roscoriaFor good reasons i choose,
*Biggin Hill 1982- My First show and First time seeing a Spitfire fly MH434 in Ray Hanna’s hands.
*Biggin Hill 1992, Saw Vulcan for last time, Su27 for the First time had B-24 Diamond Lil, Dutch B-25,Mossie RR299, Sally B all together, and sunny weather.
*Flying Legends 1995- My first Legends
*RIAT 1997- Great lineup including the Ukrainian’s
*Airfete 1997-First and so far only time i have seen the Thunderbirds, Saw B-2 for first time, Saw B-1 put on a good show as well.
*Biggin Hill 2006- Ray Hanna tribute fine tribute to my long time Airshow hero, Loved Nigel Lamb’s Valley Dive.
For Bad reasons
*Flying Legends1996- Great lineup but the loss of “Hoof” Proudfoot is forever etched on my mind, He was the first person i saw perish at a Airshow.
*Biggin Hill 2001-The loss of Vampire and TFC’s P-63 Kingcobra in one weekend with loss of 3 crew was too much for me really, Worst weekend i can remember at anyshow, I felt guilty for ahile because my Best Friend witnessed the Vampire accident on saturday it was his first Airshow, and then my Sister saw the P-63 go in on the Sunday she had not witnessed such a terrible event before and i wish she never had, We had both been up there on the Friday to see the TFC fleet arrive it was like a mini-Legend’s really.
*Flying Legends 2003- Loss of Firefly- Thats all i need to say really a sad sad day.
Had bad days where it rains or thing’s go unservicable but as long as the Crew all go home at the end of the show, Then for me its been a good show.
Sorry to hear the sad news of those air crashes, guess I have been lucky not to have seen one myself. Generally speaking I only visited Mildenhall and Alconbury occasionally, not each year though. Even I was becoming board of seeing the same thing year after year. I am certainly not an aircraft fanatic. I also saw the Thunderbirds at Mildenhall, but can’t say I was impressed with that display, found it a bit boring, plenty of formation flying and not much else. Compared to the US NAVY BLUE ANGELS there is no comparison. I have a video tape of one of their awesome displays in the USA,its magnificent. Plenty of fast head on flying from those HORNETS, sure looks great on the T.V.
roscoriaRAF LAKENHEATH
Memorable because on the Sunday I went along too watch the airshow, it turned out to be an open day instead. The flying happened on Saturday, so I was not too happy.
However during the morning 5 F15 Eagles started up, getting ready too depart. I had a great view watching those pilots going through the preflight checks, and lapped up the sound of 5 F15 jet engines idling, my poor old ears.
Eventually they started to taxie towards the runway. Lining up, 2 ahead of the last 3 I think, my memory isn’t that clear though. Then the first 2 thundered along the runway and cleared followed by the last 3. As the last 2 cleared the runway flying low over some fields the pilots partially rolled the F15’s making the wings waggle from left too right a number of times. By that time a number of people had gathered too watch them, so I guess those pilots were waving goodbye to us. :diablo: 😀
The other time was when the Runway was out of action, but they did fly in some planes from Mildenhall 😡 🙂
roscoriaGreeham Common – 1983 the year of the Phantom. I was 11 yrs old, up from Cornwall with my Dad and some of his mates in a camper van. We arrived in the early hours and parked up somewhere on the North side of the perimeter fence in the middle of a terrific thunderstorm. In fact a lightning bolt knocked down a power line which landed only about 50 yrds from where we were parked.
Anyway, the weather dried up and the one thing that sticks in my mind in Phantoms everywhere! Oh and the arrrival of the FAF Noratlas – quite a scoop for an 11yr old!!!
By coincidence I now live in Newbury and have visited Greenham on several occasions. Its hard to believe all those wonderful a/c once displayed there now…
I also have great memories of Greenham. especially when my girlfriends family and I went along too watch the Tiger Meet, the Canadian 104’s were there, and there were lots of Tiger painted jets. Mega static display , Phantoms etc, never seen so many, just an amazing day out, and it was hot and sunny .FAB. My girlfriends parents also went one day during the week and were very impressed with the aircraft practicing their diplay routines.
