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‘Seeing 30 Balloons
take to the skies together is impressive, but Sunday morning
eclipsed this with a phenomenal flight of well over 100 Balloons.’ |
The Midlands Air festival is
now a well-established event in the UK’s aviation calendar.
Arguably, it has the most beautiful setting for any air show in
the UK. Ragley Hall is an impressive country estate in the heart
of Warwickshire, it is the ancestral seat of the Seymour-Conway
family, Marquesses of Hertford. The striking parkland layout made
an idyllic backdrop for both a mass Hot Air Balloon launch, model
aircraft flying and a full flying display of aerobatics,
barn-storming and historic warbirds. The crowd line sits just in
front of the stunning 17th Century mansion (still home to the
current Marquesses of Hertford) and looks down into an
awe-inspiring parkland, which appears to have been sculpted by
the great Capability Brown over 300 years ago with the view of
hosting an air show! The parkland even has it’s own short grass
runway perfect for the smaller aircraft of the show to use as a
base. |
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Airscene have been lucky to
be able to attend almost every Midlands Air Festival since it
first took place in 2018. It has been fantastic to watch this
initially small show grow, into the huge event that we now witness.
The Weekend starts on Friday with a range of activities from
around mid-day including a late afternoon air show, culminating in
a ‘Nightfire’ aircraft display, evening Balloon ‘Night-glow’ and a
fireworks finale. Visitors can also expect two full days of flying
on the Saturday and Sunday from dawn till dusk. Weather
permitting, each day starts and ends with a mass hot air-balloon
launch which now attracts the largest gathering of hot air
balloons anywhere in Europe. Unlike any other UK air show this is
a true festival and offers a full weekend of aerial activity
celebrating all aspects of flight with a real family friendly
vibe. |
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Entrance into the
event was slickly managed by the security team and after a short
drive through the gorgeous estate we were parked up and ready to
go. This year Airscene attended all 3 days of the show and except
for Friday experienced no issues leaving the site either. Friday
was a little busier due to the fireworks finale and although
delays were experienced, the staff did a good job to get a large
volume of cars offsite safely. There were two options for parking
this year, which included a premium car park that was closer to
the venue than the standard parking – either option involved a
short walk from through the gorgeous, landscaped lakes and park
land before entering the show area. Despite, the all-important bag
checks, entry into the showground was a breeze.
Sadly, the
winds blowing around Warwickshire for the first two days were a
little too strong for all but the most experienced Balloon pilots.
Friday evening saw a staggered launch of around a dozen balloons,
including a few special shapes such as the Independence Day UFO
complete with smoke machine and LED lights. The Saturday evening
launch was a little more dynamic with around 30 balloons flying.
Seeing 30 Balloons take to the skies together is impressive, but
Sunday morning eclipsed this with a phenomenal flight of well over
100 Balloons. Airscene were lucky enough to hitch a ride capture
the spectacle from the air. |
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The
mass balloon ascents are planned for early morning and late
evening to fly in the optimal conditions, but this does leave a
pause in the main aerial entertainment. There is of course plenty
to see in the main arena including plenty of stalls and
exhibitors. Plus, the Cameron Arena provides an area to inflate
and tether some of the more interesting balloon shapes. Also, the
Warbird and Jet Display Team from TJD models also provided some
specular entertainment prior to the main air display with a
wonderful pyrotechnic show simulating an airfield attack from the
Second World War. The team brought along their realistic looking
large scale-models of a range of warbirds from Stukas to
Thunderbolts, they flew them with considerable skill through the
fireworks providing an explosive beginning to the afternoon. The
Highlight for us, was the skilled-flying of the A10 Thunderbolt –
a huge, jet-powered model! |
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Sandwiched in between all of this activity came a very generous
traditional flying display which was split into two segments on
each day. The star attraction of this for many was the RAF
Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows who were performing their first
public displays in the UK for almost two years. They appeared as a
9-ship for the first time in several years. They performed an
immaculate display featuring some new moves for 2024 including the
drawing of a giant 60 in the sky to mark their diamond
anniversary. The brilliant clear skies allowed for a full flying
display on Sunday. The traditional crowd-rear entrance surprised
many visitors before the 9 jets performed a series of slick
formations and dynamic aerobatics. |
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The RAF have been excellent supports of the Midlands Air Festival
over the last few years, providing the Red Arrows for three days
was a fantastic boost. However, the tragic loss of pilot Flt Lt
Mark Long in a recent Spitfire accident affected other plans. The
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight remain grounded whilst the
investigation is ongoing. The loss of the Lancaster, Hurricane and
Spitfires will leave a big hole in any show. Additionally, Mark
was a former Typhoon display pilot, so the team decided to
perform the missing man flight in his honour with a series of
flypasts, before new display pilot Flt Lt David Turnball pull up
in and headed skyward in the freshly painted display jet which
marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The Red Arrows also dedicated
their ‘spitfire’ formation to Flt Lt Long. |
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There was a wide range of other acts within
the flying display, to cater for all types of visitor. The show
pitches itself as a great family day out. With this in mind, we
saw plenty of entertaining aerobatics. The Stampe Display team
comprising of pilots Richard Meredith, Richard Ward and Richard
Barliand performed on all three days. The team were here today
flying formations and aerobatics with their Stampe SV-4 biplane
aircraft. Claiming to be the oldest display team in the World, the
exciting Turbulent Display Team offered a daring display of
barnstorming in their diminutive Turbulent aircraft. The four
brightly coloured tiny monoplanes performed flour-bombing, limbo
flights and low opposition passes – a wonderful display for the
families to enjoy. Adam Parnell, Richard Vary, Dave Brothers and
Alex Reynier were at the controls this weekend for this
entertaining and interactive display.
