Wakestock is by far one of my favourtie memories of Summer 2009. I still can’t believe that I saw the Red Arrows to this day. Pure Magic.

A few months ago, I posted my hastily edited video of Red Arrows footage, and I thought I did a pretty good job following those speedy little planes around the sky.

I love the Red Arrows. It’s bizarre because I do not like to fly, everything about the idea of being in the sky fills me with dread, I have nightmares about plane crashes that I’ve clearly made up, but I do love those planes.

Now, it has finally happened. The Red Arrows have picked a girl for the team!

This makes me super duper happy, and although Ms Moore says it was just a matter of timing that she ended up being the first woman to fly for the Red Arrows, I think she is probably freakishly happy about it too.

So, I’m jealous. Is it too late to become a pilot?

Some researchers with a bit of sense from University College London have published a report in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology that effectively says: “and what the fuck is a ‘perfect vagina’, anyway?”

The research is a review of all existing studies  on cosmetic labial surgery, and the BBC report that

“consultant gynaecologist Sarah Creighton and psychologist Lih-Mei Liao challenged the ethics of offering women surgery to address such insecurities [such as discomfort in tight clothing or embarrassment in front of a sexual partner], suggesting it was adverts for a “homogenised, pre-pubescent genital appearance” which created these anxieties in the first place.”

On a different topic, the Red Arrows now have their first female pilot, Flt Lt Kirsty Moore. Yay!

The RAF Airshow at Gibraltar photographed by Roberto Carlos Pecino.

De RAF Red Arrows Air Show

Amazing, colourful and perfect Air Show today in Gibraltar.

Red Arrows taking off

A little before 11 am we heard a loud bang near the Rock.
It was the squad’s “Red Arrows” ascending the power of their engines for takeoff from the short runway at Gibraltar airport.

In the blue sky we have today in the area performed with absolute perfection aerial figures, drawing figures, and switching to very low altitude.

Squad in the air

After the air show with planes on the runway some of the pilots of the fighters came to talk with the audience there wizard.

Over Gibraltar

There will also be other aircraft available to see up close on Saturday afternoon (from 14:00) at an open day at RAF Gibraltar, these will include Hawks (similar to those used by the Red Arrows display team), Tornados (the current main front line fighter/bomber aircraft) and new Eurofighter Typhoons. As well as possibly other events (RAF dogs etc)

The photographer Roberto Pecino has been there to bring you fresh photo gallery of this wonderful and unique airshow. If no rain.

Press agencies and Media requesting material send email to: info@pecino.com

Red Arrows

Tomorrow, Saturday September 19th at 11 am there will be a flight demonstration of the English army aircraft around the Rock and Gibraltar Strait area.

The show is in commemoration of the Battle of Britain (WW2) anniversary events.

Private plane landing at Gibraltar Airport

The photographer Roberto Pecino will be there shooting tomorrow morning to bring you fresh photo gallery of this wonderful and unique airshow. If no rain.

Press agencies and Media requesting material send email to: info@pecino.com

Have some photos I took at the airshow on Saturday. It was an excellent day and the flight displays were magnificent.

The Red Arrows:

Red Arrows and Vulcan:

Vulcan:

All images copyright © Marquesate 2009

Jag kan inte riktigt förklara varför men jag är förtjust i flyguppvisningar och skulle mer än gärna vilja se The Red Arrows, Royal Air Force’s uppvisningstrupp ännu en gång. Nu på lördag, 5 september, deltar de i Duxford Air Show och det är på lagom avstånd för en dagsutflykt från London eftersom Duxford ligger strax söder om Cambridge. Så synd att jag befinner mig i Stockholm och inte London.

På bilden här intill har de nio röda pilarna sällskap av två Spitfire-plan som normalt inte ingår i truppen. Och du, när du klickar på länken, bli inte rädd när Wing Commander Jas Hawker börjar prata med dig.

