Portrush Airshow 2011

[Dave]

From a photographers perspective, a decent airshow. The weather was rotten but at least the rain held off (until at least 3pm which is when I left). A big disappointment for the Vulcan to not turn up, but after the antics 2 years ago, I didn't really hold much hope of it coming, there is always some sort of excuse for it. I thought the Vulcan was an all weather aircraft?
 
As a few others have said, the F-16 display was fantastic, with a good portion of it's display within the bay area which brings it close to spectators which is exactly what we all wanted to see. The addition of the flares and after burner made a perfect all round display. Likewise, the Catalina also lumbered around the bay for a bit again giving spectators a good look.
 
The Tornado's were quite good but alas quite far out, especially compared the the F-16.
 
By the way, it looked like the F-16 gave those on the Blackrocks a great display, getting close a few times when compared to the folks on Ramore head. 
 
Dave

[Xair]

Best show I've been to at Portrush, F-16 was incredible, tornado's great, Catalina Lovely, Autogyro entertaining infact a big pat on the back to every display pilot they all did a fantastic job. Good also to see some light aircraft that could get in close and land on the beach etc. TTF please pass on my congratulations to all involved in setting it up. Wasn't expecting the Vulcan to show so wasn't at all disapointed. How come a plane that flew sorties to the Falkland can't get accross the Irish Sea .
 
Xair

[Angry Turnip]

The Vulcan has to operate under VFR (Visual Flight Regulations) as part of it`s permit to fly.
Therefore it has to have the ground in sight at all times,and is not allowed to fly through cloud and is restricted to what altitude it can fly at.
 
Daft I know,but that is down to the CAA who set out the details under which the aircraft is permitted to operate.

[Xair]

The Vulcan has to operate under VFR (Visual Flight Regulations) as part of it`s permit to fly.
Therefore it has to have the ground in sight at all times,and is not allowed to fly through cloud and is restricted to what altitude it can fly at

That really is daft Angry. With our weather we're not likely to ever see it over here. By the way to the organisers have to pay for the Vulcan even if there is a no show?
 
Xair

[casper]

Another reason you'll find for them being fair weather beasties is the fact that still air doesn't stress the airframe the way that bad weather would. Bad weather would therefore reduce the life of the airframe and increase maintenance cost.

[JoeyB]

By the way, it looked like the F-16 gave those on the Blackrocks a great display, getting close a few times when compared to the folks on Ramore head. 
 
Dave

It set off my (and a few others) car alarm!! (parked at Blackrocks)

[CanonJohns40d]

Hi guys just home enjoyed both days despite the no shows, congratuations to all concerned both organising and those flying. The F16 display was awesome I thought it was pretty close to us on Ramore side so if it got closer across the bay it must have been impressive. My Bro in Law is in England on holiday and sent a text to me at 11.57am on Saturday. So!; I hear you all saying, well it was to tell me the Dakota in D Day colurs was about 500 feet above him at that moment. This the Dakota that couldn't get to us due to bad weather. I'm having a look at my pics now and I'll post a couple later.

That and the Vulcan aside this was better this year and I hope we will have the opportunity to enjoy one next year. Lets also hope that the fast jets like of the Tornados and F16 will become regular visitors.

John

[Paultojo]

Have to agree a great show even with a couple of major no shows fantastic effort by the organizers very few gaps and it all seemed to go very smoothly on the surface , roll on next year maybe with some sunshine.


Paul

[greglloyd]

Interestingly, I checked satellite images of England today when I got
home and it was actually clear skies over Leicestershire at the time the Vulcan was due to
come over. So it wasn't because the weather was poor at it's base. There was however, a band of cloud and rain over the west coast of England. It must have been this that prevented it making it over??

Either way I don't care. The F-16 was awesome

[Dave]

It seems a bit pointless to put so much effort into getting the Vulcan airworthy only for it to be ground by clouds due to it's VFR limitations. As Xair mentions, we'll probably never see it over here in that case.
 
JoeyB, I head the car alarms going off. Also the vibrations from the afterburner was impressive.    The F16 needs to be obtained from now on, you can't really get a better display than that. 

[firefox]

great air show especially the f 16 whooping display felt the ground shake on black hill could do with a few more acts like this to liven things up a bit e.g. f15 eagle or the f.a.18 hornet which are based in u.k. organizers should try to approach these people perhaps for next year .u never know.well done to the hard working organizers for another free show  :)still have to find ways of bringing in funding for future shows though,what about collection boxes placed in shops throughout northern ireland as 1 way

[greglloyd]

Agreed. As well as getting the F-16 back again some time I think we should start looking to other countries' airforces (rather than just the UK) for more spectacular displays in the years to come.

[greglloyd]

Yep. Felt the ground shake too!!

[Paultojo]

great air show especially the f 16 whooping display felt the ground shake on black hill could do with a few more acts like this to liven things up a bit e.g. f15 eagle or the f.a.18 hornet which are based in u.k. organizers should try to approach these people perhaps for next year .u never know.well done to the hard working organizers for another free show  :)still have to find ways of bringing in funding for future shows though,what about collection boxes placed in shops throughout northern ireland as 1 way

F-15E not much hope the US based pilot and WSO would have to do the demo although the did Duxford this weekend after doing MAKS last weekend in Moscow, as for bugs you are looking at Spanish Swiss or Finnish, now a Rafale would be nice as well

 

[firefox]

now your talking mate .how about a few of us having a meeting with some of the organizers,

[stcolin]

F-16 was a bit of alright wasn't it?

Crap day for photography though, 200mm too short for me anyway. Shame not to see the Vulcan though, but wasn't shocked at the cancellation.

