Head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_6bZ2Kzaj8

What? I seagull crapped on you?:D

Anyway… There I was, flying along the beach minding my own business, when all of a sudden……….

I don’t hate all children only those that are not my own.

For some reason we seem to attract troublesome children every airshow we go to, even the Gold at DX there was one.

Eastbourne was one where we didn’t have children problems on any of the days. This is quite surprising as Eastbourne is not what it used to be it is more like Southend inhabitants wise than lifesend.

Today at Biggin Hill we had the usual late arrival complete with fence rocking kid with 20 attention span. When the father started invading my body space and jogging my camera elbow I’m afraid we had words, but he did appologise after all this was Kent.:D:D:D

Indeed – I am reminded of a number of events at which the unsuitability of both dogs and small children in attendance was abundantly clear!! :rolleyes:

Those are the ones. Yapped every time a plane came near, pity anybody trying to take video. It’s not dogs I hate really it’s their owners. “Nasty little planes frighten you then”.

I enjoyed my day up on Beachy Head, got to see the Vulcan again up there! And yes the Sea King came right over the top!

And if it was your wife with no interest in planes with the two yapping dogs who sat next to us we would just like to thank you for making our day.

Was that up the top, near the wooden railings? I nipped up there during the Reds’ display, in case I could get a photo as one of them bounced the cliffs as happened in the last two years. Sadly they didn’t, but I reckon it was a good thing in the end as those two dogs would have gone utterly mental if they had!

Seeing XH558 climbing away at the end of her display, brought to mind the often used phrase.

Climbing like a homesick angel

I think there were quite a few people wiping their eyes 🙁

Thanks to Sean Maffet for the Vulcan display commentary, a busy man this year.

The photo oportunities at the Head are indeed interesting but if on the lighthouse side then you do not see the display going on in the bay. My estimation is that fewer displays came round the headland than from other directions when you saw nothing. Some aeroplanes do put on a bit of a display to the Head crowd, most notably the Vulcan, most others it’s a straight forward fly by but below you! The only other hold at the Head was the Dak but unfortunately this was while all cameras where mostly on the Vulcan display looking for that special moment. The Sea King did fly over our heads whilst the Vulcan was in the hold. Two Spits and the Blenheim did a beautiful low slow pass round the head en route elsewhere before the show started with the Blenheim doing another pass later following it’s display against a beautiful darkening background. Furious Frank did a nice roll passing the head.

There are toilets at the car park but obviously not able to cope with the crowds. There is also a Vintage pub which served good food but poor coffee and had toilets of course.

If taking the family be aware that the very best shots will require a bit of a head for heights and slopes and it is best to arrange a more amenable location for the less adventures members of the family.

And if it was your wife with no interest in planes with the two yapping dogs who sat next to us we would just like to thank you for making our day.

I was on the cliffs yesterday too – really fantastic view of the Vulcan and Blenheim. I think it’s the best place to watch by a mile.

We did consider Beachy Head, and during the afternoon my wife kept pointing out that I could have got some good pictures from there. The lack of “facilities”, may have changed her mind had we actually gone.

It was rather packed on the seafront, even more so than last year for the Lancasters.

There were some toilets on the sea front with no queues at all, just had to pay 20p.

My first time at Eastbourne, indeed first time at a seaside air show, and I thought it was very good. The Vulcan effect was very clear as the crowds down the right (West) end of the display line thinned out noticeably after it finished. Nice to see the Blenheim, a very graceful display, and also a surprise appearance by P51 ‘Ferocious Frankie’ with an energetic display.

The Sea King looked like it went right over the top of the masses on Beachy Head after it finished its display and it looked like most acts came in from that side.

Regards,

Dan

Last day of the show and at the moment the weather is looking excellent.
The fireworks this year were Saturday and were excellent. Have been told by marshals that possibly record numbers attended yesterday, Saturday, and it was the first time that they had known vendors running out of food.

Today we will be on the roof of one of the buildings at the end of the pier hoping to get a different angle on the show.

Clearly this is an excellent day out for all the family and possibly, unlike other seaside airshows, of more interest to the enthusiast because of the interesting viewing opportunities.

The airshow has been running for many years and is funded by sponsorship and voluntary contributions rather than an entrance fee and on the whole is very well organised so would not want to nit pick but unfortunately there was one very major shortcoming and that was the toilet facilities. There wasn’t remotely anywhere near enough temporary toilets for the large numbers involved and they were very poorly maintained. By the evening of Saturday the only words to describe them was absolutely disgusting. Large but surprisingly ordered queues were forming on the sea front to use overflowing toilets IN THE DARK in the confined space. One would have thought in this day and age of LED lighting it would be reasonable to light these units when they are intended to be used in the dark. And of course the toilets should be serviced continuously, not that they had been serviced during the afternoon!

At Beachy Head large extra car parks at £5 for the day, the normal price for over 4 hours parking, were provided but no extra toilets!

If out with she who must be obeyed, RIP GC, and the kids for what is, after all, a family day out the the toilet facilities need a bit more attention paid to them.

As this was the last time that XL558 will be displaying at Eastbourne just a flavour here with more to follow in photographic.

Second time past the lighthouse

EASTBOURNE AIRSHOW 2015 SAT by p_meddemmen, on Flickr

Climbing up towards the crowd

EASTBOURNE AIRSHOW 2015 SAT by p_meddemmen, on Flickr

IMG_3319sm by p_meddemmen, on Flickr

Right across the bay having finished display whilst climbing out the peak of the wing over.

EASTBOURNE AIRSHOW 2015 SAT by p_meddemmen, on Flickr

Not a bad day at Eastbourne. We could see her holding off, waiting for the Navy to finish their display.
Lovely to see XH558 display for what will probably be the last time for me. Although the display was rather sedate
compared to some I’ve seen. Just an observation, not a criticism.

Had a great day on Beachy head today – busier than I’ve ever seen it before but everyone seemed to have a good time.

The Vulcan was pretty breath-taking but others also treated us to some nice flypasts.

IMG_7251 by sboreeves, on Flickr

IMG_7263 by sboreeves, on Flickr

IMG_7360 by sboreeves, on Flickr

Today was,of course, Vulcan day, the only day she is attending. It was therefore Beachy Head with the added hint from an email from VTTS yesterday.

She came round the headland from the west well below cliff top level and then did two full circuits on hold putting on a bit of a display for the many hundreds on the head. A tighter circuit put her into what looked like a pretty tipical display. At the end of the display she climbed out to the east pulled a left hand wing over of about 135 degrees for no apparent reason, not part of a turn, then continued on a much steeper climb towards a dark cloud base a memorable end to her famous Beachy Head appearances.

Eastbourne was hit very badly with torrential rain yesterday making some overflow car parks unusable, flooding parks and parts of the town centre resulting in some flooded shops. Locals say this hasn’t happened for about 15 years.
The forcaste for today was fair and the thick early morning mist was easily burnt off. Almost 10/10 thin cloud at a reasonable hight for most displays. There is a weather warning for the area for snap localised downpours so still have to keep fingers crossed.
Certainly worth coming if you have the opportunity but remember the display is not as large as over the weekend.

Hope to get round to aeroplanes soon!

I hope Doncaster has good weather on Saturday too !!