Sunderland International Airshow 2003 (Sunderland in General)

Member Name: collingwood21

Product:	Sunderland in General
Date:	01/08/03 (675 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free

Disadvantages: Its in Sunderland

What would you say to the prospect of seeing the Red Arrows for free? Well, my answer to that very same question was an excited "yes please!" - although the fact that I am writing in the category may have given that away slightly. You see, last weekend saw the biggest gathering in the North East take place, the Sunderland International Airshow. The airshow is an annual event on Wearside and has been for the past 15 years; it also happens to be Europe's largest free show of its kind. Never being one to pass up a freebie I went along to see what it was all about, although to be honest I expected it to be not up to the standards of the shows you pay to see on RAF bases. I've been to a few of those you see, and so took along some pretty high expectations.

The Sunderland airshow started life as a one-off event as part of a summer long Wearside Festival in 1989. The festival no longer exists, but as the airshow attracted numbers far in excess of what was expected - around 250,000 were estimated to have visited that year - it became an annual attraction. (Well, why not? There are few other ways to get visitors to go to Sunderland). Within three years, the airshow had evolved again to become a two-day event when it became clear that one day just wasn't enough to accommodate everyone who wanted to see it. Thus it came to pass that every year a weekend in late July would be set aside for the show, and vast hordes of people would descend upon Sunderland clutching extra jumpers, umbrellas and raincoats.



- Where exactly is the airshow?
Your average airshow will (not that surprisingly) feature you sitting around an airfield all day, usually on military bases such as RAF Cosford. The Sunderland show is different, mainly because there is no such base in the vicinity. Instead, the airshow is located on Sunderland's northern coastline at Seaburn, with the aircraft flying in from Newcastle airport to perform over the bay, and v
isitors watching from the promenade and beach.

Getting yourself to Seaburn is not terribly hard these days, as it has a brand new Metro station of its very own, just a mile or so from the sea front. A ticket to Seaburn station will vary in price depending on which zone you travel from, but even coming from the furthest it was only £3 return. The nice people who run the show also see to it that plenty of signs are put up to guide you from the station to the seafront and back again.

If the Metro is not your thing, feel free to fight your way through the congested roads around Sunderland and use the show's park and ride scheme, which will also cost you £3 - see www.sunderland-airshow.co.uk/park-ride.asp. If you are more local, you may wish to take a bus - details on bus services are available at: www.sunderlandairshow.co.uk/transport.asp.



- On The Ground
While the show runs from 10am to 6pm, the flying does not begin until the afternoon (1-5pm on Saturday, 12-4pm on Sunday). This therefore leaves you plenty of time to explore the ground displays.

The displays themselves are spread along the promenade for a good distance, and are also to be found in Roker Park, Exhibition Park and the arena: don't worry, they are all very big and obvious, so you can hardly miss anything out. There are unsurprisingly a great many food stalls amongst the ground displays, with all the usual suspects present: burgers, fish & chips, donuts, ice cream and hot dogs. If you happen to be on a diet though, don't worry, as there is a large Morrison's at the end of the promenade selling a good range of sandwiches - as a point, drinks here are also cheaper than from most of the stall vendors. I'm sure it will also come as no shock to you that the army and RAF have a large presence as well, using the airshow as a means of giving out recruitment information and generally being nice and trying to boost their public relations. Many
of the armed forces stalls therefore have either freebies (such as Red Arrows posters) or things for the kids to have a go at (like having your photo taken in an ejector seat).

But what is there for you to do if joining the army just isn't your thing? Well, for a start off, airshows always attract owners of flight simulation rides. Sunderland had three this year: you could experience flying a Eurofighter or a Tornado in Exhibition Park, or try out being one of the Red Arrows in the arena. Each ride lasts about 4 or 5 minutes and will cost you £3 - but this is very worthwhile, especially seeing as how you didn't have to pay to get in.

