Devon celebrates 10th anniversary airshow

An annual airshow in Torbay is celebrating its 10th anniversary with flying displays, rides and carnival stalls.

The English Riviera Airshow began on Friday with a show from seven Red Arrows, which also opened the show on Saturday. The Aerosuperbatics Wingwalkers, Britain Memorial Flight and Royal Navy Black Cats also took to the sky.

A billboard tribute was also displayed for Ayrton Redfearn, 23, from Devon, who died fighting in Ukraine earlier this month. He enlisted in the RAF at 17 and last year joined a specialist military unit attached to the Army of Ukraine.

His mum said he was a fan of the airshow since it began and that he "would love" the tribute.

"Ayrton and I always went to the air shows from the very first one, and would go and chat to the guys on the RAF stands about Ayrton's ambitions," she said.

Red Arrows pilot Flt Lt Ollie Suckling said the Red Arrows set off with seven instead of nine this year as the RAF works to preserve its fleet.

He said: "Sadly, all good things must come to an end.

"We're at a point now where we just need to preserve the aeroplanes that we've got for as long as possible so we can continue to deploy that red, white and blue smoke at events in England and across the world for as long as possible."

Last year's show generated about an estimated £5m of business in Torbay and the council hoped 2026 would attract even more visitors and give hotels, bars, cafes a boost before the holiday season.

Suckling said those attending the show were in for a treat - including one of his favourite manoeuvres, the cascade, "which hasn't been seen since 1997".

He said: "I don't want to spoil it too much - I mean, people that follow us will know what it means.

"But I think the public will like it, it's a bit of a different ending to the show than we've been able to do in the past."

An RAF Typhoon will close the shows on both Saturday and Sunday.

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