Bob Franklin reports attended the first Air Show at Manston International Airport for many years. All photos by the author.
The South East Airshow returned to Kent’s Manston Airport on June 22 after an absence of twenty years. Over 20,000 people attended the event, although reports from the BBC News website suggested many more couldn’t get in due to traffic congestion outside the airport. The show was organised and run by Angie Sutton of AS Enterprises who was the driving force for bringing back an air display to this historic airfield. Many of the aircraft that displayed brought back memories of the airshows from years gone by.
The first aircraft to get the event under way was flown by Peter Teichman in his P-40 Kittyhawk, who returned later in the P-51 Mustang. The RAF Tucano was flown by Flt Lt Andrew Fyvie-Rae who performed flew the display well against strong, blustery winds. Many of the other aircraft which were due to arrive and participate had to cancel because of the unfavourable weather.
[img src=6726 align=left]Conditions improved slightly for the remainder of the display to continue. First up was the pair of Red Star Rebels in the L-29 Delfin, followed by the brightly coloured Hawker Hunter ‘Miss Demeanour’, with Partick Tuit making his debut in the cockpit. Next up was the famous Avro Vulcan, which performed a spirited display with flashes of vapour streaming off the wings. The Netherlands based B-25 Mitchell PH-XXV wowed crowds as the WWII bomber showed how agile it was for a larger aircraft and often flew at 90 degree angles. The next displays were from the Army Air Corps Apache, B-17 Flying Fortress ‘Sally B’ and last to finish the show was the Kent Spitfire based at Biggin Hill.
A Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham and Hawk T1 from RAF Valley were on static display.
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