There are very few venues in the UK that almost perfectly lend themselves to hosting an airshow, but St Aubin’s Bay, on the Channel Island of Jersey, is definitely a contender. With around five kilometres of curved (albeit south-facing) coast, the bay provides a spectacular backdrop, and becomes a natural amphitheatre for one Thursday a year in September.
Known as Jersey International Air Display since 1997, one of the show’s big drawing points for a main-lander is the variety of types in attendance, some of which are unable to be displayed anywhere else in the UK. In 2018 this was no different, with Jersey offering the only British appearances of the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight’s twin-stick Saab Viggen and single-seat Draken, the world’s only airworthy Nord Noratlas, Remko Sibjen’s CAC Boomerang and a pair of French-based Dassault Flamants, to name a few.
From a photographic perspective, this year I was looking for variety in the opportunities, which three days on the island provided in ample. From taking pictures of arrivals well into the evening on Wednesday, including a mini-nightshoot in the rain, to making the most of wall-to-wall sunshine at the airport and seafront on Thurday, and finishing the week with a day at the Aeroclub in similarly good conditions.
Some personal highlights from the show were the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight’s Viggen and Draken, both specific aircraft making their UK debut, as well as Richard Grace flying the returning-for-2018 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, Rich Goodwin in his Pitts Special, Remko Sibjen and Rick van der Graaf’s Yak/Boomerang tail-chase and a crowd-pleasing display from the RAF Red Arrows.
With fewer and fewer shows on the UK calendar, it was refreshing to come away from Jersey content with both photographic results, which can be seen below, as well as in terms of enjoyment.
Just seeing and hearing some of the aircraft on display almost makes the trip worth it, and after a discussion with display organiser Mike Higgins after the show, plans are well afoot to make the 2019 show continue that trend.
On to the pictures, in the order they were taken.
