Gallery: Thousands flock to Clacton Airshow as popular event looks set to break records
Cousins Jasper Wright, 4, and Kitty Atkin, 3, eat their ice creams at the Clacton Air Show on Thursday, 21 August. - Credit: Su Anderson
The long-awaited Clacton Air Show has got off to a flying start and is on course to break all previous records after its first day with an estimated 100,000 attendees.
The weather stayed bright yesterday for flight enthusiasts with blue skies and fluffy clouds and anticipation building for today’s show which includes the famous Red Arrows.
Mark Platt, Tendring District Council’s (TDC) cabinet member for tourism, said: “It’s been an absolutely fantastic and emotional day; the Lancaster Bombers certainly grasped everybody’s attention.”
He said the highlights kept on coming but Rolls Royce Spitfire and Titan the Robot were “quite spectacular”, adding that the RAF Typhoon had wowed all the spectators with its speed and versatility.
“It’s an air show that the people of Tendring should be very proud of, they should be really proud of what we have been able to achieve and tomorrow we have the Red Arrows which are always a massive crowd pleaser”, he said.
Flight fanatics tweeted throughout the day, with the Lancaster bombers also proving a crowd favourite.
James Dwan tweeted: “Fantastic day at #ClactonAirShow and magnificent to see two Lancaster bombers fly together - more tomorrow with the fantastic @RedArrowsUK.”
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It is the first time that the two planes are flying together in Clacton but it is also the last pair of Lancaster bombers in the world that will fly side by side.
Nigel Brown, communications manager at TDC, said the pairing was a real one off and that he was looking forward to them returning tomorrow.
He added that all the car parks were full by lunch time for the first time ever.