The USAF personnel were fab, and those hamburgers. Dare i say it, I really enjoyed the friendly atmosphere between us Brits and the Americans, it made those Greenham shows special. :diablo: 😀 😎 🙂 😎
roscoriaAlbert, I do agree about the 1962 Upavon show, it was superb. One of my greatest memories from that day was the solo Lightning, which came so low over the crowd (which was positioned on a small hill overlooking the airfield), that programmes, chairs, in fact anything that was not tied down, was scattered by the jet-blast!
That display sounds better than the one I mentioned at Wycombe air park :diablo:
roscoriaFarnboro Airshow
Back in the 80’s I think,although I can’t be sure,(guess I should have kept a diary of notable occasions)one Farnboro airshow sticks out in my mind, I can recall watching 3 prototype aircraft. These aircraft were possible designs for the future fighter to replace the Tornado. Now we know it as the Eurofighter. They were made from composite materials eg Carbon fibre wings etc. British Aerospace was showing a prototype as well as some other companies. Those 3 Delta wing jets looked magnificent as they slowly taxied along the runway as the commentator explained what this display was about. It was quite noticable how bright the Headup displays were, bright green . The one thing that stood out in my mind was that the British Aerospace plane was going to be made in this country and its components would be mainly British made, or have i got that wrong. I can’t remember the 2 other companies involved. The presentation of these 3 Aircraft was excellent, it included music and commentry. The BAE plane looked fantastic, I don’t want this too sound corny but I felt proud to be British and it brought tears to my eyes. Sorry about getting emotional over a plane, but it certainly made me feel that way. Needless too say, once airbourne those 3 Delta winged planes performed a wonderfull aerobatic display. Anyhow, the Eurofighter won, and those 3 prototypes didn’t get any further. Dream on, since the glory days of the Lightning and Vulcan we in this country sadly, won’t be building any more pure British jets. I know, I have just stated the obvious, but thought I would anyway.
This year’s IAT at Fairford (I attended on Saturday) was not dissapointing. The PR9 Canberra did an excellent display, can’t remember having seen a Canberra before doing tight turns like this one did. Other noteworthy aircraft were the F16,(wow!the Reheat energy from this F16 at take off and during its display was phenominal), F18, Mig29( yet another high energy display, superb) Spanish Eurofighter,Harrier, Tornado GR4 and B1 on takeoff. Looking forward to next years IAT which hopefully will include the Vulcan.
roscoriaMy first Spitfire display at Denham
Rochester 1987(?)
Spent the whole day with OFMC 🙂
Lying under ‘434’s wing to shelter from the sun, standing by the cockpit as Peter (something) started it… Health and safety wouldn’t allow it nowadays!
What a great day spent with the Hanna’s and the rest of the crew.Found out when I got home that the camera I had been clicking away with had no film in it… but the memories are all the more vivid for it!
Zwitter, I can remember watching a Spitfire putting on some superb aerobatics at Denham airshow back in the 70’s. In those days we were quite close to the display line , closer than one can get these days. That Merlin engine sounded FAB, when he flew past low to the grass. What a magnificent view of the Spitfire we had, and the pilot, because it was so near. The aerobatics were fantastic , he put that Spit through climbs,dives and rolls. When Neil Williams flew the Spit at Old Warden , was another great display that I can remember. I must have been about 15 when I saw my first Spitfire display at Denham. From then on, my interest in Military Jets was about to begin.
roscoria“West Wycombe is a private airodrome near High Wycombe, not far from West London”
Ah, you mean Booker!
