About the Airshow
The show takes place at Old Buckenham Airfield, Abbey Road, Old Buckenham, NR17 1PU.
The event runs over a weekend at end of July, and flying usually starts from midday.
The show has memorabilia and food stalls, fair rides for children and military vehicles on show.
Arriving at the show
We took up our spot, unfolded our picnic chairs and settled in for the show.
First up was the RAF parachute team and I grabbed quite a few shots of them gliding down from the sky.
The shot below is kind of a James Bond or Mission Impossible shot with the aeroplane in view as well.
There were some great shapes they create as the parachutists come gliding down to earth.
I really like these formations which won’t make great images for anyone else except as a memory for me.
Some closer shots were quite good to, especially getting a close up view of the coloured smoke canisters.
Red Arrows
The red arrows were on today which is not something the organisers do every year. Apparently, it is six years since the arrows last appeared here.
The red arrows always draw the crowds and I have to say, I never get bored of watching them.
The two shots below are my favourite shots:
And I was pleased of this crossover shot:
The red arrows were formed in 1964 and have performed over 4,800 displays in 57 countries.
Sally B
Next up was the amazing Sally B.
Sally B is the name of an airworthy 1945-built Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress. At 76 years old, she is the only airworthy B-17 based in Europe, as well as one of three B-17s preserved in the United Kingdom.
The aircraft is presently based at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, in eastern England. Sally B flies at airshows in the UK and across Europe as well as serving as an airborne memorial to the United States Army Air Forces airmen who lost their lives in the European theatre during World War II.
Spitfires
Then the supermarine spitfires:
Then a pack of Yaks did a series of fly-by passes:
The Eurofighter Typhoon
Then, the one that never ceases to generate gasps in the crowd, the Eurofighter Typhoon.
About the Eurofighter
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canarddelta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
The aircraft’s development effectively began in 1983 with the Future European Fighter Aircraft programme, a multinational collaboration among the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
The sudden end of the Cold War reduced European demand for fighter aircraft and led to debate over the aircraft’s cost and work share and protracted the Typhoon’s development: the Typhoon entered operational service in 2003 and is now in service with the air forces of Austria, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Kuwait and Qatar have also ordered the aircraft, bringing the procurement total to 623 aircraft as of 2019.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a highly agile aircraft, designed to be an effective dogfighter in combat. Later production aircraft have been increasingly better equipped to undertake air-to-surface strike missions and to be compatible with an increasing number of different armaments and equipment, including Storm Shadow, Brimstone and Marte ER missiles.
The Typhoon had its combat debut during the 2011 military intervention in Libya with the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Italian Air Force, performing aerial reconnaissance and ground-strike missions.
Final thoughts
We had first visited the Airshow in 2021 when there were a limited amount of tickets on sale thanks to Covid-19, and had really enjoyed the show.
We returned as we had heard the red arrows would feature on the Saturday and wanted to go back again,
The show did not disappoint – even though the line up is pretty much the same, it’s thrilling to see the aircraft flying by.
I got a lot of good shots but my excitement led to what is known as ‘spray and pray’ which meant I came home with over 6,000 images! With a camera capable of 20 frames per second, it’s very easy to end up with thousands of images, all very similar.
On a future visit, I may see how I could be more tactical with my photography to collect fewer and better images.
This event was relatively easy to drive to and park, and find a decent spot amongst the crowd. Picnic chairs are a must and the opportunity to see aircraft such as Sally B, spitfires, and the Eurofighter and very much worth it.
Onwards and upwards…