Vintage Jets to salute the RAF at Kemble Air Day 2008
Kemble Air Day on Sunday 15th June will pay tribute to the RAF’s 90th Anniversary with a unique gathering of British vintage jets. In the line up at the historic Cotswold airfield will be aircraft from the dawn of the jet age with at least one Gloster Meteor, Britain’s first jet fighter dating from 1943 and built in Gloucestershire at Brockworth, alongside a De Havilland Vampire. Joining them in the flying display will be Hawker Hunters, Jet Provosts and a Folland Gnat, the type used by the Red Arrows at Kemble until 1980, and flown by locally-based former Red Arrows pilot Sqn Ldr Andy Cubin. Several unique flypasts with a mix of aircraft are being devised to capture the heritage of the Royal Air Force.
The RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will commemorate the World War II period with a display by a Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota. Another Spitfire from Rolls Royce will display as will an American P51 Mustang that was the first aircraft to be able to escort RAF and USAAF bombers all the way to Germany and back.
The Royal Navy Historic Flight will also be in attendance to display their recently restored Fairey Swordfish. Known affectionately as the “Stringbag”, during World War II it was this biplane aircraft that helped sink the German battleship “Bismarck” with its single torpedo. From a later era the Royal Navy Historic Flight will also send its Hawker Sea Hawk, one of the first jets to operate from aircraft carriers.
For the first time, Kemble Air Day has adopted a charity – the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. Anyone who has ever served in the Royal Air Force, or is an immediate dependant of someone who served, may be eligible for assistance from the Benevolent Fund. Grants, loans and advice are available for a broad range of help, including mobility aids and specialist equipment for the sick and disabled; help with housing and accommodation; assistance in accessing and funding care; as well as individual grants to relieve specific financial need.
Tickets for the 2008 Kemble Air Day are now on sale from www.kembleairday.com and from Tourist Information Centres in Bath, Bourton-on-the-Water, Cheltenham, Chippenham, Cirencester, Corsham, Gloucester, Melksham, Stow-on-the-Wold, Stroud, Swindon, Tetbury, Trowbridge and Warminster.
Kemble Airport is on the A429 half way between Cirencester and Malmesbury.
22 May 2008
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