2021 In Plane Geeking

Hi guys happy new year! After publishing my 2021 In Music blog I thought it would be fun to go back over my favourite aviation highlights of the year. Unlike with gigs I was actually able to squeeze almost a full year's worth of plane geeking into 2021 which was an unexpected delight and I even got my long threatened Red Arrows tattoo ........

 

The first airshow of the year didn't quite go according to plan when Dad and I went to Headcorn Battle Of Britain Airshow back in June and it was completely rained off. We did get to see the famous 'Silver Spitfire' on the ground as well as a parade of other warbirds. 

 

After the show the organisers very kindly emailed everyone who had attended on the day and offered to roll over our tickets for next year as nothing flew, which I thought was absolutely brilliant as it wasn't something they 'had' to do. Hopefully next years show will be blessed with better weather and we can see these beauties in the air!

In July Chris, Vana and I went to Goodwood Festival Of Speed to see all the F1 cars (check out my blog from the day for loads of photos and videos) and conveniently The Red Arrows ....

Chris took the infamous 'Jen taking a photograph of the subject of her tattoo' photo

It was also the first time I'd seen the 'NHS Pass' tribute to the keyworkers who kept us safe during the pandemic and hearing the crowd cheer for those heros made my heart swell. 

In August Dad and I were back at Duxford for the first time since 2019 for their 'Celebrating 19 Squadron' flying day (check out my blog here) which much to my delight opened with a surprise flypast from two RAF Lakenheath based F15s!

 

The other highlight of the day was the beautiful display by the P51 Mustang 'Miss Helen'

 

 

Here's some more video highlights of the day -

In September I went to Bournemouth Airshow for the first time and absolutely loved it although the sandy beach somewhat confused Corney and I as you can see from my blog 😂. It was great seeing the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) back in formation with their Dakota, Hurricane and Spitfire. 

 

The Red Arrows also made an appearance -

There was some good helicopter action too with the RAF Chinook and Royal Navy Black Cats displays. 

Chinook

Wildcat

There was also a typically dynamic display by Rich Goodwin in his Muscle BiPlane.

I enjoyed the show so much I've booked a hotel for the weekend in 2022! I've popped some of my video highlights below -  

Later on in September I was back at Duxford for their Battle Of Britain Airshow and made the most of the members VIP area. There were so many warbirds to watch as you can see from my blog and YouTube video.

 

Messerschmitts 

Duxford resident Sally B -

 

I really enjoyed seeing Historic Helicopters with their Sea King and Wessex, living on the coast I used to see Sea Kings passing along regularly so it was great to see one again. 

 

The countryside around Duxford is really pretty and makes a lovely backdrop to photos of the aircraft taxi-ing like in this photo of Miss Helen from earlier in the blog. 

Of course Duxford's Battle Of Britain airshow is famous for it's mass Spitfire flypast, the ground-shaking thunder of the Merlin & Griffon engines makes a sound like no other. 

We had some interesting flypasts in the Eastbourne-area this year, this Typhoon Display Team Photoshoot (sorry for the link being from the Daily Heil) lead to arguably my best aviation photo of the year .......

We also had a visit from Sally B -

And this Apache joined us whilst we were walking Eos -

We had a mini Spitfire display on the seafront to commemorate the passing of a member of staff at a local college. 

 

 

My geeking year ended with an unexpected final trip to Duxford for their 'Best Of 2021 Flying Day' (here's my blog). When they announced the Typhoon would be appearing I had to go after missing it at Bournemouth and it was absolutely worth it for the vapour-tastic display at the end of the show. 

 

 

Another fantastic moment was the return of the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight's Lancaster, Dad and I were in the perfect spot as they flew in right over the top of us .... absolute goosebumps 😱

 

The theory of the show seemed to be "If it's in flying condition then send it up" which was great as we got some really interesting combinations of aircraft and some aircraft I hadn't seen for ages such as the Lysander. 

Here's some video highlights -

The Ultimate Warbirds Mustang and Thunderbolt always sound fantastic flying together. 

