A record 88,000 people attended Ireland's biggest free air show in Bray, in Co Wicklow.
Pilots flew in from all across Europe to take part in the Bray Air Display.
Organisers of the show paid their respects to the passengers and crew of the Malaysia Airlines plane that went down in Ukraine during the past week.
www.brayairdisplay.com
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As well as showcasing a range of modern and vintage aircraft, there were ground displays from the Irish Defence Forces, the RAF, the Mullingar Model Flying Club and Executive Helicopters.
Last year a record 85,000 spectators saw the event.
*A record-breaking 88,000 spectators craned their necks and fixed their eyes on the skies above the coastal town today for the annual Bray Air Display.
*A record-breaking 88,000 spectators craned their necks and fixed their eyes on the skies above the coastal town today for the annual Bray Air Display.
One of the many highlights of the three-hour display was the Black Knights Defence Forces Parachute Team led by jump master Capt Dennis Gowran and including Cpl Paul “Butch” Halpin, who celebrated his birthday in the skies above the Co Wicklow town.
The team carried out two jumps, their parachutes opening to reveal the Irish Tricolour as they descended from the heavens above Wicklow.
Aerobatic displays were a big part of the day’s events, including Ireland’s only civilian aerobatic team, Aer Dynamics, piloted by the “flying farmer” Gerry Humphreys and the “flying dentist” Eddie Goggins, who runs a dental practice in south Dublin.
Other high-fliers included the 1942 Boeing Stearman, used to train US cadet pilots during the second World War, and the “Miss Demeanour” Hawker Hunter, a subsonic jet that demonstrated a top speed of 450mph.
Display director Sé Pardy, a pilot for Aer Lingus, said the annual event was one of the biggest single-day air shows in Europe and it was growing in popularity every year.
He thanked Wicklow County Council, the Irish Aviation Authority, the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána and Air Traffic Control, as well as the 100-plus volunteers “without who we couldn’t do this”.
A minute’s silence was observed for the victims of the Ukrainian air crash.
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