It’s a long way, it always rains and the display aircraft are miles away. Not exactly a hearty recommendation for an air show is it? Well maybe not, but I guess some of those factors are circumstantial. If you live in Devon, it’s not that far, obviously no one can control the weather and, if you spend the day at crowd centre where most people go, the aircraft are naturally much closer!
So why have I been for the last three years? Well, the intro above just doesn’t quite tell the full story. Yes, the display line and crowd centre are almost a mile away, so why does a reasonably intelligent person, such as I, stand so far away? Simple: “The Hill”. All will be revealed.
After a three and a half hour journey covering 220 miles I arrived at Dawlish just after 8am. I parked up and took the short walk to the meeting place in the Smugglers Inn car park, spotting one of my friends (and a GAR colleague), Mr John Higgins, looking a bit worse for wear. We were joined a short while later by Morley Lester and GAR Editor Karl Drage and as they started to talk the fumes were over powering; it was as if they had bathed in alcohol!
You see, whilst I was tucked up in bed in Leicestershire ahead of my early start, the three amigos were attending the annual Dawlish Air Show auction, and enjoying a few beverages in the process too. It’s all part of the superb social element that this show delivers and I’m sure the drinks helped raise the bids on quite a few items. It’s amazing how beer can cloud one’s judgement. I did hear of someone bidding for (and winning) a Team Merlin flying suit for £70, but I’m not sure if anyone was that drunk? (Editors note – I was!).
You see the Dawlish Air Show isn’t just about the aircraft; as I said it’s a great social event for those involved in organising the show and everyone who attends. It’s always nice to see friends that I’ve made over the years descend from all over the country to meet on “The Hill”.
So let me tell you about “The Hill”. It overlooks the seaside town of Dawlish and is quite a climb for those not used to such exertion but it offers an amazing vantage point for the aircraft that come down this far. Not all of them make it but when they do, the opportunities it brings for the photographer are pretty much unique.
For me, the main attraction at Dawlish is always the helicopters that come to the Smugglers Inn field and this year's RAF Merlin participation was particularly good for me and my fellow snappers with the experience flights for local air and sea cadets providing some great passes. MACR Gareth Attridge, Manager of Team Merlin, also made a visit to the Hill which was great to see and certainly beneficial for RAF public relations as this kind of personal touch is what engaging with the public is all about.
Huge credit also to the Search and Rescue Training Unit (SARTU), which provided the crew of the Griffin, who on discovering that there wasn’t an aircraft available at RAF Valley, drove for two and a half hours to RAF Shawbury to borrow an aircraft from 60(R) Sqn, and then flew all the way to Dawlish; quite a lengthy journey, I’m sure you’ll agree and one that everyone truly appreciated.
The RAF's Search & Rescue Sea King from 22 Sqn's A Flight at RMB Chivenor also dropped in and gave a lovely topside view, together with a DHFS Squirrel; the transport for Red 10 on the day.
So that was that, as far as close encounters are concerned, or so I thought, of which more later!
The show was opened by Flt Lt Bill Ramsey in his Tutor and, given that it was a mile away and the Tutor is a very small aircraft, I was a watcher on this occasion, rather than a snapper! Bill has had a great second season displaying the aircraft and is one personality that we’ll certainly miss when he hands over to a new pilot for 2011.
The Breitling Wingwalkers also graced the crowdline with their usual polished and terrifying (as far as I’m concerned anyway – you wouldn’t catch me trying that!) display. A Bucker Jungmeister came next, closely followed by two more RAF displays, the King Air and the Hawk role demo and then John Beattie followed in Kennet Aviation's Jet Provost. Beattie did his best to give the Hill a show with a nice top side view but to be honest, very little with wings could better his appearance last year in the Wasp which was superb!
A more unusual item, and one which was most welcome, was the Air Southwest Dash 8. You don’t often see airliners like this at airshows and the aircraft gave a low, close and exciting display, and I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. More of the same next year please!
The Battle of Britain Memorial flight arrived to the sound of applause from the crowd on the hill and it was an interesting change to see only the Lancaster and a Spitfire in formation over the Dawlish shoreline. A lovely low pass by the Lancaster with a full ocean backdrop brought cheers from the assembled snappers (the sort of shot we were all after), as did the sight of John Higgins standing mouth wide open and unable to photograph it, thanks to a coffee in one hand and a burger in the other!
