Airbourne (air show)

Airbourne, also known as Eastbourne International Airshow, is a 4-day international air show run every August in Eastbourne, Sussex, England. Based around a long relationship with the Red Arrows display team, the event features Battle of Britain memorial flights and aircraft from the RAF, USAF and many others.

Started in 1993, [Citation
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4577730.stm
publisher=BBC News
title=Calls for airshow to be grounded
date=3 January 2006
accessdate=2007-06-24] , the show is run by Eastbourne Borough Council, who claim it contributes to the millions of pounds which tourism bring to the town. [cite web | url=http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2005/9/15/203010.html | title=Air show's true value disputed | work=The Argus | publisher=Newsquest Media Group | date=2005-09-15 | accessdate=2008-09-21 ] .

A dedicated FM radio station, "Radio Airbourne", broadcasts on 87.7FM during the event.

Funding

In 2008, Eastbourne Borough Council controversially decided to charge a £5 admission fee, in order to meet the show's rising costs, having failed to find a major sponsor. However, with visitor numbers down on previous years, and the additional cost of security during the event, the organisers were left with a £170k operational loss, and an inquiry was ordered. [cite web|url=http://www.visiteastbourne.com/news/airbourne/FullCostsofAirbourneExplained.asp|title=Full Costs of Airbourne Explained|accessdate=2008-09-21|date=2008-09-04|work=VisitEastbourne.com]

The organisers remained confident that there would be an event in 2009, but admitted that lessons would have to be learnt, and the funding of the event reviewed. Council leader David Tutt said: "We will be investigating what went right, what went wrong and looking very seriously at ways of ensuring the event for future years." [cite web|url=http://www.visiteastbourne.com/news/airbourne/Inquiry-into-Airbourne.asp|title=Council Leader Orders Inquiry into Airbourne 2008|accessdate=2008-09-21|date=2008-08-19|work=VisitEastbourne.com]

Accidents

As with any airshow, some of the stunts performed carry a risk to the pilots, and Airbourne has seen accidents of various severity over the years. On August 18, 2000, former Red Arrows pilot Ted Girdler was killed when his Aero L-29 Delfín jet failed to pull up from a diving roll and crashed into the English Channel. [cite web| title = Airshow crash: No wreckage found| work = BBC News Online: UK| publisher = BBC News| date = 19 August, 2000| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/886064.stm| accessdate =2008-09-21 ]

External link

* [http://www.eastbourneairshow.com/ Official Airbourne website]

References