Southport Airshow - September 2009

Overcast and windy - what better way to spend a day by the seaside! That was the conditions that greeted the thousands who headed to Southport for one of the larger seaside airshows. This summary will be shorter than the Leuchars review I posted previously mainly because I didn't get my butt in gear to write it and as such, much of what we saw has faded into memories I can't bring back! Coupled with the pictures disappearing into the ether somewhere also and this makes for a very 'barebones' review!

Once again however, heavy traffic met our arrival as we ended up queing for an hour or so trying to make it into the seaside town. This meant a long distance, tree interrupted view of an early display by the Red Arrows.

Plenty of on-street parking was a major plus in Southport and a seafront walk meant that we could watch the action as we headed to the main spectator area. As we arrived, we discovered that to actually gain entry to the main area would mean paying £8 each - a sum we kindly declined to pay to stand on a beach! We found a spot beside the security fence and settled down to watch what was on offer.

Unlike Leuchars earlier in the month, Southport's flying display was dominated by the 'props'. While we did see a Typhoon, Hawk and the Vulcan once more, the day belonged to quieter and slightly slower, older aircraft. Highlights included the Seafire and it's close relation the Seahawk, Catalina flying boat, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Blades display team.

Unfortunately, there were a number of call offs in advance of the show with a number pulling out, some due to tides - helicopters that were due to be on 'static' display on the beach in particular, something which made me glad I hadn't paid the money to get in there!

All in all, a decent show however the price tag to go onto a public beach for a very limited static display kind of brought down what would have been a better day out than it already was. Hopefully the 2010 show will step things up some.

Thanks to IanF on UK Airshow Review for the Catalina pic!