Armchair Airshow sitting pretty

Above: The Armchair Airshow will broadcast between 2pm and 6pm on 20th June, via the Aerobility YouTube Channel and Facebook Live.
Image courtesy Aerobility

Re-imagining the airshow experience completely, the Armchair Airshow brings all the action from the skies directly into your own home. A four-hour live stream on 20th June, the schedule includes unique footage from vintage and modern aircraft, spacecraft, aerobatic displays as well as in-cockpit footage.

The line-up includes the RAF’s fifth generation stealth fighter, the F-35 Lightning II, and the F-104 Starfighter – an iconic cold war jet from Lockheed’s ‘skunk works’, best described as a rocket with wings.

‘Jetman’ and Guinness world record holder Richard Browning talks about his Daedalus Jet Pack while Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones describe what it was like to pilot the Breitling Orbiter 3 – the first balloon to circumnavigate the globe.

Space enthusiasts are also in for a treat as Shuttle Commander Christopher Ferguson, talks about what it’s like to sit in a cockpit of a shuttle weighing 2,200 tonnes at launch and 100 tonnes when it lands whilst Michael D Leinbach, the Space Shuttle Launch Director for NASA between 2000 and 2011, talks about compiling check lists of over 20,000 items for the pilots! Between them, they tell us what it is like to launch and land a Space Shuttle

Also promised is footage from Solar Impulse, the first solar-powered aircraft to travel all the way around the world in 2016, as well as performances from The Red Bull Matadors, Dutch Yak Association and The Helicopter Club of Great Britain. Yet these are just a few of the highlights.

Hosting the show will be air display legends, Mike Ling, John Windover and George Bacon, with live pilot commentary and walk throughs promised throughout the afternoon. Enthusiasts will even have the chance to ask pilots questions live, including six Red Arrows pilots who will all be appearing at the show.

Organised by disabled flying charity Aerobility, The Armchair Airshow promises to be a unique experience for the entire family. Mike Miller Smith, Aerobility CEO, said: “Enabling anyone with any disability to fly is at the heart of what we do. It drives a focus on ‘if I can fly a plane, what else can I do’.

“Covid has removed our ability to do this as we normally would with flying, so we have responded with this unique concept. Designed for the entire family, the Armchair Airshow brings the exhilaration of airshows to everyone during this time of extended isolation.”

The Armchair Airshow will broadcast from 14.00 UK time (BST) on 20th June, via www.armchairairshow.com , the Aerobility YouTube channel and Facebook Live. It will be free to watch.


For the full schedule: aerobility.com/schedule-2020