Thursday’s conditions were challenging, with strong winds and low cloud at Shoreham and Bournemouth, where many of the teams were operating from. The Red Arrows opened the day, displaying for the last time before crossing the Atlantic for their Canadian tour. Only three other teams made it to Eastbourne, but the commentator, George Bacon, filled the time impressively, including an interesting interview with Mike Marchant, the council’s event manager who established Airbourne in 1994.
Things improved on Friday with the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight opening the show with their Saab 35 Draken, a cold-war era fighter-interceptor. The Bronco Demo Team made a welcome return to Eastbourne this year and Rich Goodwin flew his Jet Pitts, sadly without the jet turbines, which were removed following a failure at Blackpool this year. An RAF Typhoon closed the show, sporting stunning D-Day livery.
This was the thirtieth Airbourne event at Eastbourne, and I have attended fifteen of them – all Eastbourne air shows since 2008.
Eastbourne airshow 2024 – my photos
Radio frequencies
The following frequencies were in use:
| Display | 130.675 |
| Safety boats “Sea Hawk” and “Excalibur” | 156.675 (FM) |
Orientation
The display line for the Eastbourne airshow is over water, running south-west to north-east, with the crowd facing south-east. The sun starts in front of the crowd but crosses behind, to the right, at about 15:00. Crowd centre is by the Wish Tower.