Biggin Hill International Air Fair 2008

Biggin Hill, a place with so much aviation history, has one of the best atmospheres out of any airshow on the circuit. It has always provided families with a great day out and there's always something for the enthusiast too, and this year was no exception. Dean West writes about a UK show with a strong tradition, all photos by author.

Being a former Royal Air Force station, the show has always received a solid amount of RAF participation, and for the 2008 show all current Royal Air Force displays, aside from the Red Arrows, were present at the show. This included the Tucano T1 and Hawk T1, which were
both sporting new colour schemes for the 2008 display season, both featuring a very large roundel on the underside of the aircraft. As always these displays were flown with their usual excellence, much like the Tutor T1, flown by Flt Lt Andy Preece, including some very impressive loops and flick rolls. An excellent display that too often gets overlooked because of the type of aircraft that it is.

The RAF's newest display was also present, in the shape of the King Air B200 advanced, multi-engine pilot trainer. The display, which is already an award winner, taking the Wright Jubilee Trophy for best RAF training display, proved to be very popular with many at the show. Many were stunned by the manner in which the aircraft is thrown around in the display, with some very tight manoeuvres and neat topsides. A very welcome addition to the display circuit and definitely one
to look out for.

As always, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight were popular with the Biggin audience, with their sedate display, seemingly fitting at an airfield with so much history from the Second World War. The Chinook HC2 continues to do what it really looks like it shouldn't be able to, with it's display described as "an elephant doing ballet". The final solo display from the RAF is the 29 Squadron Typhoon F2 solo display, flown by Flt Lt Charlie Matthews. People watched in awe as the Typhoon twisted and turned almost within the boundaries of the airfield, in a superb display demonstration both the agility and the power of the aircraft.

Military helicopters were well represented, in a variety of manners, at the show. As previously mentioned the RAF Chinook HC2 display was present, but the aircraft was also involved in the Role Demo, more coming later, as well as providing the jump ship for the RAF Falcons parachute display team. A very good effort by the Chinook guys, which deservingly scooped them an award. The Army Air Corps sent along a solo Lynx and a solo Apache, which would also be involved in the Role Demo, as part of the Blue Eagles display team, which has now lost its four Gazelle helicopters due to their impending retirement. While the Apache was great to see, putting on a superb display, personally, I thought that the Lynx solo was a little dull, perhaps that's just because I've regularly seen the Naval Black Cats pair for the last few years. Anyhow, keep your eye out for it and see what you think, as remarkable as the back flips are in a Lynx, it just seems to lack that extra punch. And one of my favourite display, the Black Cats, flying a Lynx pair, also performed a stunning show, up to their usual standard. To round off the British helicopter contingent was a RAF Merlin HC3a, an ex-Danish machine, parked in the static display.

Any airshow wouldn't be complete without a good amount of aerobatic displays. As usual, Team Guinot were present with their wingwalkers, a display that is definitely more for the visiting families rather than the enthusiasts! The Swift Glider still manages to stun the crowds with manoeuvres you never imagined possible for a glider in tow, aswell as flick's, roll's, loop's once released from the tug. My personal aerobatic highlight was the 2Excel Blades, flying four Extra 300's. Their aerobatic antics can be only described as amazing, but then I suppose that's what you'd expect from such talented former Red Arrows pilots.
 
Biggin always has an ability of attracting usual foreign participation. We've seen Russian Su-27's before, and more recently Super Etendards and Mirage F1's present. The French Mirage 2000 display, flown by Francious Rallet, proved to be the highlight of the day, including myself, turning and burning over the London skyline. It was great to see the aircraft displaying at such an intimate venue, as it could be the last display season for the Mirage 2000, with the French Air Force constantly receiving more deliveries of the Rafale. The Danish Air Force sent a single F-16BM to the static display, a nice little addition as it isn't the most common user of the F-16 that we see over here.
 
It's only right that Biggin has a good selection of warbirds present at the show. As well as the previously mentioned BBMF aircraft there were also displays by a DC-6 from Coventry, resplendent in new it's British Eagle paint scheme, which is always a treat to see, and the Duke of Brabant Air Force's B-25 Mitchell. There was an impressive duo display from a Spitfire and P-51 Mustang, including various manoeuvres in a tail chase position. A nice little variety of classic jets were also on show, including Delta Jet's Blue Diamonds Hunter T7, Golden Apple's F-86 Sabre and Air Atlantique's Meteor NF11, one of only four Meteor's flying in the world, so, as you can expect, it's display was extremely welcomed. The Royal Navy Historic Flight exhibited it's Sea Hawk in the flying display, which for some reason is often overlooked in the classic jet scene.

The Role Demo proved to be the the crowds most impressive display of the show. A much improved display over last years demo saw the addition of an AAC Apache, but sadly without a RAF Hercules this year, and much greater involvement from the Tornado F3's. The crowd were on their feet for the duration of the demo, with something happening almost all of the time, and the pyrotechnics adding to the thrill of watching Tornado's making simulated attacks on the airfield, the audience were certainly impressed, with the display receiving a large round of applause at the end.

As is tradition at Biggin Hill Air Fair's, the show was closed very fittingly by a solo Spitfire display. This year saw Nigel Lamb flying the well known MH434, being flown very elegantly around the Biggin sky to the sound of the last post, definitely a moment that leaves you with a lump in your throat.

All in all Biggin put on an excellent show in 2008, the best it's been for a few years in fact, and if you haven't been there before make sure you do in 2009, it's a great day out for the family and the aviation enthusiast.