Take a break from staring into the depths and cast your eyes skywards.OK you will get a very wet face……..

should have done your wetsuit up, Tim

If you happen to be in Fowey during regatta week, and you are feeling niggled because all the yachty types are clinking wine glasses while you are supping a Fanta between bites of soggy Marmite sandwich, you may just be entralled by a display of unfeasible aerobatics by the world’s top display team.

Yesterday I visited the Bournemouth Air Festival which is an annual event held between the two piers in Bournemouth.

The line up of civilian aircraft is incredible and includes the world’s only formation wing walking team – Team Guinot, Yakovlevs Aerobatic Team, The Blades Aerobatic Display Team, The Matadors, Spitfire, Mustang, Sally-B, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Red Arrows.

My personal favourites are the Red Arrows followed closely by wing walkers.  I hate flying and the thought of performing acrobatics on the top of a plane makes no sense to me at all!  Here are a few photos from yesterday.

If you could imagine a grown-up Halloween party that lasts a grand total of 7 days; if you could imagine fireworks and late night bands, rounds of cider and crispy french fries at 3am everynight; if you could imagine sailboats and seamen and late night tea and toast raids in the kitchen; if you could imagine pirate cheers and playing dress-up, then you can imagine Regatta Week in Fowey, Cornwall. It has been a grandiose adventure of costuming and tea, watching the Red Arrows (like the American Blue Angels) in the pouring English rain, and in total, all good fun.

I am finding it hard to concentrate on news of the Perseid meteor shower set to light up the sky tonight. The pitches are back and here I am sitting in the hot seat, sifting through the finalists in search of the perfect dating quip to nab a hotty online. 

Fancy a flutter on a painted lady? Put your money where your moth is!

Forget tonight’s meteor shower. You’ll see stars when you hop in a bath with me.

Crazy lady, likes a good drink and owns pets who eat their own poo.

Hmmm. Love the first one from new Diaries’ fan Sean but might have to go with Al who, with the simplest ingredients, has concocted a fail-safe dating potion with ’Cute, clever, creative. Careful, I might make you smile.’ I plop both in the maybe pile before googling ‘How to write a personal ad’.

 ”Hey you!” shrieks Rita Templeton from the web pages of http://googoobits.com.  “Yeah, you, the one staring at the blank document on your computer screen. Wanna know how to write a personal ad so attention-grabbing it’s like you’ve reached out and poked someone? Read on.” I scroll down, while wondering whether I should really be getting dating tips off  a lady who could box Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs into a corner? According to Rita you need to be honest, engaging, witty and wise but add  a hint of urgency to get the dates flooding in. Propose a time-sensitive date. Chuck a free ticket to accompany you to a gig and he’s hooked, by which stage Rita would probably be saying, “Eat mat, suckerrr!”

Brrrrr. Uhoh, text from G – remember man with inane grin who is now the talk of the neighbourhood?

Round 2? x

Lordy. I need a boyfriend fast.

“Maybe we could market you as the next big thing ” says Ange, in the kitchen over a glass and a half a few hours later. “Ever hear about those guys who dreamed up http://datelance.com? They listed their friend Lance’s best attributes as bullet points and left a billboard on a busy highway emblazoned with the poor guy’s phone number.”

 My friend might not sell herself to the intelligensia, what with her sized down Amy Winehouse do and sized up silicon bust, but, believe me, she is a copywriting supremo. She works in advertising, giving her the computer equipment and access to placements that could just make this happen. Gotta nip this one in the bud. NOW.

“Think I’m more the Crop Circle type, Ange. Cut my personal ad in a field like those poor lonely farmers who direct theirs to local air traffic and I might just bag me a pilot.”

“A Red Arrow?”

“Wouldn’t say No.”

“What if he’s the wrong side of fifty?”

“Come on Ange. A RED ARROW? It wouldn’t matter what he looked like, you’d HAVE to shag him.”

I sleep through my Perseid meteor shower alarm call and instead dream of coloured smoke, red planes and G naked and laughing inanely from the pilot seat. I wake up dripping in sweat and gasping for air. Scary.

