Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only €10,99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    World's Greatest Airshows
    World's Greatest Airshows
    World's Greatest Airshows
    Ebook150 pages1 hour

    World's Greatest Airshows

    By Bruce Vigar

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Air shows are one of the world's most popular, non - sporting outdoor attractions. Although the story of flight is over 100 years old, aircraft still hold a fascination for young and old, men and women from all backgrounds. Indeed, the first air show was held when aircraft and aviation was still in its infancy in the 1900s. Since then aviation has progressed in the full glare of the public gaze.
    Some air shows are held as a business venture or as a trade event where aircraft, avionics and other services are promoted to potential customers. Many air shows are held in support of local, national or military charities. Military air services often organise air shows at military airfields as a public relations exercise to thank the local community, promote military careers and raise the profile of the military.
    In this book, we cover the different types of air show and more importantly, the displays that make air shows memorable. For some it is the noise and speed of the latest military jets, for others, extraordinary aerobatics that seem to defy the laws of physics. There are also the displays of classic aircraft and warbirds as well as dramatic reconstructions of how aircraft are deployed.
    What is clear is how far aviation has come but questions persist in how much farther it can go?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherG2 Rights
    Release dateApr 24, 2020
    ISBN9781782819097
    World's Greatest Airshows

    Related to World's Greatest Airshows

    Related ebooks

    Industries For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      From The Beginning Until 1910

      Jul 5, 2019

      It is not easy to detail which was the first flight experience of mankind. However, there ae records that in 1783, passengers have made experimental ascensions in the hot air balloon of brothers Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier, paper manufacturers in

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Race across the Atlantic

      Nov 23, 2023

      The Race across the Atlantic
      6 min read

    • Article

      Flying Far

      Oct 30, 2019

      Flying Far
      12 min read

    • Article

      France’s Big Boat

      Nov 23, 2021

      France’s Big Boat
      3 min read

    • Article

      1911-1920

      Jul 5, 2019

      In a time when few cities had unobstructed and suitable areas, a good alternative was taking off and landing on the water. In February 1911, Glenn Curtiss, a builder, introduces a version of its Model D equipped with floats, which wascapable to opera

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Weird World Of Airships

      Apr 13, 2023

      The Weird World Of Airships
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Comet Story

      Jun 12, 2020

      The Comet Story
      4 min read

    • Article

      Reaching New Heights

      Apr 1, 2019

      Reaching New Heights
      3 min read

    • Article

      Sid Cotton’s Air Force

      Jan 25, 2022

      Sid Cotton’s Air Force
      4 min read

    • Article

      Poste Aérienne

      Jan 14, 2022

      Poste Aérienne
      5 min read

    • Article

      1991-2000

      Jul 5, 2019

      “If you want to know how much it costs, you don’t have money to have one”. The phrase is old and applies to many things, among jets high operating costs. In the early 1990, Pilatus Aircraft, a Swiss company was in search of a way of increasing the qu

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Remarkable Rescue

      Dec 9, 2022

      Here’s a stamp question for you. What makes a common and inexpensive Newfoundland 1919 3c Brown Caribou stamp outrageously more valuable? If you answer: ‘the overprint’, then you are partly correct, in that the Postmaster J.A. Robinson of St. John’s

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Tale of Two Wings

      Jun 15, 2023

      A Tale of Two Wings
      8 min read

    • Article

      Made In France

      Jan 24, 2023

      Made In France
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hell’s Half Dozen

      Aug 19, 2019

      Hell’s Half Dozen
      8 min read

    • Article

      Jetex

      Oct 27, 2021

      Jetex
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Comet Jet Airliner

      May 4, 2022

      The Comet Jet Airliner
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Little Aircraft That Could

      Dec 24, 2019

      The Little Aircraft That Could
      11 min read

    • Article

      Chocks Away!

