Military Airshow Memories

[VC10]

My interest in military aircraft was started by my dad, who was an aircraft mechanic in the war. Our house was full of his aircraft models, Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster and several WW1 types!!

Going to airshows was always a great day out. We used to go to the shows at RAF Finningley, in South Yorkshire. These displays were held annually in September.

The last one we attended was in September 1983, and many different aircraft were to be seen, both static displays and flypasts. These included:

Sea Harrier (from the Naval Air Squadron)
C5A Galaxy (then the largest military aircraft in the world)
Fokker F27 (from RNLAF)
F4 Phantom
Lightning
Tornado
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, consisting of a Lancaster, a Spitfire and a Hurricane.
A Vulcan bomber also did a flypast. A really impressive plane and one of my favourites.
An RAF VC10 also flew past (my absolute favourite!!)
Then the show would conclude with a display by the Red Arrows.
There were, of course, numerous other types of aircraft, this is just mentioning a few.

(Unfortunately, RAF Finningley ceased to be a military base some years ago, although plans are afoot to turn it into a civil, international airport, watch this space!!!)

[Comet]

Finningley 1983 was indeed a good show, we still have the programme, kept as a souvenir.

We took many photos at the Finningley air shows, if I can find them I'll scan some in, as we took many vintage types as well as more modern ones. If anyone is interested, I'll post the military pics we've got.