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Elsewhere in the display
Steve Carr ran his radio-controlled Yak-54 through some gravity
defying moves. It may be a model, but it was almost as big as the
Turbulent aircraft and was certainly more agile. Team Raven also
provided a tight-aerobatic performance in their self-built Vans
RV-8 aircraft. The team have been performing formation aerobatic
displays since 2014 and have displayed all across Europe. The name
‘Raven’ came from a play on the letters ‘RV’ in the aircraft name.
The RV-8’s 180hp engine has an excellent power-to-weight ratio,
which combined with an efficient airframe gives the aircraft the
performance and fighter-like handling that make it perfect for
formation flying. The pilots demonstrated this to its full effect,
despite some blustering conditions. |
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The Aerosuperbatic
Wingwalkers are always a popular feature at a family friendly
airshow. Wingwalkers Kirsten and Emma bravely stood above the top
wing of the Boeing Stearman biplanes and performed synchronised
moves in line with the dynamic barn-storming display flown by
pilots Dave Barrell & Steve Noujaim. Again, the windy conditions
must have made this a physical challenge, particular on the Friday
and Saturday. The Wingwalkers team have been performing since 1984
and have worked with several sponsors during this time including
Cadbury’s and Utterly Butterly. They perform around 60 displays
each year. |
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The newly formed Taylor Mono
Display Team were also performing on each day, in their brightly
coloured blue and yellow aircraft. The young duo of Ben Gilmore
and Bruce Buglass still in their early twenties performed a
fantastic display showing experience in flight control well-beyond
their years. Usually, the team operate two Taylor monoplanes but
over the weekend they were forced to adapt and incorporated a
Steen Skybolt, home-built aerobatic biplane into the routine
instead. The duo should also be applauded for filling in the gaps
of other unavailable aircraft after performing on all three days
despite being booked initially for just one. The Midlands Air
Festival line-up would not be complete without Peter Davis in his
Autogyro, once again he performed a crowd pleasing display in his
diminutive gyro-copter. |
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Whilst the audience was
predominately families, the show had plenty on offer for the
aviation enthusiast too. Boeing B17 Sally B was another last minute
replacement covering for the unfortunate loss of the Avro Lancaster,
and the Rolls Royce Heritage Flight provided their superb Mk XIX to
represent the warbird scene. Classic jets were also on show this
weekend, the Jet Provost was another last-minute replacement, but a
welcome visitor non-the-less. One of the most keenly anticipated
displays was the Saab Draken from the Swedish Historic Flight. The
unique double-delta is a fairly frequent visitor to the UK, but its
rare we get to see it as part of an in-land flying display. |
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Possibly the biggest scoop
for the organisers this year was securing the Flying Bulls all the
way from Germany. They have an impressive fleet of aircraft of
which four were initially booked for the show. Sadly, only the
DC-6 and B25 were able to make the jump across the channel to
perform but the two metallic aircraft put on an impressive
display. Seeing such a large aircraft like the DC-6 being rolled
around the sky is a remarkable sight. The historic B25 was also a
welcome visitor, both are very rare aircraft in the skies now, we
are grateful to Red Bull for keeping these fantastic aircraft
flying.
There were many stand-out highlights over the
weekend, but the Friday evening ‘nightfire’ is a must for any
visitor to the show. Chris Burkett was up first just as the sun
had set, he appeared in his LED-lite Extra 300sc and performed a
sensational solo routine. Father and son team Tim and Tom Dews
followed in a graceful aerial ballet which included on board
fireworks! The evening concluded with a night glow balloon
performance which consisted of several tethered balloons igniting
their burners in time with music. |
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This really was a great
effort by the team; an excellent flying display, well-organised
Hot Air Balloon Launch and an impressive line-up of model
aircraft. The team were forced to work hard and replace a number
of last-minute cancellations, but you would not tell given the
vast range of aerial entertainment on offer. I cannot wait to see
what the organisers do for 2025 – I have already packed my tent; I
am going all weekend again!
www.midlandsairfestival.com |
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Review by Lee Chapman.
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