Airbourne 2015

[Jez_H]

In my experience it get's awful from around 11.Great place to view the show from but due to the awful road network,and the fact that it's always horrendous getting out of the place,i give it a wide berth nowadays

Gonna head up soon then. Got some friends with me today, so we're in the car.

[timuss]

Great day Beachy Head was packed I've never seen so many people up there. Lots of highlights obviously the Vulcan ranks pretty highly, Also the Blenhiem gave us all a lovely topside pass as he departed back to Shoreham, not forgetting the nice barrel roll from Ferocious Frankie on her departure.

A pleasant suprise was the Typhoon running in from Beachy Head never seen that before.

[JohnnyM100]

Was up at Beachy Head too.

Agree with the points above but in addition:
Quite a few acts seemed to cut inside the Head when running in, rather than go around the Head. More than in previous years.
Sea King departure to the West was excellent but everyone had eyes on the Vulcan in the hold pattern (and thanks XH558 for the head-on to us before turning in to display).

Lots of people taking little regard to others and setting up/standing right in front of others line of shot. In that regard, a special shout out to the father and son in similar coloured light maroon (bordering on magenta) shirts. Separate from previous pairing; also witnessed near fisty-cuffs at one point, but with different sets of people.

Met some sound people who came down from Cambridge and left after the Vulcan.

[LN Strike Eagle]

Had no idea where to go really, so headed for the spot near the memorial that seemed busy as I'd seen videos from that location on YouTube. As it turns out, half a mile further west, near the lighthouse was vastly superior for the Vulcan with two lovely topside passes...

Near the memorial...


Near the Lighthouse...

[FGR2]

In 2012, they did a top side pass right along that stretch by the memorial. The head on today was quite good though

[LN Strike Eagle]

It was OK. Head-on/side-on/underside is a view you get in most Vulcan displays though. Was hoping for something more. Should have stayed at the lighthouse.

[mafro987daboss]

Can someone post the Sunday timetable please? Going to watch departures and arrivals at Biggin Hill so need to judge when each item based there is taking off.

[vicarage]

I was torn between Eastbourne and Herne Bay, equidistant from me, both 1 change by train, and with very similar weather forecasts (is there a better aviation weather site for low cloud than MetCheck, who's predictions were all over the place)

With a dreaded rail replacement bus near Tonbridge, and worries about overcrowding on the Herne Bay trains (apparently justified, the key train leaving after the show was 4, not 12 carriages) I decided to drive and found a spot 5 min from the eastern Park and Ride easily at 11. I was surprised to see spaces in the beach carparks still available then too.

I watched from the end of the pier, a good crowd of sensible people, big cameras, no children, and out of earshot of the PA. I do wish they'd demolish the sheds at the end, perhaps a new fire ...

I did appreciate that for all the big black clouds over the town the seascape remained clear of low could and enjoyed the displays, though the BBMF were rather tame, and the Vulcan a bit sedate as I waved it goodbye.The Mustang was flung around with great enthusiasm, with the whining engine sound a great aid. The Patrouille Reva were charming, rising above some disparaging comments about their home-brew design, and I did enjoy the Blenheim. Goodness, the Sea-King pickups off the lifeboat were quick, I glanced away and there they were gone.

30 minute walk to the car, and no problems with traffic on the A22, so a very smooth day

[JohnnyM100]

Strike Eagle - you must have been unlucky with your location as I was close to the memorial and still got a topside (in between heads). Were you close to the memorial or further down nearer the edge?

No denying the pic from closer to the lighthouse is better though.

[DanH]

There was a brilliant pass by the Red Arrows synchro pair over Beachy Head yesterday as they went to rejoin the rest of the team after the display. I've never seen them fly so low overhead.

[LN Strike Eagle]

Strike Eagle - you must have been unlucky with your location as I was close to the memorial and still got a topside (in between heads). Were you close to the memorial or further down nearer the edge?

No denying the pic from closer to the lighthouse is better though.

Near the memorial - I was just a few feet to the west of it, near where the wooden fence starts. I got some topsides from a front 3/4 angle, but not what I was expecting/hoping for from the videos and pics I'd seen from previous years.

[Jez_H]

Strike Eagle - you must have been unlucky with your location as I was close to the memorial and still got a topside (in between heads). Were you close to the memorial or further down nearer the edge?

No denying the pic from closer to the lighthouse is better though.

Near the memorial - I was just a few feet to the west of it, near where the wooden fence starts. I got some topsides from a front 3/4 angle, but not what I was expecting/hoping for from the videos and pics I'd seen from previous years.

I was not too far from the memorial, and don't recall seeing any front-facing top-sides from there. Gutted I missed that shot as that's what I really went to get, but the extra fly-bys and head-on views made up for it.... I didn't know which way to look when the Sea-King was heading in from the east and the Vulcan from the west!

I think it was a good location though as I got quite a few nice head-on shots of aircraft leaving Eastbourne. Overall I had a fab time over the weekend.

[Jez_H]

Hi folks.

I'm planning on going to Airbourne for the first time this weekend, and I hoping to get some nice top-side shots (particularly of the Vulcan) with the sea as a background. From what I've read here, Beachy Head is the place to go, but being such a large area, does anyone have any specific pointers (or GPS co-ordinates! ) on the best place on Beachy Head to watch from?

I'll be on a mountain bike, so I'm not to worried about distance from Car Parks or anything.

Also, are there any alternative locations to Beachy Head where we may get a better view of the displays, but are still elevated enough to get the sea (or cliffs) as a background?

I've never been to Eastbourne before so I'm not familiar with the area.

Cheers

Jez

Will you have your bike in the back of your car? If not and you are coming from the town or rail station, I might be able to save you a bit of leg work with a routing to Beachy Head, as I sometimes cycle there myself.

Hi - We're actually camping in Alfriston (about 10 miles away I think) so I will probably cycling in from there (unless the missus drops me half way). However I'm thinking I may head down into Eastbourne for one of the days, so if there's a good cycle route between Eastbourne and Beachy Head then that may well be useful info . Thanks.

The suggestion would have been cycle to the extreme west end of the seafront (the b2103) and when it bends sharp right and winds it's way up the looooong hill, it is easier to turn left off the road by the café and cycle the path that follows the cliff edge, as this leads to where the photographers gather and is very picturesque. The real advantage with this is you can lock your bike up at the bottom of the photographer's hill (and keep an eye on it from above) and do the last couple of hundred foot climb on foot, though in your case you would need to carry your bike up the hill with you as you will then need it to get back to the campsite. I reckon that option is still easier than the road, at least when going upwards or maybe I'm just too old now for uphill cycling.
The weather forecast looks pretty ropey for Thursday through to Saturday at least but that said, the Beeb got todays Eastbourne weather completely wrong, so we live in hope.

Just wanted to say thanks for the advice regarding the route. I ended up cycling this way on Friday as I watched most of the displays from the sea-front then headed up towards Beachy Head for the Red Arrows. It was hard work getting the bike up the hill, but I reckon it was probably a better route than trying to cycle up the road.