When is bournemouth air festival

It has grown in size and popularity since then, rivalling traditional seaside airshows such as Eastbourne. Like Eastbourne's Airbourne, it is held from Thursday to Sunday along the seafront and offers sea-based events and static displays as well as military, historic and aerobatic air displays. There used to be but not so much recently some kind of beach assault or air-sea rescue re-enactment, a lot of participation by all three armed services and some dusk or early evening flying.

Bournemouth's sea front is seven miles long. The air displays can be seen from most points, including the pier and the balconies of sea front hotels but the best viewing is from the centre of the flying line, between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers, either at sea level or from above on a road called East Overcliff Drive.

In case there are mistakes or changes, please check the show's site for the latest list. Appearances are always subject to technical, weather and other constraints. The Bournemouth Airshow September 2 - 5. The local authority at Bournemouth, and everyone else involved with the organisation of the Bournemouth Air Festival, must be applauded for their courage and determination in enabling the airshow to go ahead, when all around the country so many shows, especially free seaside airshows, were being called off.

Yes, Bournemouth had the advantage that their show is later in the season, so there was time for Covid restrictions to become more relaxed. Even so, the decision to go ahead with a show has to be taken months in advance to allow time for the regulatory and practical preparations to be made and at the time of the commitment to the Festival there was no certainty that large gatherings would be possible.

The organisers deserved to be rewarded with sunshine and blue skies. There was sunshine but it was well hidden much of the time behind a sea mist so dense that spectators were fortunate the pilots were able, and willing, to display. Several of the displays that would normally be visible throughout the routine were out of sight in the mist for long periods.

Surrounding landmarks, The Needles off the Isle of Wight to the east and the Purbeck Hills to the west were invisible much of the time and poorly defined behind the mist the rest of the time. Nevertheless, the show did go on and, despite the weather, and to the credit of all involved, was virtually unaffected by the conditions. Arrows in the mist. The Red Arrows were again the big crowd-puller.

Their last display had been three years earlier, in In they could not come because they were on a tour of the USA and Canada and in there was no show because of Covid In they were back in style with a display on every one of the four days of the show.

It was the only location in the world where they displayed on four consecutive days in The weather did not make it easy for them, with a sea mist on every day, becoming very dense towards the end of the four-day festival. Several other teams changed their routines because of the poor visibility but the Red Arrows, with a choice of three possible displays, were able to select the appropriate version for the conditions and satisfy the thirst of the crowd for aerobatics par excellence, sometimes in visibility that must have been only just within the safety margins.

The RAF team had introduced new manoeuvres for the season, seen at Bournemouth for the first time, the most popular of which, judging by crowd reaction, was a pass by five aircraft trailing blue smoke as a tribute to the NHS. There were be no tours of Royal Navy or Fleet Auxiliary boats in , but there was a P patrol and training vessel in the bay.

There was also a Sunseeker Parade just off the seafront on Saturday, showcasing Sunseeker boats and yachts over the years. The official radio partners for the Festival were Hot Radio on The Aerosuperbatics Wingwalkers were due to display on all four days.

The first two days went well but on the third day, Saturday, a short way into their display, there was a technical problem with one of the aircraft. Both Stearmans were seen flying slightly away from the display line, then back towards the beach and off to the west.

A short distance along the coast Dave Barrell made a controlled ditching in Poole Harbour where he and his passenger, wingwalker Kirsten Pobjoy, were recovered from the water. They both sustained minor injuries but were released from the local hospital soon afterwards. The aircraft has since been recovered. Following the incident involving the Wingwalkers, the rest of the daytime displays were 'suspended'.

The third and final 'Night Air' was also cancelled, so the only dusk display by the Rolls Royce Mustang, as well as twilight displays by the Fireflies, Tigers Parachute display Team and Typhoon were written off. Another major formation welcomed by airshow enthusiasts and casual visitors alike was the combination of the Blades with the Ultimate Fighters, resulting in an eight-aircraft formation of widely varying types.

Unfortunately, the display was lost on Saturday because of the Wingwalker incident but the combination was an unlisted bonus on Friday. Alongside the deserved praise for the festival, it has to be admitted that there were a couple of disappointments. The Lancaster was even still being promoted on the airshow radio up to the time of the intended display, even though it was very widely known that it was still at Duxford and unlikely to leave there for some days. On Friday the Dakota had a technical problem initially and was unable to accompany the BBMF fighters for their scheduled display but was fixed and flew a solo later in the day.

The exclusion of the Belgian helicopter was only announced very late in the day and the reason not made entirely clear. The team's social media initially blamed an administrative disagreement but expense and Covid formalities were also mentioned in other commentaries.

The loss of the A was especially disappointing as it was to have featured in the dusk display as well as during the daytime. Festival fans in Bournemouth are known for craving the Eurofighter Typhoon: one of the most controversial omissions in and At the last Festival in it made a hugely welcome return, displaying in the daytime and Night Air slots. That popular combination was repeated in , with an appearance scheduled on all four days and all three Night Airs, although displays were reduced to three and two respectively because of Saturday's suspension of flying.

A technical problem meant that Sainty Flight Lieutenant James Sainty was not able to fly the Union Flag-decorated 'BlackJack' every time, but was able to show off the special livery in the Thursday and Sunday daytime displays. Fireflies on Thursday. It is appropriate to recognise the popularity of the 'big boys' but fair, too, to acknowledge the impact of the lighter aircraft and their pilots, who braved the same conditions to astonish and fascinate the crowds.

Richard Goodwin always comes into this category when he is on the flying schedule and he certainly didn't disappoint in The Slingsby Firefly is a totally different beast, caressed gracefully, but no less skillfully, through the blue skies that Thursday kindly provided for Rod Dean. It's a pity the weekend crowds didn't get to see the diminutive yellow aircraft taken through its paces.

Next year, maybe. From solos to pairs, and none better than the Fireflies. Acting as one, Jon Gowdy and Andy Durston stuck together as though they were flying a double-decker. Bournemouth saw the last ever display by the pairing of Jon and Andy: in the latter days of the Air Festival their seats were taken by Nigel Reed and Jon Dodd. Night Air is always a highlight of the Bournemouth Air Festival and this year was expected to be particularly special because the Belgian A and Typhoon were both on the schedule.

Fireflies after dusk. However, the A displays were lost when the Belgian team had to withdraw from the Festival and all displays on Saturday were cancelled following the Wingwalker incident earlier in the day.

The lack of the Saturday displays also meant that the Rolls Royce Mustang, which would have displayed on the Saturday, was not seen at Night Air. A technical issue also meant that the special liveried 'BlackJack' did not display at any of the evening slots, or, indeed some of the daytime ones.

What's on In the air Take a look at the aircraft joining the festival in ! On land Once again there will be plenty to do. At sea See what is out at sea this year. Follow Us. Highlights from twelve fantastic festivals. Have you snapped a great Air Festival photo? Why not share it on our Facebook Page? Plan your visit The Air Festival can be viewed from across the Bournemouth coastline. Getting here Advice on the best ways to get to the festival, wherever you're coming from.

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