Airshow reviews - Clacton 2004
2004's Clacton Airshow attracted over 10,000 people over the two day show. Crowds gathered to see what was on offer, a spectacular collection of military and civilian aircraft from all eras.
The Red Arrows put on an always excellent display to open the Friday showing. That was followed by demonstrations from a good selection of fighter jets - the Tornado GR4, Jaguar and BAe Harrier GR7.
Another highlight of the show was the RAF Falcons Parachute Team. Now I saw them back in June at the Duxford D-Day Anniversary Airshow. They gave the crowd a bit of a fright because they were landing between fixed smoke bomb markers on the sand and had to jump out of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules over the main part of Clacton. This was because there was an easterly wind and the parachutists were being blown all over the place by the wind.
The Red Arrows opened the show and performed a dazzling display but they couldn't do the second part of their display because of the weather. The first day of the show had been dry and sunny with only a light bit of wind. However, the second day had been cold and drizzly with a lot of wind. Because of health and safety, they were forced to abandon it.
The rare Russian Built Sukhoi 26 was also flying. This is an aircraft that requires a huge amount of strength and skill to fly. It is a single engine powered by a 460HP Vedenyev 9 Cylinder radial engine and has a 3 blade propeller.
The Sukhoi 26 is built from Carbon Fibre, kevlar and titanium. It was designed and built in the late 1980's by Sukhoi's premier design Bureau with the sole policy of helping aerobatic Pilots achieve their maximum potential in competitions, airshows and performances. The style of the 26 allows Pilots to demonstrate their most complex maneuvers in greater style than any other piston engine aircraft.
The Tucano, the RAF's jet trainer also appeared directly after the Sukhoi 26. This is the RAF's jet trainer that pilots train on just before they fly fighter jets like the Jaguar. The Tucano has many advantages over the Jet Provest, which is a jet aircraft that is also used to train pilots. For one, the Tucano handles like a jet because of it's powerful engine and aero dynamic body. The second is that the Tucano can be run at a significantly lower cost that the Provest.
The Extra Duo are a pair of Extra 300L prop driven aircraft. They are specialist aerobatics aircraft like the Sukhoi 26. Benefiting from a carbon fibre shell and a 300bhp engine, it can climb at a rate of 3,000ft/min and a cruise speed of up to 200mph.
The German Built Extra series of aircraft are now world leaders in fast, unlimited piston engine aerobatics aircraft. To help with the Extra's success, the latest video and graphical equipment are included in the Extra 300L.
Saturday's show was closed by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Only a Spitfire and a Lancaster appeared. The familiar Hurricane, which is also part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, didn't appear because of the landing accident which I saw at Duxford's D-Day Anniversary Airshow.
Because of the fact that it was a sea front airshow, I couldn't get any photos of the airshow as I don't have a SLR. I only have a point and shoot so it's impossible to get any photos of aircraft flying.
