LIFESTYLE

Eugene Byrne takes to the air.

Every summer there are dozens of air shows around the UK, some big, some small. They’re great for people-watching, and you get to see aeroplanes as well. If you have male children, it’s a no-brainer, though plenty of girls love ’em too.

Aside from seeing aircraft old and new going through their paces, most shows have plenty else, such as the chance to get up close to aircraft and helicopters on static display. You can often chat to the owners or the service personnel who fly ’em. There’s often vintage vehicles and/or a funfair, too, and there are always stalls selling aeroplaney things.

Round BristolandBath, we’re fortunate in that each summer sees three events within easy distance; one of them’s bound to suit.

Yeovilton Air Day is a fine old institution. It’s based at the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton, also home of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Because of its Naval connections, there tend to be a lot of helicopters, and each day's display ends with a mock assault on some fictitious band of Her Majesty's Enemies by the Royal Marines, culminating in some very satisfying explosions. This year’s big theme is 40 years of Lynx helicopters. For details and tickets see: http://tinyurl.com/3dm9f7d

The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford is the air show equivalent of Glastonbury Festival, the big one everyone wants to go to, so it has the most expensive tickets. Here there are (mostly military) aircraft from several of the world's air forces, plus privately owned machines. The displays are many and spectacular from amazing parachute stunts through to the latest military hardware doing its stuff.

For people-watching, Fairford is also the business. Where else are you going to meet so many military and naval fliers from all over the world (the man from the Irish Air Corps was delighted to talk to us at last year's as everyone had been ignoring him and his helicopter all day)? Where else will you meet aviators from so many iffy foreign regimes, or get the chance to photograph very satisfied-looking men in business suits driving around on golf carts? Details and tickets at www.airtattoo.com

The Cotswold Air Show at Kemble airport is the smallest of the three, but in many ways the best place to start, being compact and friendly. It’s also less subject to the traffic snarl-ups on entering and leaving that you tend to get with the other two. While there are plenty of aircraft coming from British and foreign armed forces, Cotswold is also strong on privately owned planes. This year’s is themed all around the Hawker Hunter, the classic British fighter of the 1960s, with over a dozen due to show up.

Kemble used to be an RAF base where Hunters were repaired and maintained, and event organiser Glen Moreman says: “The Hunter is such an iconic, beautiful aircraft and the fact that it has such a history at Kemble means we felt it was important to mark such a landmark anniversary. Lots of local people will have worked here on these aircraft and it will be great to see them back in the Gloucestershire skies again.” For details and tickets see: www.cotswoldairshow.com

It goes without saying that the Red Arrows will sooner or later make an appearance at all of these events, and quite right, too. Though it pains me to say this, at Fairford last year, the display by the French air force team, which is commanded by a woman, was slightly better.

Something from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will also be appearing at all three; Spitfires, Hurricanes, the Dakota or the Lancaster. What’s less clear, however, is how many frontline RAF craft will show up at any event. What with spending cuts and commitments in Afghanistan and Libya…

How to be a high flier

• Arrive early to get a good spot by the sight-lines.

• If you are male, overweight and middle aged, you need to take an unfeasibly large camera to photograph the warbirds. It’s the law.

• Seriously, some of these planes make A HELL OF A RACKET, especially state-of-the-art fighters, such as your Typhoons, Rafales and Gripens. That's half the fun, but if you're bringing small children who don't like loud noise, look for higher ground away from the sight-lines, and invest in some ear-protectors; there'll almost certainly be stalls selling these.

• Binoculars. Don't forget the binoculars.

• Or the chairs. If sitting on chairs is your thing.

• Bring a picnic. Otherwise you'll end up going to the ice-cream and burger stands every hour or so and end up looking like one of the men with the big cameras.

• Book your tickets now! These events can sell out, and with growing numbers of us unable to afford the fortnight in foreign parts this summer, the chances are that events like these are going to be popular.

Copyright Eugene Byrne 2011