Top 10 Airshow Moments of 2024
Wednesday 1st January 2025
It's that time of year again when the UKAR Staff Team bash their heads together to collate our traditional "Top Ten" airshow moments from the UK airshow scene over the last year. Unlike in 2023 the team found themselves visiting far more events and we were literally spoilt for choice when assembling this countdown.
The past year has been a real story of massive highs and deep lows for the UK airshow industry that even the least dedicated of airshow fans would have failed to notice. The RAF have, for the most part, had a strong season with the return of 9-ship displays by the Red Arrows together with the celebration of the D-Day 80th via the painting of display Typhoon ZJ913 in the scheme worn by a wartime fighter of the same namesake, even if we did find its nickname of "Moggy" somewhat irksome. Similarly, the advent of the first official F-35B role demo added yet another military fast jet display to the UK circuit which we have sorely missed since the days of the Tornado, Harrier and Jaguar. That said, the tragic loss of Sqn Ldr Mark Long early in May was felt by everyone and it has been entirely understandable that the BBMF have operated a reduced season without any fighter demonstrations as a result.
The civilian airshow scene has also witnessed strong moments with the Midlands Air Festival once again attracting some of the most desirable classic jets and Shuttleworth providing its usual entertainment. We're also unanimous in our view that the best airshow of 2024 was without doubt the inaugural Sywell airshow which kicked off with such a strong lineup that the event easily matched and, in many ways, surpassed the Flying Legends shows of old at Duxford. The optimism and positivity toward this event has, sadly, turned into disappointment. Following the sad loss of the show's brainchild and champion, Richard Grace a few months ago, his family and the organising team have decided that the Sywell Airshow will be a one off in his honour. This would not be the only show that we lost during the 2024 season, which also struggled with a plethora of shows cancelling due to a variety of reasons ranging from financial to admin issues and the loss of the Red Arrows spending an extended amount of time in Canada to celebrate their centenary at the very height of the season.
All in all, the 2024 season is one that the team looks back on fondly. The variety of venues that earned a slot in our "Top Ten" should be seen as a testament to this and it is precisely why highly successful shows such as RIAT, which had a belter this year, haven't completely dominated the list. In any other year, highlights such as the Viper Lineup or the RCAF celebration would have easily made the list but instead are relegated to honourable mentions in our introduction.
The way we approach Top Ten is enigmatic, and not along any system or syllabus. As a general rule of thumb, we ask ourselves what we truly remember about the 2024 show season - what was the "I was there" moment? And to that we must honestly and truthfully say, that compared to last year beyond the shining examples below, there were so many. We very much hope that readers agree.
So, we thank you for indulging us and without any further ado, we're happy to announce our "top ten moments" for the UK's 2024 airshow season. This feature has always been designed to provoke debate and discussion, so we'd love to hear what your thoughts are on the best moments of 2024.
We wish you all the very best for a safe, happy, and prosperous 2025 season ahead.
10) THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Whether you loved them or hated them, Cosford's #TakeFlightFriday emoji clues certainly provided some light-hearted fun on the run up to this year's show. Unfortunately there's no emoji for 'Mirage' so instead, a stock video clip of a desert was posted one Friday in April, thus confirming the addition of Mirage 2000D duo Couteau Delta to the flying display, and likely sending any aviation enthusiast within a 25-mile radius of Wolverhampton into meltdown.
It was quite the catch considering it was the team's only UK display in 2024, indeed, their first for some 6 years too, so enthusiasts must have breathed a sigh of relief when the team landed at RAF Waddington, their home base for the weekend.
With the team having sported a desert camo paint scheme in previous years, snow camouflage would have been more appropriate for their appearance at Cosford given the seemingly sub-arctic temperatures that were endured by show-goers.
But despite the ever-so-slightly inclement weather, once the Mirage pair screamed in from the hold to commence their display, they immediately lit up the show. With afterburners glowing intensely against steel skies, the dynamic, exuberant and vigorous display of tactical manoeuvres was everything that we remembered. Young children watched open-mouthed at fast passes, close formation flying – did I mention the afterburners? It was all there and was just what the show needed.
There is no doubt that they were the highlight of the show and full credit must go to the organisers for pulling out all the stops to secure such a significant display act. It would have been a very, very different show had they cancelled…
9) MELLOW YELLOW
Recently it has felt like the variety of military air display acts in Western Europe has diminished with every new season. However, even in this gloom there are still gems to be found that have never graced these shores, some of which herald from our closest neighbours.
