Airbourne 2026 Review - Friends old & new

 

This year's Airbourne was another great 4 days of flying and credit to the hard work of everyone behind the scenes. 

With the late cancellation of the Red Arrows (due to bad weather over the Atlantic when they were trying to make it back from Canada) the organisers had to scramble to try and fill their shoes and they did it brilliantly with the return of Sally B and the Eastbourne debut of the Firecat. 

Add to that 4 days of sunshine (possibly the hottest I've ever been on Eastbourne beach) and the stage was set for lots of great flying. 

Thursday is traditionally the 'quieter' day of Airbourne and I started the day with a wander around the showground and found possibly the coolest coffee truck ever!

Autistic me would like to inform you that the tail section reminded me of a mini BAE 146

Corney, Darcy & I ready to go

Sunshine!

The show was opened to the sound of the Merlin engine of this lovely Spitfire making it's only appearance of the weekend. 

Another 'Thursday only' participant due to technical difficulties the other days but making an impressive debut was the Navy Wings Wasp. I was also pleased to finally get some clear photos of it as all the other shows I've seen at perform at have been either rainy or hazy 😂

                                     

The Stampe Formation Team were really colourful against the perfect blue sky.

Another colourful participant was the RAF Tutor with 'Bumblebee' performing all 4 days showing how maneuverable it is.

Big, blue skies are designed for Rich Goodwin's Jet Pitts and he used every bit of it each day.

A trademark sideways pass

The Royal Navy Black Cats Wildcat solo display appeared all 4 days of the show. I love seeing the Wildcat over the sea, especially when it hovers and creates a big circular wake below it.

The Firebirds performed on Thursday and Friday with a polished routine. 

I also need to give a shout out to The Starlings who I managed to get zero photos of, despite their great display on Saturday and Sunday😐

Closing Thursday's show (also appearing on Friday & Saturday) and another of Airbourne's great bookings this year was the MIG17. It was absolutely fantastic and made a lovely sound and it's long afterburner looked really cool.

Friday was the hottest day of the weekend but I found an excellent way to cool down with this excellent combination. Yes it's an ice-cream slushie! I'm sure that these have been a 'thing' for a long time but I live a very sheltered existence 😂

Tasted as good as it looked!

The group agreed (yes that is a Typhoon team 'Mini Dave')

Friday saw the return of Sally B for the first time in 10 years and she drew the crowds. I was pleased to get some nice photos of her.

Meeting her public

I managed to get a few photos of aircraft over the pier this year. This one is my favourite.

One of my favourite displays of the weekend (and a rehearsal on Wednesday too) was from Miss Marinell. In my opinion she's currently the best Mustang display on the UK airshow scene and she whistled beautifully over the waves. 

On Saturday I was joined by Amanda and Phil and we celebrated sun-safety with 'haturday'.

We sat at a slightly different spot on the beach meaning I was able to get some slightly different photo angles to get the aircraft going past the pier (including the Sally B one further up the post). 

The RAF Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight Dakota & Spitfire appeared every day with the clipped wing Spitfire joining them on Thursday & Sunday. 

On Sunday I was joined by Dad for a final day of sunshine & planes. 

The British Army Red Devils dropping in

We were treated to some 'South of France holiday nostalgia' by the Airbourne debut of the Firecat demonstrating it's water-dropping capabilities. It was a brilliant, agile display and I really hope it'll come again next year!

Very impressive

It's a really cool looking aircraft

Closing the show was the RAF Typhoon screaming over the waves and ending on an ear-splitting note. I'll never get tired of the noise and power as it thunders along the seafront. On Friday & Sunday it performed against crystal clear skies but on Saturday we were treated to some epic vapour. 

 

Over the pier

The vapour made it look like it was breaking the sound barrier (I wish!)

You can watch the highlights of all 4 days here-

It was another great year blessed with fantastic weather. Now I have my yearly anxious wait to see if enough has been raised to secure the show for next year. If you feel able to soothe my anxious mind then please consider a donation towards keeping the show going here. 

I have 2 more shows this year Duxford's Battle Of Britain and Flying Finale (fingers crossed it's a little less windy than last year !) where I'll hopefully finally see a Red Arrows display this year 🤞

Love Jen

XxxX