The Pembroke, as ever, put on a spirited display and was another aircraft which was low enough to keep the hard to please snappers happy. It was closely followed by a single pass from a 100th ARW KC-135R Stratotanker, from RAF Mildenhall and a similar appearance from a lovely VC-10 from RAF Brize Norton, trailing its refuelling hoses. For a show that very nearly didn’t happen, the lineup really was excellent and I’m sure the crowds assembled down in Dawlish itself were enjoying a fantastic day.
Now, back to those close encounters I mentioned earlier. Enter stage left, The Red Arrows. More applause, a few cheers and some precision formation flying. I’ve seen the Red Arrows so many times that I have, dare I say, maybe taken them for granted of late. You see for me, the first half is undoubtedly beautifully flown, and the public love it, but the show doesn’t really get going until they split up and the Synchro Pair strut their stuff; that’s when the exciting stuff happens!
And this year was the best I’ve seen yet. The view of the show from the Hill is very different from that at crowd centre. The Reds routine is designed so that at the centre of the crowd the aircraft look as if they are exceedingly close. From a hill, 400 feet high and looking down the display line, the show looks completely different. Add to that the fact that as you are looking down the display line from an elevated position, the aircraft fly straight at you!! When you’ve seen the Reds as many times as I have it does take quite a lot to get the adrenalin pumping, but the 2010 Dawlish Air show Red Arrows display did just that, three times, all thanks to some stunning passes from the Synchro Pair!
So that was almost it, bar the GR.4 role demo. For me, the demo didn’t quite work at Dawlish, it was distant again, although I’m positive that it was much better from the crowd centre (given that the whole air show is geared up for that, lest we forget) but from the hill, it was a shade disappointing. Still, a great coup for the show and big thanks to Flt Lt Simon “Tats” Greenhalgh and his role demo teammates for making it happen.
And so for another year, Dawlish was over. The number of enthusiasts on the Hill seemed a lot less than in the previous two years, partly due to the weather forecast I would imagine, but I really enjoyed the event once again. It’s an almost unique setting with good participation, brilliant participation in fact, given the financial constraints Kevin Wills and his whole team faced this year.
After the show GAR caught up with him to see how it had gone from his perspective.
“I'm really, really pleased with how the show went! A quite remarkable achievement when you consider where we were at the beginning of June!
“We had the biggest and most varied display yet and, although the weather did its best to spoil things, everything flew as planned except for the BBMF Hurricane and Royal Navy Sea King - the latter being weathered in at RNAS Culdrose. So a really big thank you to all of the people who contributed in advance, be that through becoming a Friend of Dawlish Air Show, or by making a straight donation; it really was a show put on by you!
“I'm also pleased to say that our collection on the day far exceeded our expectations and absolutely blew away the 2009 figure, which, to be honest, it had to. Admittedly we organised things far better this year and thanks to a large number of local helpers getting out and about amongst the crowd I'm pleased to say we collected a massive £10,000, which, when you consider the crowd number was slightly down due to the rather pessimistic weather forecast and a failed train blocking Dawlish station for three hours, is absolutely outstanding!
“So coupled with the revenues from our programme sales this should give us a good platform from which to build on and start planning for Dawlish Air Show 2011. Finally I would like to thank all of the individuals and businesses that donated their time and money to make Dawlish Air Show 2010 the undoubted success it was. I couldn't have done it without you all.”
What a great way to end my personal look at Dawlish Airshow 2010. With plans for next year already underway it’s one date I know I’ll be marking off in the diary and you should too. Whether you’re a snapper like me who’s looking for some unique angles or just want to visit one of the friendliest and most picturesque airshows going – make sure you get along to Dawlish 2011, you won’t be disappointed.
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2010-08-31 - Gareth Attridge
Great article Geoff in your own inimitable style!!
Thanks for the name check as well!
Dawlish is a particular favourite for me and the Team and we look forward to our usual 'perch' up on the hill. Next year I may well be 'one of the many' sitting back and watching the helicopters arrive.
Keep up the good work GAR.
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