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Eastbourne Airbourne Airshow 2026 |
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| ‘To balance out the power and noise of the Jet Pitts, the Stampe Display Team brought elegance and grace with their 4-ship Stampe SV-4 for the second year in a row...’ |
| August brings round the annual Eastbourne
International Airshow, or locally known, Airbourne, to the South
East Coast, and sadly now one of only a handful of free seaside
shows left running across the country. However, it is one of the
only airshows I know of that has four display days, albeit
Thursday being on a smaller scale. The big news was the cancellation of the Red Arrows, who were stuck in Canada after their tour of the United. However, all was not lost though with some exciting replacements quickly booked in upon the news, which is testament to the commitment that the organisers of Airbourne have, to putting on a fantastic show each year. |
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| The RAF were in good attendance this year with the BBMF either opening or having early display slots across the 4 days. This year we had the Dakota in her new South East Asia Command livery, flanked by Spitfires MkVb AB910 and fresh out of maintenance Spitfire Mk XVI TE311, a rare, clipped wing variant. Obviously with all things flying things don’t always go to plan at TE311 was grounded on the Friday but was quickly repaired and back for the Sunday display spot, tail chasing AB910 across the sky. |
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| Flight Lieutenant Rich Tomala rocked up to show off his skills in Bumblebee, the Yellow Grob Tutor Mk 1, an aircraft all new pilots will have experience on when learning to fly with the RAF. I’m glad they have decided to use the yellow tutor for their displays as the aircraft stands out against not only the blue skies but the white clouds as well. Rich showed off that even without abundance of power and noise, but good energy management, you can build a display around stall turns, hesitation rolls and loops that still catch the crowd’s attention each and every display. |
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| The Royal Navy
Black Cats impressed once again this year even as a solo Wildcat
HMA2 display. With other squadron units out of operational duties,
the Team found themselves with one display helicopter for the 2026
season, but this took nothing away from their well-choreographed
routine. Pilot Lt Commander Jim Fraser and Flight Observer Lt Olie
Mendem showcased the Wildcats impressive power and agility with 90
degree nose down dives and quick turns that showed the
capabilities that the Wildcat has to offer to the Royal Navy on
its day-to-day operational commitments. The Wildcat was due to fly with the Westland Wasp on both Thursday and Friday which I was very happy to hear about as the Wasp is an aircraft that somewhat eludes my camera lens, but yet again, it got the better of me and went tech on the Friday. I’ll capture her one day! |
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| Completing the set of UK Armed Forces, the British Army’s famous Red Devil Parachute Team displayed over the weekend slots. Arriving in their Shorts Skyvan, the team jumped once all wind checks had been completed with two of the team linking up for mid-air canopy work before dramatically separating what seemed only a few hundred feet from the ground. While stealing the spotlight behind them, was the fourth Red Devil, flying one of the largest Union Jack flags you’re ever likely to see from his leg all the way into the drop zone. All four Red Devils landed in the landing zone, which on the Sunday was in the sea with the RNLI on hand to get them safely out and back onto the shore. A special mention should go to the RNLI, who without their support of the event could easily cause the whole thing to not run from a safety aspect. |
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The Typhoon Display Team this year closed out each day as it
generally does at Airbourne, however, more so this year with the
lack of the Red Arrows. A real fan favourite and bringing the
speed, thrill and roar of the RAF to the south coast. Sadly, due
to a rather restricted display area this year, Flt Lt Tom Nation
wasn’t able to perform his full Typhoon routine, however that
didn’t stop him from punching a tight, fast and accurate display
showing all the capabilities and putting the Typhoon through its
paces to wow the crowds who had endured the heat each day. |
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Five Civilian display teams all got involved in this year’s
Airbourne... Rich Goodwin brought the noise and power with his
one-of-a-kind Jett Pitts. An almighty powerful machine with its
8.5 litre Lycoming engine, the addition of the two Lynx Jet
Turbines gives this muscle biplane an additional 700lbs of thrust
for a total of 1700lbs thrust for an aircraft that only weights
1500lbs. Ludicrous, but we are all for it! Putting that extra
thrust to use, Rich can perform manoeuvres other aircraft and
pilots could only dream of including his famous pull up and hold
