The daring young men…and women

The main reason Bob had decided to come to Britain at the height of summer was in order to attend the world famous Farnborough Airshow. It’s only held every two years and is just a few miles up the road from us. We’ve never been but had been reliably informed (by the Cansfields) that it is well worth the risk of traffic and queues.

Bob had bought Platinum tickets back in Australia and we’ve just been waiting for the day to arrive…which it did today.

Of course, as usual, Day-z was the problem but I’d fixed that by finding a lovely lady over near Hankley who took dogs for the day. I’d tried our usual outlets but they were all busy but Karon came up trumps and we duly deposited our bundle of poodle love before heading for the show.

Firstly, I have to say how wonderfully organised the whole thing is. There are heaps of signs to point attendees in the right direction with entreaties to turn off satnavs. What a brilliant idea that was. Poor Linda would not have coped. And though the traffic leading into the car parks was pretty heavy, we were soon parked and happily walking over to the entrance, tickets grasped firmly in our hands.

Secondly, the airshow itself was AMAZING! Afterwards we discussed the highlights. For me they were, in no particular order:

The Breitling wing walkers. Four incredible women who do all sorts of acrobatic things on top of the wings of four bi-planes. And, while they were firmly held in harnesses, two of them unhitched themselves and climbed down into the open cockpit before landing. Very brave with expert balance.

The massive, triangular Vulcan bomber which seemed to defy all known laws of gravity as it swooped and swam in the air. A beautiful, if somewhat bulky, plane. She ran the longest bombing raid in history when, during the Falklands War, she flew from Britain, fully loaded with 21 1,000 pound bombs, dropped them on the airfield there and flew back. Non-stop. She had to be refuelled, in the air, 18 times.

The enormous airbus 380 which performed slow, looping turns so slow it appeared to just hang in the air. Given it weighs 1,200,000lbs (560,000kg), it’s extraordinary that it can actually get off the ground at all. A thing of beauty.

Of course, the Red Arrows were amazing and spectacular as were the other aeronautic display teams but, possibly the best display was by the Great War Display Team. We saw an incredible recreation of dogfights, giving us the merest glimpse of what it would have looked like for the soldiers in the trenches as the war was fought overhead.

Tri-planes, bi-planes and Junkers buzzed around, trying to get behind each other in order to shoot the enemy down. It was extraordinary to watch, made all the more emotional with songs and sounds of gunfire. A great testament to early pilots and a reminder that 2014 is the centenary of the start of the war to end all wars…that didn’t.

And who could possibly forget the amazing helicopter acrobatics. You wouldn’t believe it was possible for a big Lynx chopper to do airborne tricks but it did. We saw it!

The commentators, too, need a lot of praise. They kept up a wonderful, almost non-stop accompaniment to the aviation skills. It all sounded a bit Test Match Special with the main guy (a commercial pilot) having the same qualities as Jonathon Agnew. They also told us what we were seeing and hearing, including the impressive, never to be forgotten, Vulcan Howl, when it happened.

But, really, the whole thing was just wonderful. Even the static displays, enhanced by Bob’s expert knowledge of each and every plane we studied on the ground. He really knows an awful lot about planes.

It would be awfully remiss of me not to mention the DeLorean, kitted out exactly like the car in Back to the Future. A surprise, and I’m still not sure why.

To top the day off perfectly, Karon reliably informed us that Day-z had been a perfect poodle. She’d been for two walks and managed to get on with all the other dogs. I think she’s like one of those kids who are terrible with their parents but absolute angels in day care.