An aerial perspective of Festival of Speed

One of the great things about the Goodwood events is that you can get close to the aircraft and cars that are on display; there are few barriers and it's not exclusive to VIPs. Visitors to the 2017 FOS Air, which was sponsored by Shell, were able to touch the record breaking Siemens eFusion electric plane, which is destined to become the future of aviation.

The Red Arrows didn't disappoint, and wowed the crowds with breath taking displays. One of our Air Traffic Controllers, Tim Constance also had the pleasure of flying Red 10, the Red Arrows Team Manager back to Farnborough Airport, where they were based for the weekend. (Our Cessna looked slightly out of place alongside the jets!)

Oriens, the exclusive UK distributor of Pilatus aircraft, had a PC-12 at FoS Air on display and hosted a bespoke arrivals lounge at the Goodwood Aerodrome, welcoming the many visitors that flew into the event. We were delighted to welcome the Royal Navy and their Westland Lynx Mk3 which sat alongside Textron, Cessnas and Nicolas McLaren.

The Goodwood Flying School always enjoy FoS Air, with the chance to talk to current students and those interested in all things aviation. They had the 1943 Harvard on display which always draws a huge crowd, some of whom were even able to climb into this very special aircraft.

For those inspired to get a taste of flying or just see the magnitude of the event from the air, helicopter sightseeing flights were available, giving guests a unique view of the event below. 

Back on the ground, a selection of Pedal Planes were available for the little ones to pilot around and budding astronauts could get a taste of what life is like in space, thanks to the Novium Museum bringing part of its ‘Tim Peake: An Extraordinary Journey’ exhibition. Replica space suits, robotic arms and an interactive area were on display with museum staff explaining the challenges faced by astronauts when working outside our atmosphere.

All in all the FoS Air exhibition was the perfect place for fans of aviation to get a real feel for the size, beauty and engineering precision of a wonderful range of aircraft, both modern and historic.