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Rougham Air Display 2005

by
Nigel Warner
20^th - 21^st August 2005

As we were visiting my parents in Suffolk for a long weekend I decided to take the Scimitar and book us in for the classic car part of the event and my father decided to book in his Ford Model Y. Rougham Airfield is just outside Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk so it is about 100 miles from where I live but only about 30 miles from my parents.

Ready to leave my Parents for the show

The Rougham Air Show is a two-day event (Celebrating its 10th year this year) with the air display on the Sunday only and with plenty of stalls selling everything from garden ornaments to car and aviation memorabilia, Fair ground, events and children's activities there is something for everyone to see and do. There is a large collection of military vehicles, predominantly American as it was an American Base during the war, and of course the magnificent Rougham Tower , restored and maintained by the Rougham Tower Association in honour of the pilots and crew of the USAF who flew from this aerodrome from 1943. The Tower contains a small museum covering this period and is well worth a visit.

We arrived first, the Scimitar goes a bit faster than the Model Y, and parked up. This was about 10:30am and there was already a lot of cars parked up. We decided to have a quick walk round to see what was there. As well as a good mix of classic cars there were classic tractors, steam engines, fire engines and lots of old army trucks, jeeps etc. As far as the entertainment was concerned we saw Clowns, Re-enactment groups, storytellers, pony & cart rides, the fairground with swings & roundabouts etc, Quad bikes, Live music in a marquee, Craft Tent, lots of different things for sale at the Bazaar and a Beer Tent with locally brewed ales. There was certainly entertainment for all the family and all ages.

The flying was due to start at 1:00pm so we met up with my parents for a picnic lunch at 12:30pm . Of course if you didn’t fancy taking a picnic there were plenty of Burger vans etc to choose from as well as a large beer & food tent. After our picnic we noticed that a piece of paper had been put under my Dad’s windscreen telling he had been selected to go into the arena with his car at 2:00pm for judging. They had gone round all the parked classic cars and selected the 5 best cars for 5 different groups. When all the selected cars were gathered together in the arena they announced that a different set of judges would pick a winner for each group. Much to my Dad’s surprise he won his group and was awarded with a mounted certificate so he was well chuffed. Unfortunately my camera batteries had decided to run out so I wasn’t able to take pictures.

We then watched the flying for a while and then had to leave at 3:30pm for the journey home. I would have liked to have had a tour of the control tower etc. but time didn’t allow it this visit. My Dad said that it was well worthwhile going on the tour of the control tower etc. so I will try and do it next time we visit.

 
Some of the planes lined up before the display

My Dad's car at the show

 
 
There were quite a few club displays including the TVRCC
 
 

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