Shoreham Airshow Press Release

All the displays are now confirmed and it promises to be the best show to date at “Sunny Shoreham.” Already advanced ticket sales are up on previous years and we are anticipating record crowds due to the fact that we will be the only show to be held over “The Battle of Britain “weekend.

John Romain is busy organising the Spitfire and Hurricane scramble with a total of eight aircraft – the airfield will be attacked by two ME108s with suitable pyrotechnics and characters in roll play situations around the aircraft. Add to this we have the full BBMF Display on both days so it will make a total of ten Spitfires and Hurricanes visiting Shoreham.

The skies will be full of some nice aircraft – Sea Hawk, Sea Fury, Mustang, Kittyhawk, Harvard, Sally B and Catalina. One big advantage of the Shoreham show is the proximity of the airfield to the Sussex Downs and Lancing College making an ideal and beautiful backdrop for photographs.

This year the airfield celebrates its 70 anniversary making it the oldest commercial airfield in the UK and the new owners have promised us full support in running this event in years to come.

If it is helicopters you want to see we have the RAF Merlin display team, RN Merlin, two Chinooks and the Sussex Police Helicopter. It is a first for us in getting the Merlin and an added bonus in having two. The award winning Chinook will be making the most of the airspace over Shoreham and the H900 G-Susx police helicopter flown by Ian Brown will be put through some interesting manoeuvres.

The RAF have done us proud this year with full displays by the Typhoon, Harrier GR7, Hawk, Tucano, Tutor and the full Battle of Britain Memorial Flight with the Lancaster, Dakota, Spitfire and Hurricane. We are delighted to have the Typhoon display following its brief fly through visit last year. Needless to say the Harrier has always been one of the highlights of Shoreham getting a standing ovation from the crowd.

The pilots and public love Shoreham because it is a real family event giving everyone a chance to meet each other and get close to the aircraft and the smell of kerosene.

If it is aerobatics you want we have the four ship Yakovlevs in their Yak’s, the four ship Utterley Butterlys, Denny Dobson in his Extra 300, Will Curtis in his Sukhoi 26 M2 and the brilliant Guy Westgate in his Fox Glider with the Extra 300 tug aircraft.

For those that want more fast jets we have the Red Bull Sea Vixen and the Vampire T11 both very popular aircraft on the display circuit.

When are we going to stop? Well we are nearly there apart from the “Red Devils” who will be jumping both days and linking up with members of the Parachute Regiment recruiting team and their exciting display in the main arena.

Static has always been a problem at Shoreham and we think we have overcome this problem by getting some interesting aircraft along and the fact that we are the only show on means that as many aircraft that can will base here.

The ground arena has been completely re-vamped and we have the RAF Police Dog Team, The RAF Regiment and many interesting displays from the air cadets. The Red Arrows simulator will be present for the first time and there will be opportunities to meet members from all three services.

Lots of trade stands, a craft tent, circus, fun fair, classic cars as well as many items to keep the children amused have the makings of what we try to achieve a family day out – and “Yes” we have kept the prices the same as last year. There are some nice ticket offers coming up with the help of the local media – so keep your eyes out.

We cannot run this event without our sponsors, the many local people who give their time, the air show committee, the airport management and staff and last but not least the Shoreham RAFA Branch members. We donated £120,000 to RAFA funds last year and this year we know we will reach the One Million Pound target from all the shows. Not bad, for an event that raised £3,000 on its first small fete!