Connemara Air Show

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Alcock and Brown, the Clidfen Chamber of Commerce held a weekend of events to mark the occasion. The focal point of the weekend of celebrations was a free air show that was held along the shore of Clifden beach.

The star of the show, and the most relevant display given the nature of the event, was a replica Vickers Vimy. This was the second visit by the replica Vimy to Clifden, its last visit was in July 2005 when Mark Rebholz and Steve Fossett successfully re-enacted the Alcock and Brown flight.

This Vimy replica (registration NX71MY), is due to be retired and preserved permanently at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, England.

Other aircraft displaying at Clifden were a CASA CN235, Eurocopter EC-135, Pilatus PC-9 formation and solo display, all from the Irish Air Corps, along with Team Viper (formation and solo display also), the Blades, Coastguard S-61, Team Guinot, Vans RV-7 and a Sukhoi Su-26. Executive Helicopters were also carrying out pleasure flights during the day using a Eurocopter EC120.

The weather on the day was mixed, low cloud, rain and wind mixed with some sunshine made for tricky photographic conditions. For example, Team Viper managed to perform a solo display earlier in the day but had to restrict their formation display to flypasts in different formations due to the weather conditions.

Most of the aircraft that flew at the show were based in Galway (Carnmore) Airport and these aircraft were photographed on the ground before and after their display.

IrishAirPics would like to take this opportunity to thank Tony Gibson of Galway Airport and Captain Robert Carpenter of Executive Helicopters for their help and assistance in the making of this report.