Weston Air Festival 2014

[The Baron]

Just me who was impressed then? The only Planes TV cameras I saw were on the seafront, quite a way from the sea. Down by the water's edge the Vulcan seemed pretty good. Low, noisy, a fair bit of power, and unlike most of the other stuff, performed nearer to Weston than Barry Island.

Canberra, Sea Venom, Dakota and B17 were all very good, the rest displayed miles out to sea. Ferocious Frankie sounded good but too far away.

No. I was impressed by the whole day. An airshow for £5 parking? What's not to like? Personally I thought these Vulcan was much improved on previous years too. Still, no pleasing some people..

[eddywinch82]

Was there commentary here at Weston Airshow, I spent some time on the pier and the beach and there didn't appear to be any on either. It was a good show but, there were so many gaps, between the acts, things just didn't run smoothly and without out notification from tannoys was really frustrating, also am I right in thinking there were two solo pitts special displays or was the second one to fill in for a lost act ? Highlights for me were the Canberra solo lots of speed and noise ! and Venom. I also enjoyed the Vulcan XH558 thought It was a great display. One other dissapointment was that the BBMF Dakota Spitfire and Hurricane didn't arrive and leave as a trio. In the lineup a week or so ago that appeared that was going to be the case, and was the primary reason I was making the trek from where I live near Liverpool. I know yesterday it wasn't possible as the Dak Spit and Hurricane were doing flypasts at different places to one another. However today they were all operating from Bristol Airport. So it was possible for them to arrive together I mean the Dakota was straight after the Hurricane iic PZ865 and Spitfire iia P7350, don't the Dakota Spitfire and Hurricane fly together anymore ? Apart from Duxfords D-DAY Airshow in May with Dak and Spit XIX PM631 arriving together it hasn't happend anywhere else this year aka Cosford and Biggin Hill Airshows. A good show but the big gaps did spoil it for me really !

[MRTT]

Was there commentary here at weston airshow, I spent some time on the pier and the sand and there didn't appear to be on either. It was a good show but, there were so many gaps, between the acts, things just didn't run smoothly and without out notification from tannoys was really frustrating, also am I right in thinking there were two solo pitts special displays or was the second one to fill in for a lost act ? Highlights for me were the canberra solo and venom also enjoyed the vulcan xh558 thought It was a great display. One other dissapointment was that the bbmf dakota spitfire and hurricane didn't arrive and leave as a trio. In the lineup a week or so that appeared to be the case, and was the primary reason I was making the trek from where I live near liverpool. I know yesterday it wasn't possible as the dak spit and hurricane were doing flypasts at different places to one another. However today they were all operating from bristol airport. So it was possible for them to arrive together I mean the dakota was straight after the hurricane and spitfire p7350, don't the dakota spitfire and hurricane fly together anymore ? Apart from duxfords d-day airshow in may with dak and spit arriving together it hasn't happend anywhere else this year aka cosford and biggin hill. A good show but the big gaps did spoil it for me really !

Yep Melvin Hiscock was commentating along with Sean Maffet for XH558s display and the Tutor, Tucano commentators.

[Concorde216]

Well, finally got to Weston after waiting for over an hour and twenty, thanks to First Great Western cancelling the train I was hoping to catch! Ended up seeing the B-17 from Yatton station, along with the Mustang thereafter.

Got to the sea front in time to see the Canberra, Venom and Vulcan and they were good and close to the beach (not Barry Island as some lying Grumpy-Locks and moaners were saying!).

I thought the Sea Vixen was displaying before the Vulcan? I think I saw it overhead Weston (looked as if it was departing from Bristol) but we didn't see it display, unless it did so earlier in the day?

[eddywinch82]

Wish I'd found a spot where the commentary was, I should have looked harder.

[rdchawk]

Well, finally got to Weston after waiting for over an hour and twenty, thanks to First Great Western cancelling the train I was hoping to catch! Ended up seeing the B-17 from Yatton station, along with the Mustang thereafter.

Got to the sea front in time to see the Canberra, Venom and Vulcan and they were good and close to the beach (not Barry Island as some lying Grumpy-Locks and moaners were saying!).

I thought the Sea Vixen was displaying before the Vulcan? I think I saw it overhead Weston (looked as if it was departing from Bristol) but we didn't see it display, unless it did so earlier in the day?

No sea vixen displayed

[richyrara]

Having watched both days from Brean Down I was also surprised at the distance from the beach that some of the displays were flown (eg Tucano which was looping a mile out), but some others looked really close to the crowd.

The bigger aircraft and the jets however were much better value from the down as I'd hoped, with some fine passes by the Reds, Canberra, Vulcan and Sally B of particular note. A disappointment for me was yesterday's Chinook flypast... although only billed as a flypast, having received PDA the day before I was hoping that a display would be on the cards, but it wasn't to be. Never mind. Shame about the Typhoon and Sea Vixen as well.

The Vulcan display itself I thought was rather pedestrian, like last year, but the glorious light and a splendid low overhead pass as she wound up for a high speed run made it worth the hike, for me at least.

That said, overall I was pretty impressed... well done Weston. I'll put a few pics up later.

[Adie1980]

Well that Vulcan display really wasn't worth the wait. Very tame indeed.