YES, Booker!!! my memory isnt too good these days, getting old you see. 😀
roscoriaI forgot I started this thread 😮
Another show I remember, although the date escapes me, is the Leicester Airshow. It was back in the 80’s some time and it was the final year and final UK show of the German Vikings Display Team, with there two F104 Starfighters. I remember the distinctive howl of the 104’s over the airfield and the tight display routine they performed for such powerful aircraft.
Superb 😀
Robmac; you have jogged my memory, the German Vikings were doing those amazingly powerful displays. These days, airshows seem quite tame compared with what was around then. I guess Health and Safety at shows has brought this change. The German Marine Tornado display was excellent, the Pilot really put it through its paces. Just amazing to see the full capabilities of the Tornado as he flung it around very violently, finishing with a very short landing using reverse thrust. Never see that again ,thats for sure.
roscoriaWest Wycombe
West Wycombe? What airfield was that then?
HI Steve
West Wycombe is a private airodrome near High Wycombe, not far from West London. Trainee Pilots use it flying Cessna’s etc. These days there is no air show activity,so I was in the right place at the right time to experience that awesome Lightning display. Incidently back in the 80’s Mildenhall and Alconbury had some FAB Lightning displays which I enjoyed. However, Upper Heyford, near Oxford had a FAB General Dynamics F111 display, which I went to see. Those F111’s made quite a lot of noise from those 2 big Pratt and Witney TF30-P-100 Turbofans. Each engine produced 25,100 lb of thrust, and a very distinctive crackling roar. I just loved that sound, it was quite unique to that aircraft. What I like at airshows is noise and fast flying. At one Mildenhall airshow, i can remember a German Tornado display, where the pilot put the Tornado into a continuous tight turn in front of the crowd on full Reheat. I cant remember how many turns, but it must have been at least several. The rest of that display was on Reheat , he didn’t seem to mind about the fuel consumption,which is great because that for me was unforgettable. Finally Steve ,did you see the SR71 BLACKBIRD displays, unforgettable , Dynamic, exciting and awesome just about sums that up.
Roscoria
roscoriamemorable airshows
one of my memorable airshows were at West Wycombe around 1976. The sky was heavily overcast with dark grey clouds and a cool wind blowing. I can remember watching Harvard prop trainers ,Rothmans pitts special airobatic team and the RAF memorial flight. Jets were a Harrier and Jet Proverst ,possibly a Hunter but i can’t be sure. Anyway at around 5 pm or thereabouts it seemed the airshow was finishing because all flying activity ceased. I was standing in amongst the crowd so my view of the Runway was obscured . Now this is where it gets really interesting, for me anyway. I am thinking to myself why dosn’t the airshow commentator announce that the show has finished. We must have been standing there for about 5 minutes or so when looking towards my left I saw a rapidly approaching Jet . Then ,wow, a Lightning shot past on one reheat at, you guessed it ,just short of supersonic. It suddenly climbed vertically. I could actually feel the ground vibrating . The Lightning returned to do some more fly pasts on afterburner at very low altitude. Quite a memorable experience that Lightning display due to its unnanouced appearence, and the glow of its reheat . Because the sky was overcast the Reheat looked FAB.
GREENHAM COMMON TIGER MEET back in the 70’s is another airshow, which sticks in my mind . Several F104G Starfighters were lined up on the Runway awaiting take off. The weather was very hot, around 30c,and those 104’s were generating an enormous jet vapour haze, rising into the air.Because that part of the Runway was lower than the part which was nearest to me,it was impossible to see the 104’s from where I was standing. But that jet vapour was very visible. Anyway after some delay 2 of those Starfighters taxied back to the parking area unable to display, which was dissapointing. Once airbourne though the remaining 5 put on a very fast and noisy show. One particular part of the show was when 1 Starfighter flew as slow as it could with undercarriage out , that was quite something , while a very fast approaching 104 would overtake the slow one and rocket up into the sky. certainly, we would not see that stunt at an airshow these days, as it would be considered too dangerous. That display was unbeatable, easily the most exciting I have ever seen.
Sign In
