The Bournemouth Air Festival made a fantastic return to the town after an absence last year due to Covid. The Red Arrows were back following their tour of the US and Canada in 2019 and they shared top billing with the RAF Typhoon. Bournemouth is a great place for aircraft to display as you can stand on the clifftops and watch as the planes fly over the sea. I have posted a few of the many photos I took below:
The RAF Red Arrows:
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Red Arrows pilot Jon Egging, I wanted to capture the planes as they passed the memorial to Jon on the clifftop overlooking the sea.
The RAF Typhoon is my favourite aircraft, it flew displays during the day and at dusk. I love the noise and power of this great machine, the UK’s first line of defence.
The Blades, a civilian team made up of former Red Arrows pilots fly low-wing, high performance Extra EA-300S aircraft:
Super Pitts Muscle Plane - Pitts S2S:
Royal Navy Wildcat - Wildcat HMA2
The Blades, P-47, P-51, Spitfire and Buchon
The above include the Rolls Royce Spitfire XIX, Chinook HC6A, AeroSuperBatics Wingwalkers - Boeing Stearman, Tigers FFT Parachute Team and the dusk display from the Fireflies - two Van’s RV4s.
After one of their displays a Wingwalker plane suffered engine trouble, the pilot managed to avoid rocks, boats and people and put the plane down in the water at the entrance to Poole harbour. The two crew only suffered minor injuries.
Below is one of my favourite images of the Fireflies taken a few years ago: