The film crew were interviewing the crews of the various aircraft which were on the ground, but neglected to change it between the Spitfire Pilots and The Guinot Wingwalkers, Kirsty Joly and Danielle Hughes. The interviewer was doing fine until he got to one question which threw Kirsty and Danielle.

Interviewer: So this being a Battle of Britain Airshow and it having been 70 years since The Battle of Britain, what does The Battle of Britain mean to you?
Guinot Girls turn to each other and laugh, then say to the interviewer…..
Guinot Girls: You can’t ask us that! We’re bimbos!

…The film crew didn’t know what to say to that and quickly gave up on the interview.

Unfortunately the airshow organisers had to cope with more than a few cancellations at the last minute but they managed to book a few acts to replace some of the gaps but unfortunately some of the cancellations led to a 45 minute gap on the Sunday, which did see some of the crowds dispersing.

The Tigers Parachute display team decent from the skies above Eastbourne.

The organisers did book several acts that went down well with the crowd, one of them being The Tigers Parachute Display Team representing the Army. The Tigers Parachute Display Team represent The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment which is the local Regiment for the South East of England, and so there was plenty of support from the crowd for the team. Instead of landing in the arena like at many airshows, the team cut themselves free from their parachutes a few feet over the sea and then splashed into the water before being picked up by the lifeboats.

One of the Tigers Parachute Display Team from The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment about to splash down into the sea off of Eastbourne.

An RAF Tutor T1 flown by the display pilot Bill Ramsey displays over The English Channel off Eastbourne.

As with most airshows in the UK the RAF had a large presence with The Tutor T1, Hawk T1 and the Eurofighter Typhoon flew their impressive displays with some spectacular views being had of the displays being held over the English Channel. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight also made an appearance with their Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane in front of the white cliffs of Beachy Head taking people back to the dark days of WWII.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight begin their display with a formation pass low over the sea allowing people to look down onto the aircraft, something rarely seen at airshows.

Another Hurricane was seen around the cliffs of Beachy Head during the airshow as well, Peter Teichman brought along his latest toy his Hurri-bomber which has just recently been restored flew its maiden display on the Thursday of the airshow.

Peter Teichman flies his Hurri-bomber as it performs at its first airshow.

On the civilian side of things, The Blades performed on all four days much to the crowds enjoyment with gasps from the crowd when they performed their close formation manurers. Several jets were also displaying, Duxford’s F-86 Sabre as well as the Gnat Pair from North Weald putting on great displays on each day, unfortunately on a couple of days the weather forced flat displays but they did manage full displays on Sunday. Team Guinot also put on fantastic displays each day, with the girls getting closer than I can remember seeing them for a long time on the mirror pass.

The Team Guinot girls get just a few feet from each other during their mirror pass.

Keeping up the International participation of the airshow a USAF KC-135 tanker displayed on the Thursday and Friday, and on every day the Dutch F-16 Display Team flew their specially painted orange F-16 in formation with a two seater Spitfire TR.9 in Dutch markings flown by John Romain from the Aircraft Restoration Company before performing a break and then going straight into their display.

The Dutch F-16 Demo Team perform a formation pass with a Spitfire TR.9 in Dutch markings for a Dutch Heritage Formation Flypast.

The Dutch F-16 Demo Team perform their fantastic display at Eastbourne.

On every day of the airshow the Red Arrows performed their highly refined display which had the crowds looking to the sky on each and every day. On Saturday one of the aircraft suffered a suspected bird strike when taking off from Manston airport in Kent and had to return, leaving only 8 aircraft displaying. The rest of the time however everything went as planned and the crowds were wowed by the 9 aircraft performing in the deep blue skies over Eastbourne.

The Red Arrows perform their display in the deep blue skies over Eastbourne.

The Red Arrows prepare to perform a break high in the skies over Eastbourne.

The Red Arrows Gypo section perform their final break for the Eastbourne Airbourne Airshow.

Full Gallery

The 2009 RAF Hawk Display Aircraft with a special colour scheme.

As with most years there was a nice mix of both fast jets, warbirds and props. Unfortunately the show was hit by technical glitches with quite a few aircraft ‘going tech’ on each day, however with some creative rearranging this was barely noticeable.

To Celebrate 25 Years of Virgin Atlantic The Red Arrows were led into Biggin Hill by a Virgin Atlantic 747.

On the Sunday one of the local display pilots had a rather embarrassing incident when landing. Flt Lt Matt Barker burst a tyre on landing, unfortunately leaving the Hawk stranded at the end of the runway for about half an hour, fortunately Team Guinot who were due up next were able to use only half the runway to take off for displaying.

The Army Air Corps brought their toys in the form of an Apache and a Lynx as part of the Blue Eagles.

Other than a few minor problems with aircraft ‘going tech’ the rest of the show went off without a hitch, with displays from The Red Arrows, The Great War Display Team and Team Viper who are new to the display circuit. But without a doubt the display which left the crowd watching the sky in stunned silence was the Swift Glider Display Team who received the loudest round of applause at the end of their display.

The Red Bull Matadors put on their flawless routine of close formation aerobatics.

The Fly Navy 100 celebrations were unfortunately dampened a little by the Royal Navy Historic Flight aircraft being unserviceable and the de Haviland Sea Vixen unable to fly one of the days, however the Hawker Nimrod was still able to fly its full display on both days. There was some Naval Heavy Metal on display on both days in the form of a Douglas Skyraider, in U.S. Naval markings.

Hawker Hunter F58a Miss Demeanour makes a topside pass along the crowd flown by Jonathon Whaley.

