Post by viscount on Aug 8, 2009 23:11:36 GMT 1
The First Rhyl Seafront Air Show took place on a dry, fairly calm, afternoon, with sharp clear visibility, a cover of high cloud with some medium height clouds shielding the sun, although the cloud was broken out to sea. I had looked forward to Rhyl meeting the photographer's ideal of an east-west flightline viewed from the south (ie with the sun behind), in the event the bright sky sillouetted the aircraft somewhat.
The show started right on time with the usual precise and polished display by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight with their Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster performing well, although at the time I was still getting out of a traffic jam and back-street parking my car (South Liverpool to parked in Rhyl took nearly 2 hours, twice my normal due to the shear amount of traffic bringing the speed on both the M56 and A55 down to a frequent crawl).
Slick timing, with one display departing to the east, as the next could be seen completing its final hold orbit to the west. Only break being a short gap awaiting the final item, an excellent display by Anthony Hodgson in his Spitfire, which he really showed off well. Throughougly entertaining.
Team Guinot with two 'wing-walking' Stearman and the four Yaks in the Yakovlevs team flew entertaining routines with plenty of smoke and throaty growls. It is a while since I watched the Yakovlevs closely and enjoyed a well choreographed display. Some of the manouvers performed by Mark Jefferies in is Extra 300XC turned the stomach, with quite extreme stall turns.
Although the Jet Provost Pair held together off to the west, they only displayed solo - so the chance of a photo of two JPs in formation together was not presented. Bit of a waste really. The Jet Provost T.5 came first, (flown by a Prestatyn resident) with a tame procession up and down, with very little variation - not even an undercarriage down pass. The Jet Provost T.3 (billed as the pilot, Neil McCarthy's first display) was a much better routine with greater variation in pace, angle and configuration.
One problem faced by both the 'off airfield' shows I've been to this year is that of light aircraft whose pilots have not read the NOTAM's warning and straying into the "display box". Being on a very popular VFR flight route along the Welsh Coast, there was only one 'incursion' incident I noted, this being part way through Anthony Hodgson's Spitfire display when a CTSW tri-axis microlight flew west-east, seaward of the display line, but clearly in airspace occupied by the Yakovlevs not that long before. Only 20 minutes after the last item had cleared flexiwing microlight G-BZGZ flew straight along the display axis east-west (Ince to Caernarfon possibly).
1300-1315 BBMF with Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster (I was too far away at the time to identify which aircraft)
1316-1329 'Team Guinot' with two Stearman (different underwing schemes - but where do they display their registration?)
1330-1342 Extra 300XC G-IIHI Mark Jefferies solo aerobatics
1344-1355 'The Yakovlevs' with four Yaks. 3 x Yak 50s: (G-YAKZ)/red 33, (G-YAKU)/red 49, (G-YAKM)/red 61 and two-seat Yak 52 (G-YAKN)/red 66.
1358-1402 Jet Provost T.5 XW324/K (G-BWSG) of Jet Provost pair of Heritage Aviation, with
1403-1408 Jet Provost T.3 XM479 (G-BVEZ) in CFS markings
1412-1421 'Dragon Spitfire' Spitfire T.9 PT462/A-SW (G-CTIX) Anthony Hodgson.
What improvements would I suggest for next year? There is a need for a bigger aircraft (say a DC-6, Vulcan, A.320, B.737) and/or a really noisy one (say Vulcan, Tornado, Typhoon, Sea Vixen). RAF Valley should be ashamed by being unable to provide a Hawk for PR purposes (after all they frequently over fly Denbighshire noisily), just hope that the Hawk display pilot will not be required elsewhere next year. The venue would suit an over-water helicopter display (Rescue Sea King, or a Chinook or Merlin). Oh, finally (and probably more difficult to provide than any of the above) somewhere to park close to the display centre, although there was a park and ride bus service provided. The web site is www.rhylairshow.co.uk
A short air show, but tight and entertaining, held in good weather and all the promised displays appeared! A very enjoyable day out, and it's truely a 'free' show, with not even a programme to buy!
The show started right on time with the usual precise and polished display by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight with their Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster performing well, although at the time I was still getting out of a traffic jam and back-street parking my car (South Liverpool to parked in Rhyl took nearly 2 hours, twice my normal due to the shear amount of traffic bringing the speed on both the M56 and A55 down to a frequent crawl).
Slick timing, with one display departing to the east, as the next could be seen completing its final hold orbit to the west. Only break being a short gap awaiting the final item, an excellent display by Anthony Hodgson in his Spitfire, which he really showed off well. Throughougly entertaining.
Team Guinot with two 'wing-walking' Stearman and the four Yaks in the Yakovlevs team flew entertaining routines with plenty of smoke and throaty growls. It is a while since I watched the Yakovlevs closely and enjoyed a well choreographed display. Some of the manouvers performed by Mark Jefferies in is Extra 300XC turned the stomach, with quite extreme stall turns.
Although the Jet Provost Pair held together off to the west, they only displayed solo - so the chance of a photo of two JPs in formation together was not presented. Bit of a waste really. The Jet Provost T.5 came first, (flown by a Prestatyn resident) with a tame procession up and down, with very little variation - not even an undercarriage down pass. The Jet Provost T.3 (billed as the pilot, Neil McCarthy's first display) was a much better routine with greater variation in pace, angle and configuration.
One problem faced by both the 'off airfield' shows I've been to this year is that of light aircraft whose pilots have not read the NOTAM's warning and straying into the "display box". Being on a very popular VFR flight route along the Welsh Coast, there was only one 'incursion' incident I noted, this being part way through Anthony Hodgson's Spitfire display when a CTSW tri-axis microlight flew west-east, seaward of the display line, but clearly in airspace occupied by the Yakovlevs not that long before. Only 20 minutes after the last item had cleared flexiwing microlight G-BZGZ flew straight along the display axis east-west (Ince to Caernarfon possibly).
1300-1315 BBMF with Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster (I was too far away at the time to identify which aircraft)
1316-1329 'Team Guinot' with two Stearman (different underwing schemes - but where do they display their registration?)
1330-1342 Extra 300XC G-IIHI Mark Jefferies solo aerobatics
1344-1355 'The Yakovlevs' with four Yaks. 3 x Yak 50s: (G-YAKZ)/red 33, (G-YAKU)/red 49, (G-YAKM)/red 61 and two-seat Yak 52 (G-YAKN)/red 66.
1358-1402 Jet Provost T.5 XW324/K (G-BWSG) of Jet Provost pair of Heritage Aviation, with
1403-1408 Jet Provost T.3 XM479 (G-BVEZ) in CFS markings
1412-1421 'Dragon Spitfire' Spitfire T.9 PT462/A-SW (G-CTIX) Anthony Hodgson.
What improvements would I suggest for next year? There is a need for a bigger aircraft (say a DC-6, Vulcan, A.320, B.737) and/or a really noisy one (say Vulcan, Tornado, Typhoon, Sea Vixen). RAF Valley should be ashamed by being unable to provide a Hawk for PR purposes (after all they frequently over fly Denbighshire noisily), just hope that the Hawk display pilot will not be required elsewhere next year. The venue would suit an over-water helicopter display (Rescue Sea King, or a Chinook or Merlin). Oh, finally (and probably more difficult to provide than any of the above) somewhere to park close to the display centre, although there was a park and ride bus service provided. The web site is www.rhylairshow.co.uk
A short air show, but tight and entertaining, held in good weather and all the promised displays appeared! A very enjoyable day out, and it's truely a 'free' show, with not even a programme to buy!