Oh we do like to be...

...beside the seaside - and none the more so than for an airshow, of course! It was a few years since I had been to Eastbourne, but particularly after the loss of The Royal International Air Tattoo last month, a nice 4 day show in the sun seemed like just the thing! We did have one little (!) glitch in the run-up when our accommodation - booked last October - was unceremoniously cancelled by the hosts just a fortnight away from the show, far from ideal allowing for how booked up everywhere gets in the area. Sadly this lead to the pal I was intending to be sharing it with deciding not to go, while I thankfully managed to secure a room in a lovely little B&B a mile along the seafront. This proved an absolute winner with lovely walks along the seafront to be enjoyed and some of the most delicious breakfasts imaginable, and all at a price lower than I was paying for the shared Airbnb place which has been refunded to us. If you find yourself needing accommodation in Eastbourne then "Number Ninety One" comes highly recommended from me! 

The four days of flying did see some variation in the aircraft displaying, although there were some ever-presents across all four days too like Sally B above - the only airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress in Europe and always wonderful to see. Sadly the Red Arrows were unable to attend, being forced to cancel a few days out as they were stranded in Canada following the completion of their tour of the USA with poor weather conditions meaning they were unable to safely cross the Atlantic. As the show organisers firmly said though, "the Red Arrows do NOT make Eastbourne!" - the RAF was still represented well with their Tutor and Typhoon aircraft, and of course the wonderful Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight. 

I think a highlight for a lot of folk was probably one of the "something a bit different" offerings in the shape of the Conair Turbo Firecat pictured above completing one of its water drops - as you can see it is a waterbomber for use in putting out fires which felt quite appropriate with the amount of wildfires burning across the UK at the current time! We saw this at the Midlands Air Festival earlier in the year as well so it was nice to get an extra couple of chances to photograph it! 

The BBMF are of course always a joy to see - this year without the Lancaster which is undergoing major maintenance so we are getting a chance to see the Dakota flying - this weekend planned to be with two Spitfires alongside, although we did sadly lose one of those to a technical fault for a couple of the days. As luck would (not!) have it the one with the fault was also the one being flown by my lovely friend Andy on those two days which was a shame (for him, too!). The BBMF also gave me my favourite photo (so far at least) of the weekend in the shape of the one above taken during the tailchase sequence with Andy (in AB910 with the invasion stripes) tucked in nicely behind the Dakota, and Sqn. Ldr. Al Luckins flying the clipped-wing Spitfire TE311 forming a tidy line directly behind them - even the props on all three aircraft have played ball for me on this one! 

Always a crowd pleaser is of course the RAF's Typhoon Display - with this year's outstanding display clearly being the Saturday one where pilot Tom Nation found every scrap of the moisture in the air on a very humid day! A bit of vapour (or "spluff" in aviation photographer parlance) always makes a display more dynamic to photograph - and never more so than when it is also teamed with a lovely blue sky as it was here! 

Outside of flying times there was plenty of fun to be had with the pub of course being the location of choice for evening socialising. We also had a delicious Italian meal one day, fish & chips on the seafront on another, and some very tasty ice-cream! Tim & Alysha were wonderful company, and it was as always great to see Claire although only relatively briefly this time. I was reminded what a lovely laid back show Eastbourne is too - and although it may not be next year when I next head down, I'm certain I'll back back again at some stage! 

Robyn.