Classic Jets were out in force this year, with Hawker Hunter F58a Miss Demeanour, F-86 Sabre, A Folland Gnat Pair, and of course The Vulcan. The Vulcan being one of the crowd favourites that everyone was looking forward to seeing, having unfortunately missed last year’s show it had been 17 years since XH558 had displayed at Biggin Hill.

The Vulcan finally returns to Biggin Hill after 17 years.

Warbirds were well represented as well, with Peter Teichman and his P-40 Kittyhawk in its new paint scheme straight from a new George Lucas film where the aircraft was starring as one of the Tuskagee Airmen aircraft. Also displaying were Spitfire MH434 and P-51 Mustang Ferocious Frankie who closed the show with their traditional close formation display, unfortunately on the Sunday Ferocious Frankie was unable to display and so a solo Spitfire display closed the Airshow with a couple of trips into the forbidden valley complete with audible gasps from the gathered crowd.

One of Team Guinot’s Boeing Stearman sits in the static park on Sunday Evening.

Hopefully next year’s show will be just as lucky with the weather and hopefully a bit luckier when it comes to participants serviceability.

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Unfortunately due to a few technical gremlins the RAF Merlin and Metropolitan Police Helicopters were unable to attend the evening, however the rest of the evening went off without a hitch with everyone turning up on time before being briefed and then let loose onto the pan in front of the 32 Squadron hangers where the residents and visitors were waiting.

This Sea King HAR3A of 22 Sqn’s B Flight from Wattisham was waiting for the photographers when everyone turned up before the crew returned to start up the helicopter for their return to Wattisham.

A Puma HC1 from 33 Sqn RAF Benson was also sitting on the pan when everyone arrived, only to depart shortly after the Sea King. After they left everyone was left with photographing the home team of BAe125’s and Augusta A109’s

One of 32(TR) Squadron’s Augusta A109 helicopters sits on the pan before the OC of 32(TR) Squadron took one of the helicopters up for a hover before landing again on the pan a few minutes later.

The final aircraft we were permitted to photograph was one of the BAe125’s which was sat on the pan waiting for passengers to embark. Of course before long everyone had finished photographing the aircraft and many ended up in the cafe in the terminal to enjoy some of the delicious bacon butties.

Afterwards everyone agreed that it was a great evening spent enjoying the evening our hosts for the evening had put on for us.

With many thanks to Phil Dawe for organising the evening, OC32 (The Royal) Squadron Wing Commander Steve Pitcher for hosting everyone for the evening, and Station Commander, Group Capitan Guy van den Berg for supporting the event.

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XX734 is looking a little dilapidated after having been used for battle damage repair and also having had at least one cockpit fire.

Peter Teichman Performs in his Kittyhawk at The Dunsfold Wings and Wheels Airshow. [Flickr]

An RAF Chinook performs its display at the Dunsfold Wings and Wheels Event 2008. [Flickr]

An RAF Chinook performs its display at the Dunsfold Wings and Wheels Event 2008. [Flickr]

the Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance Airbase at Dunsfold.

The Helicopter is able to deliver an emergency medical crew to the site of an accident within minutes of being scrambled from its base at Dunsfold and then to transfer the patient to the nearest appropriate hospital or even to a major London hospital for treatment, in a fraction of the time that it would take an ambulance traveling by road to travel the same journey. By traveling at speeds of up to 150mph across the skies of Sussex.

the Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance Airbase at Dunsfold.

The speed of the helicopter is a great advantage to have for The South East Coast Ambulance Service, as every second counts in treating casualties with the golden rule being The Golden Hour, if a casualty reaches a hospital within the first hour of being injured the chances of survival are significantly increased.

There is a golden hour between life and death.
If you are critically injured, you have less than 60 minutes to survive.
You might not right then; it might be three days later or two weeks later.
But something has happened in your body that is irreparable.
R. Adams Cowley.

It is for this reason that the Air Ambulance carries not just a paramedic but also a Doctor so that their knowledge can assist in treating the patient from the moment the Air Ambulance lands at the scene until the patient reaches the nearest hospital for them.

The Sussex/Surrey Air Ambulance lands on the tarmac at its base at Dunsfold.

The Sussex Air Ambulance is also a far safer Helicopter than Air Ambulances of the Past, as the Helicopter has no tail rotor, and so can operate in a busy environment, such as a motorway accident, with a greater degree of safety thanks to the NOTAR system employed by the MD900 which blows air out of the rear of the tail to provide the thrust normally provided by a tail rotor.

A detail shot of the rotors of the Sussex Air Ambulance whilst sitting on the tarmac at its base at Dunsfold.

However the service, like 15 others in the UK, is registered as a charity and receives no Government or Lottery funding and must raise the £1.5 Million required for operations each year by itself. This is raised mainly through the volunteers who support the Air Ambulance at events and assist the fund raising. Other ways to donate are through the Air Ambulance Lottery, Air Ambulance Merchandise, as well as simply donating online.

The Sussex Air Ambulance sits on the tarmac at its base at Dunsfold, waiting for the call to scramble

Many of the volunteers who help out with the Air Ambulance have been saved by the Air Ambulance itself, and having completed thousands of missions the Helicopter has already proven its value by saving multiple lives. Some of those who have been helped by the helicopter have had their storied posted on the Air Ambulance website for people to read. Real Life Stories

Sussex Air Ambulance Website
Donate Now!

Two of the Yakolevs perform their display over Shoreham during the 2008 RAFA Airshow.