Agreed.
Silent... slow... admittedly once nice howling moment but after waiting so long watching on Planes TV, it definitely wasn't worth the wait.
Hugely disappointing, think RIAT will be better off without this year.

[craig.mason]

I thought it was a good display weekend at weston thanks to planes tv i enjoyed seeing canberra b-17 and vulcan pity about todays events at weston the para drop went wrong
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-27964842
And the vulcan had refuelling problems

[MikeyB]

I myself attended both days of the show as I wanted to see the Big Jet Formation on the Sunday and the SAR Sea King demonstration on the Saturday. In my opinion, I thought the show was a resounding success!!

We have to remember that this was only the second year that the airshow has been organised and last year was only one day, with poor weather! This weekend provided superb flying conditions and thus resulted in a greater attendance! This can only be a good thing for future shows! Before the classic jets had even arrived after 4 o'clock, local ice cream stands had completely sold out which will be great for local business!

I think for their first effort of a two day show, they did excellent and I can't wait for 2015! For me, the Vulcan display was very good and a lot better than that of last year's. For those of you watching it on Planes TV, I don't think you could have witnessed the display in the same way that the crowd there did! Yes, the display may not be 100% pleasing to the enthusiast, but at the end of the day she is an 'old girl' now and we should saviour every moment that we get to see her in the air as one day she will be gone. Besides, the few loud passes that were provided certainly made me smile in awe!

As for the incident that occurred today, I think that the organisers and ambulance services did an excellent job. I was unaware at the time as to what had actually happened. I just wish for a speedy recovery to those involved.

[5944]

For me, the Vulcan display was very good and a lot better than that of last year's. For those of you watching it on Planes TV, I don't think you could have witnessed the display in the same way that the crowd there did! Yes, the display may not be 100% pleasing to the enthusiast, but at the end of the day she is an 'old girl' now and we should saviour every moment that we get to see her in the air as one day she will be gone. Besides, the few loud passes that were provided certainly made me smile in awe!

I've just watched the last few minutes of the Planes TV coverage, and I agree, it sounds silent. It certainly wasn't down on the beach! I've been unimpressed at times with her displays, but certainly not with that one.

[2e1var]

I thought it was a great show. The issue seems to be the crowd line, or lack of it ! I'm not entirely sure where it was supposed to be but there were big differences between where the aircraft displayed. Most of the private stuff seemed to be using the shoreline, which obviously moved with the tide. Most people were sat up on the soft sandy stuff near the sea front which was way back, no one seemed to mind how far forward you went though ! Numerous displays were told by control to display further back Sally B, Trig, All the Bi-planes, Wing Walkers and of course the Vulcan were very close indeed. Highlight for me was definitely the Vulcan. 2nd or 3rd pass was head on to the crowd, then she pulled up with power and was directly over head, awesome sight and I have never been that close to her All of the military teams ie. The Lynx's, Tucano, BBMF displayed way out and were quite poor even from the shore line.

A great day, well done to the organisers.

Rich

[craig.mason]

Yesterdays parachute incident http://www.itv.com/news/2014-06-22/shoc ... -air-show/
at weston air day

[tankbuster]

Wish I'd found a spot where the commentary was, I should have looked harder.

We are all different.

I tend to go to shows looking for a spot where the commentary won’t be intrusive

[richyrara]

Wish I'd found a spot where the commentary was, I should have looked harder.

We are all different.

I tend to go to shows looking for a spot where the commentary won’t be intrusive

With an (un)favourable wind you could even hear it on Brean Down (just)

[JBartlett]

Wish I'd found a spot where the commentary was, I should have looked harder.

We are all different.

I tend to go to shows looking for a spot where the commentary won’t be intrusive

I find Commentators ok, there just one annoying one and he be at Flying Legends soon

[eddywinch82]

The Bom Bers !

[trebleone]

Did anyone else watching from Brean Down notice the weird acoustics at Weston? The Canberra in particular sounded most odd, giving out a deep, throaty growl, as it climbed out under power over Worlebury Hill ..... not just the Canberra, though - also heard it from the Hawks and even the Tucano.

[seacat192]

Did anyone else watching from Brean Down notice the weird acoustics at Weston? The Canberra in particular sounded most odd, giving out a deep, throaty growl, as it climbed out under power over Worlebury Hill ..... not just the Canberra, though - also heard it from the Hawks and even the Tucano.

I noticed the different sound from the Canberra, but can't say I noticed it from any other dispay items.

[richyrara]

I've taken the liberty of creating a Flickr group, if anyone's interested in adding:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/westonairday/

Cheers!

[paullangford]

Did anyone else watching from Brean Down notice the weird acoustics at Weston? The Canberra in particular sounded most odd, giving out a deep, throaty growl, as it climbed out under power over Worlebury Hill ..... not just the Canberra, though - also heard it from the Hawks and even the Tucano.

I certainly did, and everyone with me on Brean Down heard the same. I've never heard the Canberra sound so good as that day, and the Vulcan seemed to 'boom' its way round. I've heard the effect before at Welshpool where the Vulcan seems to boom and echo off the surrounding hills. Could be a combination of geographical features, sea, and air density that day....................or you could say I've no idea why. Glad I heard it though