THE 30th Clacton Airshow will be taking to the skies today and tomorrow.

This year’s programme includes the spectacular RAF Red Arrows, the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and a twilight display on the Thursday evening.

The event gets underway this afternoon.

Team Raven, a band of six highly experienced pilots flying Vans RV-8s will also perform at the event, which is celebrating its 30th year on Thursday and Friday.

Also announced as part of the line-up is the OV-10B Bronco, an agile and aerobatic turbojet counter-insurgency aircraft used throughout the Cold War and during the first Gulf War and brought to the event by the Bronco Demo Team.

Echo:

Two training aircraft are also on the flight programme, with the fully aerobatic Slingsby T67 Firefly displaying in its distinctive yellow and black high visibility colour scheme, and the RAF Grob Tutor T1 which replaced the Firefly at elementary flying school.

And a bonus flight announced joining the existing historic aircraft line-up is the Hawker Fury, a piston engine fighter developed in late 1944 which was largely superseded by jet planes but which did see service in the Royal Navy during the Korean War.

There will also be a diverse range of ground events at West Greensward.

A Military Village exhibit will be installed with an impressive array of vehicles to explore, provided by the Royal Signals, Royal Logistics Corps and Medical Regiment.

Equipment used by the Royal Engineers will also be on display and recruitment teams will be on hand to discuss employment in the Regular Army and Army Reserves.

Echo:

In addition to the Rolls-Royce Mustang and Spitfire gracing the skies, Rolls-Royce will be providing a fascinating exhibition stand championing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education outreach programmes.

The Clacton Airshow High Street Trail will be a fun new addition this year, encouraging visitors to explore local shops to find letters hidden in windows dressed for the airshow to spell out an appropriately themed word.

The trail will be available until Sunday, September 3, and participants can enter a free prize draw to win tickets for a family of four to see Aladdin at the Princes Theatre Clacton, or Christmas Show at the Westcliff Theatre.

Maps can be collected from the Visitors Information Centre at Clacton Town Hall, Clacton Library and from outside Clacton train station on the mornings of the airshow.

Those who are travelling to the event can make use of the Park and Ride service from Hedingham Buses or the event car park run by the Clacton-on-Sea Rotary Club at West Road, as well as additional rail services provided by Greater Anglia.