One
of the largest search and rescue (SAR) training exercises ever undertaken in
Ireland will open the 2015 Foynes Air Show on Sunday, 26th July.
The
Irish Air Corps, Naval Service (LÉ Samuel Beckett), Irish Coastguard, and
Search and Rescue teams from all over the country will carry out their annual
exercise in front of the estimated 15,000 people expected to attend the second
annual air show.
Hosted
by Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum, the Air Show will also feature
aircraft displays from across Europe, along with some of the world’s top
aerobatic pilots.
Among
the aircraft taking to the skies over West Limerick and the Shannon Estuary
will be a Russian Mini MiG, authentic World War Two aeroplanes, a Hawker Hunter
fighter, a P51 Mustang and James Bond's BD-5 Micro-Jet. Meanwhile, Aer Lingus’
first plane, the Iolar, will be flying in formation for one of the first times
ever at a public display with three de Havilland Chipmunks in Air Corps
colours.
The
Air Show will also feature the world's only formation wingwalking display team,
The Breitling Wingwalkers who will perform a sequence of formation loops and
rolls while wingwalkers perform acrobatics on the wings.
The
Air Show, which gets underway at 1pm and continues until 6pm, will also feature
live music, food stalls and children's entertainment. Organisers say that Park
and Ride services will be provided throughout the event to enhance access to
and from the Air Show site
The
Foynes Air Show was first held in 2014 when the Foynes Flying Boat &
Maritime Museum marked the 75th anniversary of the first transatlantic
commercial passenger flight that took place to the Flyingboat base, located 23
miles from Limerick City.
"We
look forward to hosting a thrilling and exciting Air Show of an international
standard which will feature even more aircraft and participants than our hugely
successful inaugural show in 2014," commented Margaret O Shaughnessy
the Director of Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum.
"Foynes
has a strong association with international aviation and has the world’s
only Flying Boat Museum featuring the world’s only replica of
B314 flying boat. The Air Show not only provides a wonderful day out for
aviation enthusiasts and people of all ages but it also celebrates Foynes'
historic place in world aviation history," she added.
Gerry
Humphreys, Foynes Air Show Director
said: "We are very excited to bring this free air show to Foynes again
this year. We would like to thank our many sponsors without whose support this
event would not be possible."
Aircraft
taking part in the 2015 Foynes Air Show include:
Cold
War Russian Aircraft -
The Somerset-based Yakovlevs will perform a specialist airborne display team
flying authentic cold war Russian war-bird aircraft in precise combinations of
tight formations and aerobatics, high-speed passes and crosses.
BD5 - Made famous in the opening sequence
of the James Bond film, Octopussy, the BD5 is a single-seat homebuilt aircraft
created in the late 1960s by US aircraft designer Jim Bede
Sukhoi
Su-26 - A
single-seater aerobatics plane from the former Soviet Union, flown by ond of
Ireland’s top aerobatic pilots and engineers Dave Bruton
Hawker
Hunter - A UK jet
fighter flown by highly experienced former RAF Harrier pilot and Airbus Captain
Andy Hill
Christen
Eagle - Described as
a true sports car of the sky, the 2-seat Eagle flown by Andrew Fenton will
perform aerobatics
CAP
231 – Top Aerobstic
Pilot Eddie Goggins “The Flying Dentist” returns to Foynes to fly an aircraft
designed for competition aerobatics
Aviatika-MAI-890
(Mini-MiG) – 21 year
old Pilot Harry Humphreys will fly his Aviatika-MAI-890, a pod-and-boom, pusher
configuration biplane designed and built by the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI)
in Russia in the 1980s
RV4/8 - UK-based Team Raven will perform a
5-ship RV4/8 Aerobatic formation display
Vans
RV7 - Gerry Humphreys
and Eddie Goggins, known collectively as AerDynamics, are the first ever Irish
civilian aerobatic formation team and will be flying the versatile Vans
RV7 and the Cap 231 in a unique display of low level formation aerobatics and
exciting head-on passes.
Killorglin
based Approved Productions are the event managers for the upcoming Air Show,
which is being supported and sponsored by Limerick City and County Council, The
Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), Avolon, Wild Atlantic Way, Shannon Foynes Port
Company, Irelandia Aviation, AerCap, Air Contractors, Rusal Aughinish and CPL
Fuels.
Visit
www.foynesairshow.com for more
details, including the event programme and details of participating aircraft
and entertainment. Follow us on Facebook .
