Midlands Air Festival - video highlights

[Adam]

Spent a thoroughly enjoyable three days at the innaugural Midlands Air Festival at Ragley Hall, a stately home near Birmingham, UK. The airshow is held in the gardens of the home with the lighter aircraft taking off and landing on the grass and the rest flying in from elsewhere. The show had a small crowd, plenty of facilities and a lovely setting, with the airstrip in a shallow valley, which created a natural amphitheatre. Unfortunately you are looking into the sun, but that really is the only problem.

The CAA did their best to ruin things, as ever, by imposing a 200 foot minimum altitude on the first afternoon of the show because they'd identified a copse of trees outside the display area that they thought might be an issue. This pushed the rotary displays well above what is usually their maximum altitude. Luckily I was able to spend most of my time out where the aircraft parked, which meant I not only got some low-level heli action but also the topside passes came right over my head - check out the video at 1:08.

The organisers really knew what enthusiasts want at a small airshow: a varied mix of old favourites and rarely-seen gems. That included the UK display debut of former US resident P-47D Thunderbolt "Nellie" and other fantastic displays by the Catalina, TravelAir Mystery Ship, Bristol Blenheim, Strikemaster and Westland Wasp. Providing family entertainment were the Turbulent Team of barnstormers, Lauren Wilson's Pitts S-1S and Peter Davies' Calidus autogyro. I must also mention the Stampe Display Team and Bob Grimstead's RF-4D solo which were both absolutely sublime.

The show included several launches of almost 80 hot air balloons, a balloon night glow and a small handful of night displays too - Otto the Helicopter in the hands of Brendan O'Brien now carries more pyro than any other airshow aircraft in history and is quite a sight!

All in all, a great venue, lovely weather on all three days, a laid-back garden party atmosphere and some fantastic flying. This one will live long in the memory.

I knocked up a short video this afternoon, hope you enjoy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVHy1sHzwcU

[RyanS]

Sounds awesome! Do they still do the bubble gum thing with Otto?

[Adam]

I don't think so Ryan. Brendan's only had Otto a year or so and I think so far he's mostly focussed on his "Skygasm" pyro show and "Chopperbatics" day routine. He also doesn't get around to nearly as many shows as the US owners, being a full-time airshow pilot just isn't an option over here. There was a balloon on the front of the heli (which I'm sure is what you were referring to) but Brendan mentioned it wasn't connected to a pump. Whether he owns a pump, and whether there are more innovations to come, I just don't know.