One such display was the debut of the Yellow Sparrows from the Royal Norwegian Air Force at RAF Fairford back in July. This little known team have rarely displayed outside of Norway yet in order to appear at RIAT they flew their six Saab Safari trainers on a route that took almost a week from their home base at Bardufoss Air Station well within the Arctic Circle.
Taking part in RIAT's NATO 75th anniversary celebrations, their participation contributed to the Royal Norwegian Air Forces wider commitment to this year's show that earned the air arm the 'Spirit of the Meet' Trophy at the annual awards ceremony on the Sunday. The debut of such a different display team and the effort they made to appear in the UK this summer is something that we believe rightly deserves recognition in our Top Ten!
8) RED BULL GIVES YOU BLING
There's something about seeing a large, four engined bomber being thrown about the sky, but seeing a four engined airliner in the guise of the Red Bull DC-6 flown in a manner that defies the stately nature of the type is truly something else! This summer we were lucky enough for the Flying Bull's to attend a number of UK airshows, meaning that Duxford and the Midlands Airshow at Ragley Hall were treated to the sight of the DC-6 being put through it's paces, and providing a touch of glamour during it's graceful display for the first time since it's appearance at Flying Legends in 2018.
Red Bull certainly know how to put on a show, with the DC-6 arriving with a full cabin crew, including "stewardesses" in period uniforms to provide a bit of 60's glitz and glamour, and even taking a flight through the Mach Loop during it's time in the UK to promote a Red Bull sponsored event. Whilst the highly polished finish, along with the fictional "Red Bull" livery might not be to everyone's taste, it at least means that we get to enjoy the sight of this graceful type taking to skies, hopefully for a long time to come!
7) FITS THE 'BIL
Manufacturer's demonstrations have long been a key part of RIAT as corporate bodies show off their latest and greatest hardware. That said, it has been some years since Boeing strapped on their display spurs for the Gloucestershire Airshow.
In lieu of the old familiar F/A-18F, the company provided something even better; a pair of gorgeous F-15QAs in full livery, bailed back from delivery to the Qatar Emeri Air Force. The "Qatar Advanced" models represent the latest and most up to date iteration of the F-15 design, and ever since the display was illustrated at Middle Eastern airshows in the back end of 2023, was top of many wish lists.
Treating U.K. audiences to the first F-15 solo demonstration since 2011, Boeing provided two different machines to the show; one with an impressive air to air load out of dummy weapons, the other as a "clean" jet. Flown by Jason Dotter, Matt Giese, Kevin Tinsley, and Michael Quintini, the two pairs of aircrews wowed audiences with the very familiar pulls and high-G vertical manoeuvres that Boeing displays are famous for, winning the "As The Crow Flies" trophy in the process.
Whilst this list is supposed to be about "moments", rather than participants, the F-15QA ticked all the boxes for a RIAT star; a unique debut, a rare aircraft (in the air), a rare air arm, a fantastic fast jet display, and plenty of noise. For those reasons, we couldn't publish our "top ten" without it. One hopes that Boeing doesn't wait another eight years before displaying in Gloucestershire skies again!
6) INDIAN SPRING
A veteran of the British warbird scene, Spitfire FR.XIVe MV293 has been a stalwart on the airshow circuit since 1992. Most know it from its previous scheme - MV268/JE-J, the scheme flown by British WW2 ace James 'Johnnie' Johnson, it had been in these colours since 2000.
At the start of this season it was repainted back in to its original Indian Air Force scheme, which the aircraft was delivered in, back in December 1947. It made its airshow debut, fittingly, at Shuttleworth's 'Best of British' airshow, where it was one of the star performers, ably flown in the hands of Nick Smith. In the late Spring sunshine, it looked glorious coming around the Old Warden bend with the growling Griffon only adding to the spectacle.
5) DRAGON IN THE PARK
The Midlands Air Festival is a celebration of the full breadth of aviation from hot air balloons to frontline fast jets, and all points in between. Despite this broad approach, the show organisers have developed a reputation for attracting the rare and unusual to this stately home in middle England.
A perfect example of this was the Swedish Air Force Historic Aircraft Flight's Saab J-35J Draken which is peak airshow content for the enthusiast. Historic, yet somehow still futuristic, the Draken has that cold war era magic, brutal yet elegant, blasting around the sky with a reheat trail of shock diamonds which seemed as long as the beast itself.
Performing what was without doubt a modified display to comply with CAA airshow regulations, there were no aerobatics. Instead, the routine consisted of swooping passes, turns and climbs that showed the distinctive double-delta shape just as well.
