29 May 2020
It’s an airshow with a difference: Aerobility’s Armchair Airshow, designed to beat the Coronavirus travel restrictions.
The Armchair Airshow is scheduled for 20 June and promises live pilot interviews, walk-throughs and never before seen air-display and in-cockpit footage.
Highlights will include footage from a number of aircraft including a Spitfire and Concorde as well as performances from The Red Arrows, SR-71 Blackbird and The Blades aerobatic team.
The Armchair Airshow will broadcast between 2pm and 6pm on 20 June via the Aerobility YouTube Channel and Facebook Live. It will be free to watch.
Mike Miller Smith, CEO of disabled flying charity Aerobility which is organising the event, 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 19 has removed our ability to do this as we normally would with flying, so we have responded with a programme of online activity called Virtual Aerobility. The Armchair Airshow builds on this and brings the exhilaration of airshows to everyone during this time of extended isolation.”
Supported by Hayward Aviation, sponsorship and charitable donations raised from the Armchair Airshow will support disabled flying in the UK.
Behind the event is a veritable Who’s Who of the aviation industry:
George Bacon MBE Best known as the calming voice of airshows up and down the British Isles. ‘Smokey’ Bacon is also a display pilot, CEO of BADA and a flying display director.
Mike Ling MBE Renowned as the Red Arrows’ longest serving pilot, Squadron Leader Mike Ling retired from the Royal Air Force after 21 years in April 2019. He has since joined The Blades.
Charles Skiera Director of R5 Air Displays and is a member of the European Airshow Council, representative body for the airshow industry. Iain Campbell Managing Director of PlanesTV.
Jon Windover Aerobility trustee for 15 years, Jon managed the ‘Bader’s Bus Company display team’ – the world’s first all-disabled air display team. When not volunteering for Aerobility, Jon is a Business Development Director for an Aerospace and Defence company.
Chris Janssens Involved with various airshows including the Wings and Wheels Military History show held at the NATO reserve airfield in Ursel, Belgium.
Mike Miller-Smith MBE CEO of Aerobility. Mike started his career training as a commercial pilot. After becoming disabled in his twenties, he subsequently entered the pharmaceutical and IT industries, holding senior marketing and management positions in global companies. He was awarded his MBE for services to disability within aviation.
