Day 3 of Bournemouth Air Festival 2014

If you read my post on Days 1 and 2 of Bournemouth Air Festival 2014 you will know that the weather was not great on the first two days, but that did not stop us having fun.  The weather was slightly better on Saturday but there was still quite a bit of cloud cover to contend with.

Saturday saw the promise of the Vulcan flying again after a couple of years of absence and we were all hopeful that it would make its appearance later that day.  Isaac and Eliza donned their costumes in preparation of the event and we got lots of lovely comments on the way down to the beach.

First stop of the day was the arena at the centre of the beach between the two piers where the beach landings would take place.

The Royal Marines Commando Assault Team treated the crowds to a thrilling beach assault featuring helicopters, landing boats tanks and ‘weapons’ whilst supported by RFA Argus, HMS Westminster and HMS Mersey whom all joined in the action.  The kids adored seeing the pirates captured and the gunfire didn’t bother them at all.

Once the beach landings had finished we found our spot on the sand and made camp for the rest of the day.  We were met by some family members and the kids flitted between playing in the sand and taking on some extreme flight training – this is how they become pilots these days – isn’t it?

The first plane of the day was the Eurofighter Typhoon and it didn’t disappoint as it roared into action, followed by the Black Cats, Chinook and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

There was lots of other action in the skies, but it was obvious the crowd was waiting for one thing……..

The Vulcan!

It snuck up on us quietly from the Isle of Wight and ran along the beach with barely a sound until it started to climb.  Then there was that unmistakable roar from the engines as it climbed.  Sebastian had been fighting to get his headphones off for the noisy planes, but all of a sudden he seemed happy to be wearing them.

Sadly the Vulcan only displayed for around 10 minutes and I would have prefered a lot longer, but the announcers informed us that due to its popularity it would be back tomorrow too.

There were lots of other displays to see afterwards and the Red Arrows finished off the day, performing as an 8 instead of a 9 as Red 3 had to dash home as his wife had gone into labour!

They were as spectacular as ever and performing as an 8 didn’t lessen the enjoyment, despite some of the formations looking a little lopsided.

Once they had finished we headed off to find some food before Night Air started in the evening.

Night Air was amazing.  Sadly we didn’t get to see the music acts, but the action in the air was brilliant.  The Blades were brilliant as always and Miss Demeanor always does a great show, but the night belonged to the SWIP team with their glowing planes and fireworks and the daring Red Devils who plunged to earth with flares strapped to their ankles!

We didn’t stay for the fireworks as they were at 10pm and the kids were exhausted but it really was a fabulous day out and we were going to do it all over again tomorrow for the final day of the air festival!