For web marketing training, presentations and workshops visit Pacifica Training. If you wish to ask questions about website marketing please head over and register free at the website marketing forum, a knowledge base and community driven discussion group.
Eastbourne Air Show - Airbourne 2005
Published: August 15, 2005
Eastbourne Seafront
After crawling through the traffic to get to Eastbourne seafront for the 2005 air show, I managed to find a great spot on the beach by some rocks which sheltered me from the wind and the spots of rain but gave me a great perch to see the show.
The Red Arrows
As usual, they put on a grand display with 'over the beach' flights, all the rolls and criss-crossing they deliver with such ease and fantastic characters they draw in the sky. It truly is amazing how precisely they manage to fly.
I managed to get some great shots of them and the display lasted for far longer than I remember Red Arrow shows lasting.
Although now old and slow in comparison to todays aircraft they make up for it in agility and the skill of the pilots never fails to amaze. I really can't wait to see them again.
The Eurofighter Typhoon
Despite the statistics on this aircraft, it failed to impress me. Sure, it was very fast and very loud but so was the Tornado GR1 and the fantastic Belgian Air Forces' F16. The highlight of the Eurofighter display was its vertical climbing ability and the sight of it's tail glowing and its hurtling towards the sky but it stayed quite a way out and because of its raw speed meant it soared to unbelievable heights making it difficult to see.
The B-1 Bomber
I went to the Eastbourne Air Show specifically to see the Eurofighter but by far, the highlight of the show for me was the first fly-by of the United States Nuclear Forces B1 Bomber. I was stood there, stunned in silence as this huge bomber glided towards us without a whisper, wings tight back and banking left showing us its belly, it was a beautiful machine and clearly going faster than sound.
All of a sudden this enormous eruption roared like thunder as the wall of sound hit me. It was too fast for an amateur photographer like me to catch but the photo you see above was from the second, slower, subsonic fly-by.
After seeing that, there was little else that could impress me. I think only Concorde could have surpassed it but we'll never know now will we.
Boeing 757
Talking of commercial carriers, the Boeing 757 from DHL looked fantastic. Seeing a great big commercial jumbo jet like that so low and turn surprisingly sharply was odd to see. What is hard to comprehend is how slow all these aircraft can fly while still maintaining lift. It really is very slow considering the sheer weight of some of these aircraft.
Finally
Top stuff. Well done Eastbourne! I'll be going next year for sure, this time in a better location and with a longer lens.