      Sep 10, 2021

      Chocks Away!
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Bigger They Are…

      Jul 25, 2023

      The Bigger They Are…
      9 min read

    • Article

      CROWDFUNDING 1940s STYLE

      Aug 6, 2020

      CROWDFUNDING 1940s STYLE
      7 min read

    • Article

      Avalon Turns It On

      Apr 13, 2019

      Avalon Turns It On
      5 min read

    • Article

      1971 - 1980

      Jul 5, 2019

      1971 - 1980
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for World's Greatest Airshows

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      World's Greatest Airshows - Bruce Vigar

      INTRODUCTION

      Air shows are one of the world’s most popular outdoor attractions. Although it is well over 100 years since the Wright Brothers became the first to fly and control a powered aircraft, flight never ceases to mesmerize. Each year millions of people flock to airfields, from enormous military airbases to small grass airstrips. In the United Kingdom alone, there are over 250 civil flying displays that can expect over 2 million spectators. For some, it is the prospect of seeing the latest military technology, for others, it is the joy of watching classic aircraft of yesteryear being put through their paces. Then, there are the aerobatic pilots who perform manoeuvres that seem to defy the fundamental laws of flight. Finally, there are the display teams who demonstrate a level of precision and timing that leaves spectators open-mouthed in amazement.

      In some respects, little has changed since the first flying displays that are almost as old as flight itself. Perhaps we are so ‘air-minded’ because so much of aviation’s evolution has been done in the public eye. The first aviators were invariably showmen, they had to be in order to stake their claim for whatever milestone they were striving to achieve whether it was flying faster, further or higher than their peers. But, there was always risk. Tragedy was never far away and open-mouthed amazement at the spectacle of man and machine performing feats never imagined possible could – and did – quickly turn to wide-eyed horror. Cynics might argue that the possibility of seeing a crash is why people go to air displays but that is to underestimate our desire for happy endings. We want the risk and the drama but we also want the hero to live to fly another day.

      Illustration

      A dramatic formation during the traditional October display by the Red Arrows at their home base at Scampton in Lincolnshire in 1989

      CHAPTER 1

      THE WORLD’S FIRST AIR SHOW

      The Wright Brothers were, of course the first to fly in December, 1903. But they were very secretive about how they had done it. News of their achievement was slow to trickle out and in Europe there was a great deal of scepticism. One can imagine the shock, then, when Wilbur Wright arrived in France in 1908 and began a series of demonstration flights. Over the next year, he made more than 200 flights, dazzling crowds whenever he took to the air and turning critics into admirers. He became a hero lavished with praise, honoured at ceremonial dinners with political leaders and the aeronautical elite, and the recipient of numerous prizes and medals, including the Légion d’honneur.

      Illustration

      Orville (nearest) and Wilbur Wright

      Illustration

      First flight of the Wright Flyer I, December 17, 1903, Orville piloting, Wilbur running at wingtip

      Wright’s tour galvanized Europe’s pioneer aviators to even greater efforts to conquer the sky. By August, 1909 they felt confident enough to stage the world’s first public air show at Rheims, France. And what an event it was. Over 500,000 visitors streamed into specially built grandstand on the Bétheny Plain outside Rheims for the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne – the Champaign Region’s Great Aviation Week – held from August 22nd to 29th. France regarded herself as the centre of world aviation. Only the month before, Louis Blériot had completed the first cross-channel flight, an achievement that had seemed almost impossible as it entailed flying over a larger stretch of water. Europe was now ablaze with excitement at the prospect of seeing Blériot and his fellow aviators demonstrating their flying machines. Next to the grandstand was a popular enclosure featuring an enormous scoreboard and a restaurant capable of seating 600 diners. There were also newly laid lawns and bandstands as well as a temporary station erected to help ferry the eager visitors who came from all over the world. The take-off and landing strip was directly in front of the grandstand however much of the rest of the site was farmland. Haystacks stood where crops had been harvested and more than one flyer was to fall foul of these obstacles.

      Illustration

      French aviator Louis Blériot

      Illustration

      Post card commemorating Blériot’s Channel flight

      Illustration

      Poster for World’s first air show at Rheims

      Illustration

      Blériot prepares for his cross Channel flight

      A 10 kilometre course was laid out around four pylons and the Champagne houses put up a prize pot of 200,000 francs (about $40,000). There were to be prizes for speed, distance, altitude and passenger carrying. The Grand Prix was for distance and was the richest of the events. But the most prestigious was the Coupe Internationale d’Aviation. This event was to be a time trial between National teams. It carried a prize fund of 25,000 francs and an elaborately decorated trophy and was to be awarded to the fastest flight over two laps of the 10 kilometre course. It was donated by James Gordon Bennett, an American expatriate who published the New York Herald and its European edition, the Paris Herald.

      Each Nation was allowed three entrants and on the first day, the competition was held to determine who would represent France. Poor weather conditions hampered the pilots attempts and in the end Eugène Lefebvre piloting a Wright Flyer was declared the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1