into the hover. To balance out the power and noise of the Jet Pitts, the Stampe Display Team brought elegance and grace with their 4-ship Stampe SV-4 for the second year in a row to Airbourne on the Thursday and Friday. I really enjoy the Stampe Display team as it brings a much calmer pace to aerobatic and formation flying, and their colourful aircraft are a beautiful contrast against both the clear blues skies and the cloudy skies when they do arrive. |
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| The AeroSuperbatics Wingwalkers and their Boeing Stearman are always a welcome sight and sound at any airshow, but something always seems more special seeing them perform over the sea. Displaying as a Solo for the Thursday and the Friday and a Pair for the Saturday and Sunday, the wingwalkers brought all their experience and flexibility to not only pull some outrageous moves atop the wings, but perfectly in synced with each other. Murmurs of wow and awe after each wingwalker rotated into a new position while being pushed along at 120mph is nothing short of impressive. |
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| Both the Firebirds and the Starling
Display Teams displayed across the show, with the Firebirds taking
the first two days of the show and the Starlings the Weekend
slots. Both bring incredibly tight formation flying and displaying
two giants of the aerobatic world with the Firebirds RV-4s and the
Starlings Extra NG. This was peak Eastbourne lineup scheduling as
it allowed two pairs acrobatic teams display while remaining to
keep fresh across the four days. Both were fantastic, but I did
rather enjoy Tom Cassells choice of headgear while displaying, a
white floppy sunhat in his Extra NG. I’d like to know how it
stayed on his head! |
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| Moving on to the warbirds next and Isabelle Rutland and her P-51D Marinell and shared flying duties between Anna Walker and Andy Monk of Supermarine Spitfire IX – Spirit of Kent brought the Merlin engine noise in solo spots across the display days. Both performing victory rolls, high-speed and topside passes that posed both aircraft in the afternoon light from every angle for the crowds below while being treated to the distinctive Mustang whistle as its Packard Merlin engine pulled it through the air. |
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| The B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B was one of the highlights of this year’s show. Brought in as a late replacement for the cancelled Red Arrows, you could also argue she was also the replacement for the BBMFs Avro Lancaster as well while she is in Major maintenance. Sally B put in a good number of passes, showing her sheer size as she soared the flight line, each time the crowds walking around me stopped to watch in awe. It was one of the few displays I saw across the two days I went that the crowds all stopped and looked up for every pass. She’s an incredibly beautiful aircraft and it was a total joy to see her grace the Sussex skies again after her last appearance 9 years ago. |
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| The second of the replacements for the Red Arrows and making its Airbourne debut was the Conair Turbo Firecat. I must say, if any of the Eastbourne Airshow organisers are reading this, give yourselves a pat on the back because you really pulled it out the bag. Displaying only on the Saturday and Sunday, the Firecat role demoed its firefighting capabilities with the use of marker smoke and two massive water dumps released from its storage tanks built into the fuselage. I had been pre-warned that there was no indication of when the drops would happen and even the commentator George “Crispy” Bacon completely missed the first one! Once empty of water, Pilots Hervé Verdet and Nikash Coffin could then show off the full extent of the Firecat with some wingovers and glorious topsides along the display line. |
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| The final display act to talk about was Fubar Aviation’s Lim-5, a license built Mig-17. Operating out of Lydd airport for her displays from Thursday through to Saturday before heading back to Duxford where she has been housed for the UK Airshow summer. Her display timing was just right as she looked a stunner in the late afternoon sun, and its afterburner was allowed to shine bright for all to see. Another remarkable booking for the airshow as it drummed up a real atmosphere throughout the day as everyone knew it was a special booking. The Friday display was spectacular, and I did wonder if it was going to end at one point as it kept turning for another pass. |
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Before I knew it the 2026 Eastbourne Airshow
had come to an end. With Airbourne being one of the UK’s rare
four-day flying events, it’s remarkable that the show continues on
such a scale in an increasingly difficult financial climate. Yes,
the overall crowd numbers did look slightly thinner, most likely
due to the lack of Red Arrows but also the travel issues revolving
round the trains with the Lewes derailment and then the Polegate
landslip. However, every year, the same question hangs over the
beachfront: will there be an Airbourne next year? |
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Review by Nick Soan |