Shropshire Star

Cosford Air Show 2017 - in pictures and video

Cosford Air Show 2017 was spectacular, the traffic jams not too bad and even the weather largely behaved itself.

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Red Arrows at the show

Organisers today declared themselves satisfied at a job well done as around 60,000 people enjoyed the annual event.

Lessons had been learned from the problems of previous year’s and plane enthusiasts, families and members of the public made their way without a hitch to the show’s main car parks.

Some delays were expected but these were dealt with without drama and people were able to concentrate on getting in to the show.

And there were some treats on offer once they got in through the gates.

Pictures from Twitter

Along with wingwalkers, a Battle of Britain memorial flight, parachutists, gliders and Hurricane jets, two huge bombers put in a surprise appearance.

And those living across Shropshire were able to catch a glimpse of two highly unusual planes making their way to the show.

A B52 Strato Fortress Bomber and a B1 Lancer Jet Bomber, usually seen in the USA, rumbled in to view.

Squadron Leader Chris Wilson said: “We are delighted with how the show has gone this year. Organising the event is a mammoth undertaking and one which goes on year round.

“But we hope we have managed to pull together a show which has something for everyone.

“Families were able to enjoy the funfair and the static displays and we also opened up in the hangars while for the plane enthusiasts there were more than 70 aircraft both in the air and on the ground.

“These ranged from an eight engine B52 bomber to a small helicopter and light aircraft. The displays were great.”

Following the appearance of the Red Arrows and the Eurofighter Typhoon, the heavens opened leaving many showgoers, who had been enjoying an alfresco picnic a little damp underfoot.

But nothing could deter them from the spectacle in the skies.

Sq Ldr Wilson added: “This year went really, really well. Although we had rain showers, the weather really was the icing on the cake. Flying conditions were perfect. We wanted to put on a family friendly event and we think we managed to do just that. All that hard work that goes in to organising the event is worthwhile when you see the smiles on the children’s faces.

“To have the two bombers here as well was great. It was very unusual for the Shropshire skyline. Even people not at the show were able to see them.”

The only hitch of the day was the display of Eurofighter Typhoon which was forced to abort it’s full performance and instead only completed a flypast of the main runway due to ‘technical problems’.