Photographer Kevin Gilmour
National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, East Lothian, Scotland

Official Red Arrows Fansite http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds

After a successful afternoon spent at Airbourne 2009 on Friday, Amor and I headed off for Saturday’s exhibition.  As the flying didn’t start until 2pm we were in no great hurry to make our way to the seafront.  We stopped at the Sunflower Café on South Street for Brunch.  I discovered this café a few months ago and have been impressed with the quality of the breakfasts (which is all I have tried so far) and the cleanliness of the premises.  Tony (the owner and cook) has an open kitchen and everything is sparkling clean.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.

After Brunch, we headed off to the seafront.  The position I occupied the day before was pretty busy and Amor suggested we move elsewhere.  We found a place to stand when Amor had the great idea of purchasing a couple of folding chairs from one of the many stands along the promenade and went of to find some while I waited and saved our spot.  Having scored a couple of chairs (very comfy), we settled down to watch the show.

There was a couple next to us with some serious camera equipment.   They were down from Doncaster to see the airshow and photography was one of their hobbies.  I was having serious lens and camera envy sitting next to them.  The couple were actually quite lovely and happy to share information about their equipment, and I learned a bit more about cameras and lenses than I knew before.  Something else to add to the Christmas list!  On Friday, I had access to Amor’s camera, my little camera and my old 35mm Cannon EOS.  Saturday and Sunday, I just had my 35mm and Fuji FinePix Z1.

Saturday started pretty much like Friday, overcast and dull but soon burning off to a lovely sunny day.  The Red Arrows weren’t on until 4:30 but we happily watched the other planes do their stuff until then.  I was soon losing battery power for my little camera, so I didn’t take that many photos as the day before as I wanted to save some juice for the Red Arrows,  but Amor managed to capture some lovely images.

Red Arrows

and here are some photos by Amor

Gnat Pair, Typhoon, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Team Guinot Wingwalkers, The Blades

The zoom on Amor’s camera is better than mine and I think he did a great job capturing these images considering the speed of these planes.  Who knows, he might start his own blog!  He also took a few videos and has kindly allowed me to upload them to youtube and post them here, just so you can get a feel of our day out and how fast those planes were moving.

We had an early start on Sunday as the show started at 12pm with the Red Arrows first up.  The day was sunny with low clouds.  The spot we had the day before was taken, but we found a spot further along, no problem.  My neighbour on Sunday was a lovely old man from Polegate.  He used to do air rescue during the war in the helicoptors.  We had an interesting chat about that while Amor scored some caffeine from the café.  As we arrived a bit early, we settled down to read the Sunday papers before the Red Arrows turned up.  Amor wasn’t taking photos and I was just going to try and capture the Red Arrows.  Sometimes it is important to just relax and enjoy yourself rather than always trying to capture the moment for posterity, or my blog!  As the clouds were low, the show was different from the days before and therefore the planes came in closer and didn’t perform many high maneuvers.

Red Arrows and Wingwalkers

The show finished around 4:30 but the event wasn’t over yet with fireworks to look forward to.  So we went home to relax and have dinner before heading out in the evening, but not before stopping for ice cream!  We hadn’t been to the seafront at night before and so I was pleasantly surprised to see the Pier and seafront all lit up.  There was a real party atmosphere and it got quite busy.  We arrived early and found a place to sit with a good view.  Neither of us bothered to bring a camera but I found a video on youtube of the fireworks courtesy of the Sussex Press Agency.  I don’t think the video really does justice to the spectacular fireworks we witnessed.  Some things are just better witnessed in person.  It was pretty amazing though!

Friday being the second day of the airshow, and my first ever, was better than I expected.  Amor was at work and I wandered off early to check things out before it got too crowded.  It was a bit grey and cloudy to start off with but by midday was clear and sunny.  It turned out to be another glorious summer’s day in Eastbourne.

I went to see the Essex Dog Display Team do their stuff.  They rescue dogs, most being problematic, and retrain them to be the best dogs they can be.  The man commentating was our very own dog whisperer.  I enjoyed watching the dogs work while he explained dog behaviour.  It was very interesting.

