Originally, I had not planned to attend Cosford airshow, based solely off the exceptionally poor reviews from various names in the Aviation world. These problems boiling down to the backlighting, the parking situation and the poor organisation leading to things being promised but not delivered.

The day before, I decided to catch a lift with Burner Aviation. We did not get tickets for the show, instead opting to view the show from outside, hoping to mitigate some of the lighting issues.

The first thing was the queues building up on the hard shoulder. Thankfully, once we were past the main traffic to get into the base it was plain sailing to get to our spot.

Admittedly, I can't make too many comments as I did not have tickets, but a point to note was that the days schedule was released on the Airshow's website. The issue here being that no-one inside the show had any signal to view the schedule. It would have been better to email out the schedule the evening before for everyone to view and download in good time before the show starts.

The display started quite late, sadly this meant the display ended late also at about 1730. I feel as though brining all the displays an hour earlier would have been beneficial, allowing those inside the show to get out sooner and get back home especially considering the queue to exit the show was a good few hours from what I heard from others.

First up was the Falcons Parachute Display Team, dropping from an A400 - quite the difference from their usual Dornier. The Gazelle Squadron was next. It was nice to see them since first seeing them at Abingdon 23, sadly the 24 edition of the show was postponed.

The Hawk pair flypast was next, the first of 2 passes was kept in tight formation with the second much more separated.

Another pair display was next with the Wildcat and Wasp, followed by their separate displays. The Wildcat was very nice to see pulling some extreme vertical stall turns. A very impressive display to say the least, one of the highlights of the show for me

The Spitfire and Mustang display came next, with some nice rolls and loops as well as an "Airfix Paint Scheme" shot.

Provost of the day number 1 put on a nice display. This was the same aircraft that put on a display both days of Midlands Air Fest a couple of weeks prior. Although a very good display, I still have the same feelings as at Midlands, a lot of the more energetic moves such as the rolls and loops were conducted so far either side of crowd centre that a lot of the crowd would have not been looking. Thankfully this was less of an issue where we were, as we got a lot of the entry's to the display line.

After the Tutor display came the Catalina - an aircraft I have fond memories of at Duxford when I was younger. It did many lovely topside passes, just as the sun showed its face.

The Typhoon Display Team did an amazing energetic display, the first time I had seen the aircraft in its D-Day 80th Anniversary scheme. Some lovely fluff on the wings and burner shots lended itself well to the moody clouds behind.

A Chinook role demo with an L118 Light Gun underslung displayed next, keeping it quite distant from our location. Must have been good for those inside the fence.

After the second Provost display of the day came the highlight of the show for many. including myself - the Couteau Delta Mirage 2000 pair display. Full of energy with plenty of burner action, they put on what I would argue was the best display I have ever seen. Certainly not lacking in topside passes and high G manoeuvres, it seemed to be a display simulating attack runs unlike other displays around. One behind the other, the first aircraft swooped down before pulling up again, just as the second was in a dive making for a very nice (albeit distant) shot. Absolutely outstanding display which yielded great results from our spot.

The RAF assets came soon after, while we were still recovering from the Mirages. The A400 pair flypast was first, always nice to see the latest addition to the Air Mobility fleet, although a tighter formation would have been amazing, having been a good 5-10 second apart. ZZ336 UK livery Voyager came next with another single flypast. Lovely to see the RAF get out its flagship for airshows.

The Gnat from the Gnat Display team did an amazing display, compared to the Gnat at Midlands. This time, it was the Yellow airframe, whereas Midlands had the Red. The Gnat at Midlands conducted a couple of flypasts, whereas this Gnat put on a proper display.

Next came the Swordfish and Wasp pair in formation - quite amazing to see and aircraft and helicopter flying at the same speed. I was taken aback at the elegance of the Swordfish, flying so slowly and gracefully with long sweeping turns.

An aircraft I have not seen uch of over the years displayed next - the Harvard. It put on a nice display, although quite distant.

Another 'big hitter' display was Sally B which I had to put down the camera for on some passes. An aircraft as magnificent as this does not deserve to only be seen through the lens. Its display ended with its signature double engine smoke.

The show finished with the new F-35B role demo, with a good amount of burner action (for the RAF) and fluff on the wings. A hover was great to see although, rightly so, it was limited to in front of the crowd. The show ended with a Quick Climb Friday style high G pull into the clouds.

Overall, I would say that Cosford is a show I will be returning to, although not with a ticket. I feel as though the with the lighting and queues situation, I could not justify the ticket price. Having said that, it certainly seems like the Cosford Airshow team have worked on the problems others raised about last years show. This year, it seems to have been a great success with a couple of displays not often seen.