The Midlands Air Festival

By Bradley Rogers

A sold out bumper-crowd all enjoyed the British summer weather and of course the flying displays at the amazing 2023 Midlands Air Festival!

The Midlands Air Festival is in its third consecutive and successful year in its spiritual home of the Ragley Hall estate. 

This year saw the return of many favourites: The RAF Typhoon Display Team, Royal Air Force Aerobatic Display Team – the Red Arrows, BBMF, OV-10 Bronco, Vampire WZ507, to name a few and of course many Balloons! Added to this were plenty of ground attractions and stalls, stretching the length of the crowd rear, this, combined with a great weather forecast, meant the Saturday was sold out! Sunday would prove rather interesting too, with a special addition not seen on the UK airshow circuit since 2019.

(Above) The crowds pack the rising slope towards Ragley Hall. (Above, Right) A packed Saturday crowd all enjoying the best British weather and the airshow.

(Above from left going clockwise) Some of the notable aircraft in the Saturday line-up, Vampire WZ507, Bronco Demo Team OV-10 Bronco, RAF Red Arrows, RAF Typhoon

The organisers had really pulled out all the stops, especially for the Sunday when (making up for the absence of the Typhoon and Red Arrows) they announced the attendance of the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight’s Saab J35J Draken! Not seen in this country since the Bournemouth Air Festival in 2019. This was initially met with some scepticism. Especially the phrase of “flying a specially created display for the Ragley Estate” leaving a large amount of ambiguity on what the jet would be allowed to do. This is down to very tight regulations from the Civil Aviation Authority concerning certain jet aircraft types displaying over land – a knock on effect in a post-Shoreham disaster world. It was certainly an announcement for the purists. Frustratingly, despite coming all the way from Sweden, the aircraft was unable to perform its full planned routine, aside from the tight restrictions the aircraft was already having to fly to. This was later revealed to be an ATC issue, who sent the aircraft in an unfavourable route to the show, further hindered by the pilot struggling to locate the venue! Nevertheless it was a major coup by the organisers of the Midlands Air Festival to secure its appearance. I for one hope that they have set a new precedent for vintage jet aircraft, showing that displays can be adapted to meet CAA display regulations. After all, it’s better to see them, than not to see them at all!   

(Above) By far the biggest coup of the whole weekend the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight Saab J35J Draken performing its 2nd of 3 passes, in afterburner, Sunday 4th June 2023

The Midlands Air Festival began from humble beginnings in 2018, with the Ragley Hall estate in Warwickshire, near Stratford-upon-Avon, the chosen venue to host this new 3 day air festival. The estate itself was created by the famous 18th century landscape architect Capability Brown, featuring rolling grass land and forestry plantations, all in which provides a stunning backdrop to the show. I attended this first show, finding out about it by literally googling “UK Air Shows”, and was pleased to find it was very local to me. It would be one of my first shows that sparked my interest in pursuing aviation photography.

(Above) A Google Maps view of the venue’s location. 

The show itself starts on the Friday afternoon, with an airshow merging into the ‘Nightfire’, which features evening aircraft pyrotechnic displays. All before culminating with a nightglow of hot air balloons and spectacular firework finale. Moving into the show weekend mixes an eclectic line-up of hot air balloon mass ascents and tethering, followed by a full and varied airshow. Starting early in the morning, providing the weather is ideal, hot air balloons ascend in their masses – an incredible spectacle! Then throughout the morning large model RC aircraft perform as well as some aircraft arrivals. The airshow side itself usually starts around midday. Then once again, if conditions allow, the evening sees another mass ascent of balloons. It is really a special and unique show, unlike anywhere else on the UK airshow circuit.  

(Above, Left) Hot Air Balloons inflate ready for their ascent. (Above, Right) RC model Skyraider performing for the crowds 

The show back in 2018 was relatively thin on the ground, there were less than a handful of stalls. However, it was clearly a beautiful setting, with plenty of space, great access, and gentle falling slope acting like an amphitheatre. Also a small section of the land was interestingly being used as a make-shift runway, enough to land some of the performing aircraft and display acts on. This all makes for a great show venue. 

(Above) The Red Arrows Break! Although shot at 2021’s show, it shows the site layout, with the gentle slope falling towards the crowd line and makeshift runway.

Unfortunately the following year the show was unable to secure the grounds at Ragley and moved to Arbury Hall near Nuneaton. The show was of similar format, but its proximity to Birmingham airport made it difficult for the balloons to ascend, unless the wind was in the opposing direction. The weather also refused to play ball, the balloons further restricted to what they could do. However, the flying displays were great and the organisers were clearly tapping into an old style family airshow with something for everyone, even catering for the purist with additions of some classic jets and more obscure vintage aircraft types. Of course 2020 would be a non-starter, with the obvious cancelling of many shows owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. This did not deter the organisers who triumphantly returned to Ragley Hall estate in 2021 with a fantastic show, securing the RAF’s main display teams with the Typhoon and Red Arrows amongst others. The show, now well established at Ragley, returned again in 2022 over the platinum jubilee bank holiday weekend for another successful 3 day show.

2023 once again welcomed the show back to Ragley Hall, running from the 2nd-4th June. I attended both the Saturday and Sunday, opting for the Sunday mainly to see the Draken! Saturday I chose an early start, this is a must if you wish to see the mass balloon ascent. This would mean getting to the venue at 5:30am, the bonus is given the weather, the light at that time is very nice indeed and is great for photography bringing out the kaleidoscope of colours across the balloons. The wind was just on the limit of being too much so we didn’t get the full mass ascent, although a fair amount lifted into the morning light. Perhaps the only flaw with the venue is it’s south facing, this does mean a face full of sun for the most part of the day, which for the photographer is tricky at best. As the flying began at around 12pm the sun was at its highest and harshest. However, around 4pm and thereafter the light becomes much lower in the sky and makes for best shots of the day looking towards the east. 

(Above) The order of the weekend. 

On the whole, the Midlands Air Festival is an impressive show which has been growing year on year. They have most certainly hooked into an exciting and enthralling idea for a show. I look forward to next year already and wish them the very best in continuing to build from this successful event, booking displays that have something for everyone, plus a rare inclusion like that of the Draken. Here’s to 2024!