I attended on Thursday; day one of Bournemouth’s four-day Platinum Jubilee Air Festival. September events can be a gamble with the weather, but it was a pleasant day at twenty degrees and a light easterly breeze with sunny intervals.
The line-up was good, with the four Yaks, a team I haven’t seen for years, putting on a particularly tight display.
The Red Arrows display was cut short by an engine problem on Red 6’s Hawk T1. “Six isn’t having a good week,” said the commentator, referring to the incident at Rhyl, four days earlier, in which a bird strike destroyed the same pilot’s canopy. Sqd Ldr Gregor Ogston landed safely back at Bournemouth Airport, escorted by Red 7.
Bournemouth is tough for photographers because the sun never moves behind the crowd line. But it’s my local show so I’ll be supporting it each year.
Bournemouth Air Festival 2022 – my photos
Radio frequencies
The following frequencies were in use:
| Display | 121.175 |
| Bournemouth Tower | 125.6 |
| Bournemouth Radar | 119.475 |
| “Coastguard Bronze” and SAR assets from Poole and Southbourne | 156.0 (FM, Ch. 0) 160.6 (FM, Ch. 99) |
Orientation
The display line for the Bournemouth airshow is over water, running east-west, with the crowd facing south. The sun is in front of the crowd for the whole show. Crowd centre is below The Albany, a prominent white block of flats.