Fantastic Fun at Flywheel Festival

Setting out on a Sunday morning we were struck by the cloud coverage above us. We thought the day would be a wash out and disregarded the need to pack suncream. However, when we got to the Bicester Heritage site we discovered a pocket of sunshine and no showers leading us to wish we’d been better prepared. It seems that through the summer months it is important to take suncream everywhere with you whether or not you use it.

As we drove up to Bicester we experienced a small queue to get into the venue but once on cite we were soon ushered into our car parking space amongst loads of other cars and directed to the front where people stood checking our tickets. Being our first time I struggled to get to grips with the map straight away but there were friendly people on hand who helped me and my family to get to where we needed to go.

This politeness and friendliness was matched by people throughout the venue much to my husband’s surprise. For he has gone to similar events in the past elsewhere where this certainly was not the case. A couple of the men at the venue had created their own planes and one of them talked to me about how he’d discovered parts of the plane in a relatives shed and decided to use them in his creation. I loved that he’d lovingly kept the desire of flying in his family.

Of course he wasn't the only person who had held onto their love of history. Our attention was also caught by a family who had an old fashioned pram that they were pushing around with their grandchild and they were keen to pass on that our eggs do not come courtesy of supermarket shelves but chickens lay them. I used to enjoy eating the eggs my Bantams used to lay until they became foxes dinner! My eldest loved the cuddly chicken and was surprised to learn that not all eggs are breakable in fact some are made of rubber.

The only problem that the organisers encountered during the day it seemed was the wind that saw many a plane grounded and those that took to the skies did so with the risk of being buffeted about in the air. Those that took to the sky sounded like really experienced pilots and we were told that one of the men that flew had once flown a variety of planes in one day too. Due to the wind I think the timetable was a little off course but this did not cause too much of a problem for those on the ground and the pilots put on a wonderful display.

Other Things That Caught Our Eye

• As well as real planes there were props such as the Westland Lysander that featured in the film Allied featuring Brad Pitt
• Tank rides took place in modern day tanks at one end of the venue
• The main arena saw a variety of different vehicles racing around the circuit and creating a lot of noise
• Dotted about the venue were food stalls selling a variety of foods
• There are portaloos but no designated changing facilities for babies

When was the last time you went to an air show?

Disclaimer: We were kindly provided a family ticket in exchange for a review. The words and pictures contained within this post are a mixture of my own and that of Flywheel Festival – Media.