Bournemouth Air Festival - Day 4

The Red Arrows had their best day of the festival, being much tighter. 

Vulcan Again

Such a pity that this was a bomber aircraft!  If they bring a Concorde back into the air, will it be a more admirable icon?

Finale

The MiG 15 and a different Typhoon, painted in Battle of Britain camouflage and squadron letters; an army parachutist and Iron Duke firing blanks over the police launch as it sails away. 

Bournemouth - Day 3

The Saturday was hazy, and the show opened with the Royal Navy Historic Flight's Sea Vixen, a distinctive shape.  

Crossovers

The afternoon was very hazy, which cannot have been easy for the aerobatic pilots, who like a nice clear horizon line.  One Red Arrow had to turn back with a fault, and I managed to get a couple of the crossovers, one with H.M.S. Iron Duke in the background.  The Lynx and Chinook were over H.M.S. Argus.

Aerobats

The Patrouille Reva fly aircraft based on the Rutan EZ design.  Number 1 is bigger than the other two.  They were very good, as were The Blades (only four this year) who are ex-Red Arrows pilots.  The MiG 15 UTI is part of the Norwegian Air Force Historic Flight and is a fast and nimble aircraft.  

XH558

The Vulcan was scheduled to close the Festival on Sunday, but the weather forecast was so bad that V2S agreed to do a fly-past on the Saturday.  When the Hunter crashed at Shoreham, the Vulcan had time to spare and did a display for us.  

Bournemouth Air Festival - Day 2

Friday was as clear and sunny as Thursday was wet and dreary.  Cadbury's had two boats out selling chocolate to people on the beach and in the water.  The Chinook helicopter had awesome angles of manoeuvre (1/125th second shutter speed allowed for rotor blur) and the Rad Arrows came from over the land.  They were a bit ragged.  It was strange to see the B-17 Sally B so far from home.

Flying Fireworks

Friday evening was clear and dry, the moon helpfully positioned to the south, and three teams gave a stunning display of night-flying and fireworks.  Brendan O'Brien was flying his Cub, the Twisters had a go and a Grob finished the show.  It was a fantastic display.  I had to keep winding up the ISO and the exposure was a bit variable.    

Rain in Bournemouth

We explored Bournemouth, looking for the best places to photograph the aircraft.  It was cold and misty, people wearing coats, and few on the beaches.  The Naval ships merged into the grey water and haze, but due to the wonders of Lightroom, you can see them clearly.  Then it began to rain heavily; the Red Arrows called off their display, and so did the aircraft that had got into Bournemouth, while others had been unable to get there at all.  Not a good start to the Air Festival.

Christchurch Marina

After a night at The Ship in Fordingbridge (top) we visited Christchurch and its marina before heading to our hotel in Bournemouth