[redpaul]

I've been going since 2008 and have to agree this was the best yet. This was the first time I've went both days and the reason for that was the jets. I'm gutted the Vulcan was cancelled as I thought I would miss it because it was brought forward to 1:40 and I couldn't get to Portrush until 2:30 so was keeping an eye on the Vulcan To The Sky Twitter feed and it looked promising for a delayed start. But I understand the reason why it was cancelled.
I'm in the majority opinion that the F-16 is and outstanding piece of kit.

Paul

[stcolin]

Photo of the F-16 today:

[monahank]

Despite the missing Red arrows, Vulcan and the poorish weather, I thought it was a pretty good show this year. Obviously, the F16 stole the show -  the low and slow passes near the black rocks were awesome and the rest of the crowd seemed to enjoy it too!

It's a pity the RAF aircraft on show feel the need to stay so far out at sea when displaying - and it's a pity that the Belgian Air Force had to show them how it's done. Don't get me wrong, the Tornados put on a good show - but you almost needed binoculars for most of their display - I'm sure it was worse for those watching down near the beach.

It sounded hopeful for the Vulcan this morning.... but unsurprisingly it ended up a no show. As much as I'd love to see it - I don't think the organisers should waste time and effort in trying to bring it over - far too unreliable! I sincerely hope that the airshow isn't out of pocket for this no-show. I found it cringeworthy enough when the Vulcan representative appealed for donations over the PA seconds after announcing that it was being cancelled.

If the same line-up could be obtained next year - with the obvious addition of the Red Arrows and another fast jet to replace the Vulcan - I'd be pretty happy. Throw in a Spitfire too, and I'd be delighted.

In general, well done to the organisers. There's still a few things I'd do differently... but still, it was a very enjoyable show.

[Merlin]

For those who only went to the Sunday show, all I can say is you should have gone to the Saturday show 
Granted the weather was slightly better with sunshine and no rain but just seemed a better day all round.

F-16 was definitely the star of the show but for me the Huey was a very close second. Gotta love that sound. You could hear it coming while it was still over Portstewart 

Also liked the Yak-52, the pilot certainly put that plane through its paces. Agree that the Tornado display was slightly disappointing but only because I've seen their full display, complete with pyrotechnics. Was surprised that the Vulcan couldn't make it as I'd assumed it was all weather capable.

Total photo count for the weekend was over 900 and I've already posted a couple to the gallery. Hope to get more posted tonight.

All in all an enjoyable weekend, congrats to the organisers.

Only 'dark cloud' was the traffic home last night 
Have the organisers looked at a 'Park-n-Ride' scheme?

Any chance we can suggest possible acts for next years show?

[Blackbird]

Excellent show! - and the F16 was the star of the show for me as well.This is what the crowd want to see - low,loud and slow,whilst still demonstrating the jets agility.Top marks to the pilot.Even my two dogs were fixated by it!
Great mix of aircraft and nice to see some helis on the programme again too.Missed the Reds,but not the Vulcan.....
 
Well done TTF* and other organisers / sponsors - looking forward to next year!
 
*Just one point regrds the voluntary donations.I didn't see anyone near me at Blackrocks collecting with a bucket,although i could hear the guy on the tannoy saying that they were doing the rounds.Made sure to buy my programme though.
 
 
 
 

[greglloyd]

I know a lot of people think the Tornado display was just 'alright' but I must say that in my opinion it was probably the best Tornado display that NI has seen. In the past it's only ever been one aircraft doing passes and turns, etc at Ards and Portrush.

At least this time (and also at Carrickfergus) they sent over two aircraft and made them do a nice bit of interacting with each other. I particularly like the break in front of the crowd as they arrived.

The F-16, rightly so, completed trumped them with it's mighty display (and even managed to beat the two Tornadoes together for noise output I thought!) but I still very much enjoyed the two Tornadoes all the same.

Really great to see more jets at this years display (Tornadoes, Hawk, F-16) and I agree that in future years we should try and get a similar amount of these aircraft and forget about the Vulcan.. Get another blockbuster US jet in to do the business!

[Nige]

Really enjoyed this years show, I was there both days and have to agree the F16 was amazing. One thing I think I have to say though is that there seems to be a perceived `conspiracy` theory that the Vulcan was never going to show. This is untrue and unfair on everyone who give their all to try and make it happen. The aircraft is certified by the CAA as a VFR only aircraft and comments like `how come the Vulcan can fly to the Falklands and back and not get over the Irish sea`are unfair and quite frankly stupid. 558 is now a civilian aircraft operated by enthusiasts and kept flying by enthusiasts, it is now a fifty year old airframe, and no longer has the vast resources and maintenance schedules that it had while in RAF service. The crew do an amazing job just trying to keep the aircraft flying, as the past two weeks have shown due to a fuel leak and hydraulic problems. I just wonder if those people who criticise the Portrush show organisers or the Vulcan operators would put in so much hard unpaid work as these people do; I think not. Iam not connected in any way with either the show organisers or the Vulcan trust, I`m just an aviation enthusiast who thinks that sometimes people cant do right for doing wrong.

[Tango Tango Fanta]

Thanks for all your kind comments and general enthusiasm. (particularly to Nige - well said).
Loved the RV8tors, Yak 52, F16 (natch), Loach and Huey, Extra 300. Thought the Tornados were much better (closer!) on Sunday than Saturday.

[String]

I have to say that this year the show was bloody fantastic the F-16 and Tornado displays were the main highlight. All in all a brilliant weekend. I hope that everyone understood the situation regarding the Vulcan maybe next time it will appear. As i have been reading on hear everyone seems to be blown away with the display line this year it was great i got some good shot's of the fast stuff this time round well done to everyone involved with this years display. A big thank you from the McCracken family.