I eventually found a spot with a good view and waited for the Red Arrows to start the show and do their thing.  People seemed to be having a good time and there was no rowdiness.  Everyone just wanted to see the planes and enjoy the day.  This was my first time taking photos at an Air Show, so I ended up with more blank photos than anticipated.  Those planes are very fast.  I am saving up for a better camera, but hopefully you will get an idea what the day was like.  Amor and I will be going out together today and it looks like the day is brightening up.  For more information on Airbourne 2009 click here.

Before the Show

Red Arrows

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

KC-135, Spitfire and F-16

Team Guinot Wingwalkers

The Blades

1.  Hither To Thither

2.  Man To Man

3.  Wingtip To Wingtip

Festival week.   Can’t move the car – on street parking just vanishes.  We had to walk to The Rockpool Beach today.   It’s well over a mile away. In the days before I had Son 2, now aged 23m, I would put Son 1, now aged 4y 10m, into The Big Pram and stride away. Off to Swimming Lessons, a mile and a half away, on to the Rockpool Beach, a mile from the swimming lessons. He’d sleep, I’d keep fit, birds sang sweetly and the sun shone. Now Son 1 can walk that far, but it takes forever, and I only ever have a day. It’s worse at the moment. He has red raw heels where I made him wear and walk in his size 10.5 wellies in his 11.5 and growing feet.  I was economising.  I cwuld buy some more when the weather got worse in the autumn, I thought.  It rained for a month. I haven’t had any time off for a month and they looked all right.   I can’t even pass them onto Son 2 now because poor old Son 1 has split them at the sides.  Do Not Try This With Your Own Child.  We set off at 11am and we got there at 12.  Diversions: to the stand selling Red Arrows toys to buy some for our Wednesday Friends. To the discount store to buy new buckets and spades for the beach. Where do they go?  To the ice cream wagon. The poor Polish boy manning it had just shut up and locked up and was disappearing out the back. ”I need two lollies!” I begged, waving my purse. He opened, unlocked and put on his white coat to sell me two Fabs.  And now he has my custom forever.

One Wednesday Mum was there – the other is still visiting her parents.  Son 2 wanted to rockpool, so that’s more or less we did for three hours.  He’s great. “Fish!  Fish!”  We weren’t at all successful.  Son 1 wandered over.  ”We’re catching periwinkles!” I told him, for that is what was in our net. “Fish!” insisted Son. ”Maybe you’ll bring us luck, Son 1, we haven’t caught any fish so far.”  A gentle, older boy came over to tell us he had caught a fish. “And we’ve only just got here.”   Gentle Child stayed with us.  “Can I join in?” asked another, older child.  In the end, we had a shrimp, two crabs and two sea worms.  And Me, Son 1, Son 2 and five other boys aged from about 4 to about 8.

I packed us up, loaded up the Big Pram and we headed home to meet Nanna. The Man joined us on the way.  The Red Arrows were coming.  The skies were dark grey, heavy and low. A fifty per cent chance they would fly, said the Radio.  The children watched Wall E. I made tea. We ate it outside in the sea mist.I found a three-year-old friend of Son 1 and he and his mother came to watch the display at our house.   I hoped the Red Arrow would bother to come, as I had bigged them up so much. They came.  They were brilliant.  Zooming up and down the river, so we had a perfect view. Son  1 was just full to his hair roots of joy.  Son 2 said “More planes! More planes!” whenever they disappeared from view.  It was fantastic. After they’d gone Son 1 clutched his chest. “The Red Arrows Shot Me,” he said, in mock faint.  I know he’s a PFB but I think that’s really funny, original and clever.  The drizzle got heavier. “The Rain In Spain Stays Mainly On The Plane,” we sang, flying blow-up toy Red Arrows in formation.

The Red Arrows doing what they do best.

There are two planes in there somewhere. You can just see the headlight of one of them in the smoke.

Big crowds on the beaches, prom and the piers.

Memmorial flight - wellington, hurricane & Spitfire

The last flying Volcan Bomber

Red Arrows close Encounter

More to follow.