If that proves to be a little too exciting for you, you could always try browsing around the craft fair housed in the marquee on Exhibition Park, or shopping for airshow souvenirs. Several of the display teams on show have their own stalls as well, so you can add a Blue Eagles mug and RAF Falcons pen to your airshow t-shirt as you go. You could also head over to the BBC stall - this year hosted by BBC News, where you could get a free goodie bag, see the actual flak jacket worn by Kate Adie and try your hand at being a news broadcaster.

The ground displays are very much family orientated, far more so than at your average airshow. This means that there is plenty to keep most people occupied until the flying displays start, but perhaps not so much for the military junkies amongst you. The RAF base airshows I have been to have all had armed forces memorabilia and army surplus kit on stalls, not to mention standing displays of aircraft. Personally, I don't miss not having the opportunity to buy myself a set of dog tags, but I do rather like having a close-up wander around aircraft. To be fair though, this disadvantage is not the fault of the airshow organisers - it is down to the fact that it would be rather difficult to park your average jet on Seaburn promenade.



- In The Air
Thi
s is the part where you get to settle yourself down on the promenade, in the park or on the beach and watch the flying displays. I would strongly recommend taking a deck chair, camping chair or blanket to sit on, and to try and settle yourself down somewhere near a set of speakers to listen to the show commentary. You may also find it worthwhile to buy yourself a programme (they were £2 this year), which will give you the order and timings of the flying display as well as background information on the aircraft and display pilots.

The aircraft on show will vary from year to year, but it is pretty much guaranteed that you will get the Red Arrows and at least one other display team - this year there were another four, in the form of the Blue Eagles (army helicopter team), the Royal Jordanian Falcons (4 Extra EA300s), the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota) and the RAF Falcons (parachute display team). This will produce the sort of flying most people would associate with an airshow, incorporating aerobatics, coloured smoke and general fancy showing-off. And no matter how many times you have seen these displays before, you won't be able to take your eyes off them!

Between the aerobatic teams, you will get a variety of different aircraft being exhibited for the crowd. This is usually done by specially designated "display pilots", who take time away from their normal air force duties to do the circuit of airshows for a year - which means that they are very good at doing what they do, and a pleasure to watch. The aircraft you get will vary from year to year, but will feature a mixture of jets, helicopters and large aircraft. The same programme is used over the two days (so you won't miss things depending on which day you go on), but is run in a different order on Sunday than Saturday.

I seemed to notice that many people went to Seaburn just for the ground displays, and seemed to ignore the flying. T
his is something I find a great shame, as watching flying exhibitions can be great fun if you give it a chance. You don't need to know your Spitfires from your Tornados to appreciate it, either. I have been going to airshows with my dad since I was quite young - I know a little about the aircraft, but am hardly an expert - and the thing that has always attracted me was not the technical aspect but that such large machines could be made to move so gracefully. The Jordanian display team this year even performed their stunts to music, to make it seem even more like dancing in the air.



- My Opinion
Despite a bit of rain, I had a thoroughly good day at the Sunderland airshow. The event organisers were careful to cater for a wide variety of ages and tastes in the show they put on, and the visitor facilities were good (plenty of toilets, clear signposts, helpful stewards). It was a pleasant change that the event was fully accessible on public transport, and visitors in wheelchairs should have had little trouble getting around the show. What is more, to have all that for free was amazing value - as a guide, to go to a similar airshow in Duxford this year would cost you £20 a ticket for adults and £6 for children.

Could it have been improved anywhere? Well, other than the weather and the lack of standing displays (neither of which were the organiser's fault), the only thing I would have liked to have seen improved was the lack of historic aircraft. Granted, there was the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, but other than that the attention was focussed solely on modern planes. There are still a good number of aircraft not in current commission that do visit these shows, and I think having a few more of these would have been a nice touch. Still, I am not going to complain much when it is all free!

Overall, this show comes recommended from me. Even if you do have to go to Sunderland for it. ;-)



- The Details r>Entrance Price - free
Nearest Metro Station - Seaburn

Airshow hotline: 0191 553 2006
Email: tourist.info@sunderland.gov.uk

www.sunderland-airshow.co.uk