Portrush Air Show 6th & 7th September - Vulcan Display

[Joe McDermott]

Portrush web site advertises air display both days 13.00 to 17.30. The Vulcan & Red Arrows are both said to be attending, anyone got more info ? Will the Vulcan be there both days ?

Joe

[Frank]

According to the official Vulcan website it is scheduled to be at Southport on both those days:

http://www.tvoc.co.uk/events_diary.asp

[Joe McDermott]

Thanks Frank. Have you dried out yet ?

Joe

[Frank]

Dried out and looking to book more trips....

Got a fair soaking in Lechfeld, one of my camera's stopped working, when that happened I knew it was time I made for the bus!

[Joe McDermott]

& from the bus to the bar 

[Paul McA]

Very unlikely the Vulcan will display at Portrush-despite the fact Southport is not that far away.The Vulcan would be a real handful to display around Portrush-the display area is very tight.

Not much info on whats displaying at Portrush at present but with some searching I found:

Red Arrows (both days)
BBMF Spitfire and Dakota (Sunday Only)
RNHF SeaFury and SeaHawk (both have cancelled in the past!)
RAF Falcons (if they have something to jump from!)
RAF Grob Tutor
RAF Puma
Ulster Gliding Club and the usual civilain acts are expected.

Not much to shout about as yet but as the Southport Show is on the same weekend and fairly nearby( Liverpool area) some stuff might come over.

[Joe McDermott]

Thanks for the info Paul.  Big pity   

[Paul McA]

Now some more updates for you on Portrush.........

BBMF Spitfire (Saturday only)
BBMF Dakota,DC-3,C-47 (or what ever you like to call it ) (Both Days)
RAF Tucano
RNHF SeaHawk (no SeaFury )

Fair chance Team Guinot will attend and the usual Husky,Skybolt,Piper Arrow etc.

Will keep searching out info and post it here if I find out anything.
Portrush is a tough venue to display and several pilots I`ve spoken to don`t like it.Almost certain of a stiff on-shore gale and the display area is very tight esp for fast jets.

[Paul McA]

Strikemaster G-FLYY to display both days.

[joey1]

No Typhoon this year either

It’s a tricky display area for pilots, there seems to be two display areas
For the “Low n Slow” they fly into the beach area and back out too sea & for the “Fast N Furious jets its out past the cliffs 

If you want to get up-close and personal go to the harbor wall as you arrive on the right

Last year the Red Arrows got so close you could actually smell the colored diesel additive as they whizzed by …..

excellent !

[joey1]

Hi All
Well here it is!
 
The  Portrush 2008 line up and it’s a cracking line up at that the VULCAN is to make an appearance despite the fact that she’s at Southport 

Southport must be nearby for the Vulcan to display both shows
the lineup is as follows :


RAF Red Arrows Display Team (Saturday 12noon, Sunday 5pm)
Sponsored by Kennedy Group

AVRO Vulcan Bomber
First appearance in Ireland since its £7m restoration

The Blades Display Team

RAF Tucano

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Douglas C-47 Dakota
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire (Saturday only)
Sea Hawk
RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team (Saturday only)
RAF Westland Sea King
First appearance at Portrush
Royal Navy Black Cats Helicopter Display Team
First appearance at Portrush
Royal Navy Merlin
First appearance in Portrush
Royal Navy Lynx
Team Guinot Wing Walkers
Twin Pioneer
First appearance at Portrush
BAC 187 Strikemaster
Piper Arrow
Bird Dog L19
Starduster Too Bi plane
Skybolt
Ulster Gliding Club - formation display and solo ballet

                        

[Paul McA]

There has been a lot of rumours suggesting the Vulcan may or may not be displaying at Portrush this year.
The info Joey has listed is from the Show website but I have found it to be rather unreliable in the past.

At the risk of being a Victor Melrew until the Vulcan is confirmed as displaying on the Vulcan to the Skies website I would not get too excited.

It was originally; as Frank mentioned earlier,that the Vulcan was to display at Southport (which I believe is fairly close to Liverpool) both days so it maight only be a flypast from the mighty beast.
Still very much worth seeing but lets not count ye olde chickens just yet.

The Vulcan is a very complex and expensive aircraft to operate and it would be extremely expensive for Coleraine Council to bring it over-if it is confirmed then woopieee dooo!! but I would advise caution and don`t forget the dreaded weather might not play ball.

Also regarding the Sea King-it has been due to appear every year at Portrush and has NEVER done so sadly because of operational requirements.The nearest RAF Seakings are on Scotland and Wales so there is a far chance of another cancellation.

Without wanting to sound negative the Portrush show is generally ok but most of the aircraft have been on the bill every year-normally a mass evacuation after the Red Arrows display.

[joey1]

Hi Paul

I agree !
I’m not holding my breath either
I was there last year and there where a few “No-Shows” but it would be bad PR to put up misleading info on an official website

 I know many Airshows have "subject to conformation" put underneath some acts but when I visited the website it didn’t have any so I assumed it was confirmed   
 


Below is the link to the Portrush Airshow Site




http://www.colerainebc.gov.uk/airshow.php?id=872

[Paul McA]

It would be great if the Vulcan can make it,it has strong ties with Northern Ireland as there was a OCU unit based at RAF Aldergrove during the early 60`s but I believe only for a short time-I also believe RAF Ballykelly had a few Vulcan visits.

Portrush show seems to have more than it`s fair share of no-shows partly due to the fact it normally clashes with the September Duxford and/or other larger UK shows.The weather also has a knack of being brilliant on the Friday then Gale Force 10 with blinding rain on show days-but we aircraft fans are a hardy bunch.

It has also had a few calamities-I recall the 1st show the Hunter had a generator problem and aborted his display but rather than divert to City of Derry of Aldergrove the pilot (a Eurofighter test pilot!) elected to try to return to the aircrafts base in Exeter!!!
Needless to say he didn`t make it and the aircraft crashed in North Wales-the pilot ejected but was badly injured as he landed in shallow water.The aircraft was completely destroyed-I wonder just how miffed the aircrafts owners were???
Also  that year the Red Arrows only managed one pass due the very low cloud base and decided to abort the display entirely much to the frustration of the crowd as the PA system was less than useless and many people didnt realise what had happened.I was beside a family that had travelled up from Killarney just to see the Red Arrows and they were not best pleased

Also two years ago on of the Red Arrows almost paid an unsheduled visit to a B+B`s roofspace after the final break!!!

[joey1]

Hi All

More Additions to the portrush display

Dave McCoy / Yak-50
Jimmy Griffin / Yak-52   
Husky Float Plane         
Wild Geese Parachute Display Team
de Havilland Devon