All in all it's been an absolutely fantastic airshow season despite cancellations of some events due to Covid Lockdowns. Next year is looking great with the (hopeful) return of RIAT and Airbourne (third time lucky), Headcorn Airshow and my Mini-Breaks to Bournemouth and Duxford's Summer Airshow. 

See you on the crowd line!

Love Jen

XxxX

2021 In Music

Hi guys first of all MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you've all had a lovely time and that Santa has been good to you 💓.

I'm excited to publish one of my favourite blogs of the year where I get to waffle and give my entirely uneducated and uncalled for opinions of music I've loved during 2021 😂 (for those of you interested you can check out my review of 2020's music here, I've also been posting occasional blogs about a music challenge that you can see here). As always I'd really like to know what you guys have enjoyed this year and any recommendations you have for me. As always click on the blue writing for links to the albums and songs. 

As a disclaimer some of these songs might have been released prior to 2021 and I've only discovered them this year but loved them so much I had to include them. So without further ado (and in no particular order)  let's jump in .......

Royal Blood - Typhoons

I'd been looking forward to the release of this album ever since Trouble's Coming was released last year and it was worth the wait. I'd describe it as 'rock you can dance to', it has the heaviness of their previous albums but with an added groove. My favourite songs on it are Typhoons (not just because there's a plane the same name honest!) and Boilermaker (Co-written by Queens Of The Stoneage's Josh Homme). Royal Blood are actually still the last band I saw live back in 2019 as although gigs I have tickets for have gone ahead unfortunately my mental health has not played ball at all and I've missed gigs by Royal Blood, Yungblud and Amyl & The Sniffers 😓

Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets To My Downfall

I love this album, it takes me back to the pop punk of my teenage years. However don't be fooled by the upbeat tunes, it's not all sunshine and unicorns and does cover some darker elements. I first heard about MGK when a music commentary channel I follow on YouTube The Punk Rock MBA mentioned that MGK had worked with Blink 182's Travis Barker on his latest album. Not only had he released a new album but he'd actually released a short film to accompany it Downfalls High, whilst the acting is so wooden it could be considered a fire hazard I still enjoyed it. Releasing a film to accompany an album harks back to the creativity of bands like The Who, Pink Floyd etc and in the age of streaming (no I still can't work Spotify) having a visual reference for the songs really appeals to me. My favourite songs on the album are Jawbreaker and Bodybag. I also need to mention the single MGK released a couple of months ago Papercuts - hopefully some more new music will follow. 

Olivia Rodrigo - Sour

Speaking of a pop punk revival leads me to another album I've enjoyed this year by Olivia Rodrigo. When I heard the first single from the album Driver's Licence I wasn't that into it, I thought she had a good voice but it was all a bit overwrought and teenage for me. I kept seeing people raving over her so I decided to listen to some of the other songs on the album and I'm so glad I did, I really like Brutal, Hope U R Ok and of course the Paramore-esque Good For You. The best thing is that Olivia is only 18 and hopefully has many more years in the industry ahead of her, I can't wait to see what she produces!

The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock & Roll

My final favourite album of the year is The Pretty Reckless' Death By Rock & Roll. I've been a fan of them for 10 years now and the latest album hasn't disappointed. It's the perfect example of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' and stays perfectly on brand for them. Taylor Momsen has a fantastic voice perfectly framed by the heavy band behind her. My favourite songs on the album are Death By Rock & Roll, Only Love Can Save Me Now, Rock & Roll Heaven and the collaboration with Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello And So It Went.

And now for some songs I've enjoyed this year -

30 Seconds To Mars & Illenium - Wouldn't Change A Thing

Amyl & The Sniffers - Gacked On Anger

Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

Green Day - Pollyanna

Foo Fighters - No Son Of Mine

Mod Sun - Karma

Ghostemane - Lazaretto

Scarlxrd - Mxrbid

Yungblud - Fleabag

Nova Twins - Vortex

Inhaler - It Won't Always Be Like This

That's all for me for this year. Hopefully my mental health will allow me to actually attend some gigs next year. Let me know which artists you're looking foward to seeing or hearing new music from in 2022!

Love Jen

XxxX