To witness a Draken thundering around Warwickshire over landscaped parkland was an astonishing experience, and summed up not only the outstanding Midlands Air Festival but the UK Airshow scene in general; there is variety, quality and every now and then a genuinely thrilling moment like this. Long may it continue.
4) WINGING IT
Sywell 2024 was a brilliant show with a fantastic variety of participants, but one act in particular stood out that had the whole team raving about them after the show - 46 Aviation's wingwalking routine, the well-known husband and wife pairing of Emiliano and Danielle Del Buono. Both are seasoned UK performers, and Danielle's wingwalking is especially well known here from her days in the (as was) Breitling Wingwalkers, but Sywell was the first time their joint outfit has displayed in the UK.
The famous pink Stearman wowed the Northamptonshire crowds with a hair-raising routine of aerobatics and physical stunts that raised the bar from other performances. Danielle truly showed no fear as she moved about the biplane's structure, ending up in some astonishing positions as Emiliano put the aircraft through its paces. The standout moment was undoubtedly a pass with Danielle hanging off the end of the wing, upside down - a moment that drew audible gasps from the crowd who rewarded the duo with a well-deserved round of applause after shutdown.
3) PHANTOMS OF THE OPERA
Ask any aviation enthuasiast what their favourite military aircraft is and the vast majority tend to choose something that isn't cutting edge modern technology. Instead, it tends to be those that are getting a touch long in the tooth, dwindling in numbers and operators alike, and are something of a rarity at airshows. And of those people, a good chunk would probably pick the F-4 Phantom II. Thankfully, the F-4 has become reasonably frequent visitors to RIAT of late, but 2024 saw four of these brutish aircraft make their way to RAF Fairford, the first time a quartet had been seen since 2005.
With two Turkish Air Force examples arriving on the Wednesday, word soon spread that the two Hellenic Air Force aircraft would be making their arrival on the Friday afternoon following the conclusion of the flying display. And what an arrival they made! The days of aircraft doing numerous low approaches, go arounds and fast passes seem to be long in the past now, but the pilots obviously had other ideas and decided to resurrect this much missed tradition. Putting in several low passes, the two aircraft tore up the pattern (and their special tails as well). This was probably about as close to a flying display as we'll get from a pair of Phantoms in the UK, unless something wild happens in the future.
2) SYWELL 'N GOOD
When in late 2023 it was accidentally leaked that there was to be a new airshow held at Sywell with Ultimate Warbird flights head honcho Richard Grace as the driving force we were rightfully excited.
In early January 2024 we were able to meet Richard Face to face at his HQ at Sywell to record two episodes of our podcast and after seeing Richards enthusiasm as well as the participation list the excitement only grew further. Whilst the weekend event wasn't without need of some slight tweaks it can only be regarded as a roaring success, with highlights from the F-35 Heritage flight, Flying Bulls, Corsair trio, 727 plus so many more we could have easily loaded this years top 10 with nearly all Sywell participants.
Tragically Richard passed away in November after a short illness which has rendered Sywell 2024 as a one off but as a show organised by enthusiasts for enthusiasts what a show it was!
The airshow world will have an enormous hole in it without Sywell airshow and Richard Grace.
Thank you Richard and team.
1) YEAR OF THE DRAGON
Our number one airshow moment this year was, perhaps, inevitable from the second it finished. The US Air Force's 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron has been based at RAF Fairford for some years now, and have contributed several U-2 Dragon Ladies to the static display in the recent past (and indeed had one in the showground again this year), but upgraded their show presence in 2024 with the announcement of a flying display of the venerable spy plane on the Friday only.
U-2s are a rare enough public demonstration in the USA and the last time this type took part in the flying display at a British airshow was as far back as 1993. Past experience and common sense dictated that not too much was expected from this routine - most figured that the pilot would conduct one of the famously short take-offs and perhaps a high circuit before either recovering or heading off for the rest of the day. Few demanded much more as the anticipation of seeing a U-2 in a show programme alone was more than enough.
In fact, the 99th ERS raised the roof with a packed and dynamic demonstration that far surpassed even those given at shows in the States. The coup de grace was a landing roll, accompanied by the customary chase car, that turned into a takeoff halfway down the runway, the black jet lifting off right in front of the crowd and creating a buzz that could be felt the length of the showground. Such an ultra rare appearance of an operational US intelligence aircraft that was given the full works at a British airshow has rightly been chosen as the UKAR Staff Team's moment of the year.
Do you agree with our choices? What do you consider to be the most memorable moments of last season?