AN EYE-CATCHING three-hour flying display programme will be the main attraction at this year’s Abingdon Air and Country Show.

Thousands of aviation enthusiasts less than a month to go to buy tickets in advance for the day out at Abingdon Airfield on Sunday, May 14.

Thousands of people gather at the base throughout the day and in previous years there have been up to 20,000 spectators.

Town council leader Mike Badcock said: "It's a very good air show and lots of aficionados come back year after year.

"It's a great day out at the airfield and people in Abingdon who can't go along enjoy looking up at the skies and seeing the planes overhead."

The show was born on 2000 after Neil Porter, the main organiser, had the idea of setting it up.

The website for the displays added: "Our volunteer-run event is now one of the largest regional charity events on the calendar and will continue. We thank you all for supporting us.”

One of the main attractions will be a display from the Great War Display Team, featuring a Sopwith Camel and a Fokker Triplane.

There will also be an RAF Memorial Flight Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber, the Jump4Heroes Parachute display team, and the de Havilland Sea Vixen 1950s fighter jet.

Other highlights include historic Army Flight Sioux and Scout helicopters, and a P51 Mustang.

And a recent addition to the programme is the modified Muscle biplane of Rich Goodwin Airshows.

Mr Goodwin, an ex-RAF Tornado Pilot, will be displaying his biplane, G-EWIZ, which has been specially modified for air show entertainment.

The website added: "The aircraft’s extensive modification programme has given this biplane, enhanced capabilities, which allow Rich to perform a unique, and extraordinary brand of aerobatics.

"Rich has combined gyroscopic forces with aerobatic manoeuvres to produce a very dynamic routine.”

Drivers have been warned that roads around the air base will be busy on the day and some roads will be closed, including part of Honeybottom Lane.

The 2000 event started out as a small fete but the show has grown into what is now a major event on the region’s calendar.

Chosen charity Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust received £8,000 last year, with a total of £68,095.70 raised for the charity since 2007.

The website added: "We are proud that the show is surviving in today’s economic climate, though for future shows we are seeking commercial sponsorship to help as this is a purely volunteer-organised show, with limited funding."

New tougher safety regulations were brought in by air show bosses last year following the Shoreham Airshow tragedy in West Sussex in 2015, when a 1950s Hawker Hunter crashed during a display, killing 11 people and injuring 16 others.

Visit abingdonairandcountry.co.uk