Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Fred on July 04, 2014
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With the Newcastle festival of flight coming up next month, I was wondering about the feasibility of watching it from high on Commedagh or Donard. I know that some NI-wilders were in the mountains during last years air display.Does anyone think these are good view points or are they too far from the action?
Fred
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We watched the Red Arrows from Commedagh. We stayed at Meelmore and hiked up / back following the wall. It was a brilliant day, weather was awesome and one of the planes even flew between Donard / Commedagh.
http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/meets-places-trips-and-reviews/meelmore-camp-slieve-commedagh-red-arrows/msg11790/#msg11790
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Looks great from up there. I remember that someone posted a great picture of the Vulcan bomber flying between commedagh and donard last year.
Fred
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Here's the thread from last years event
http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/outdoor-news-and-events/be-aerospace-festival-of-flight/msg47827/#msg47827
and my recommendations
It was a good show, if going next year i'd recommend parking a car in the Downs Rd car park with all your gear (chairs etc) early that morning. The grassy slope beside the car park is a good viewing spot and you can pop onto the beach for an unobstructed view to get some photos. You could also go up the hills (the quarry is good) but then you don't hear the commentary which brings a lot of explanation to whats happening making it a better experience.
Also traffic is a nightmare going home (2 hrs to get to Bryansford!) so pre-book a table in a local restaurant for 5ish and sit back and enjoy the day instead of fighting the traffic.
If they had a radio commentary you could tune into it would be perfect in the hills, the smaller planes can be a bit boring from a distance when you don't know the story behind them. I reckon i'll go up the hills this year just to get a good photo.
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would you guys know what date this airshow is on?
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Its on from 8 - 10 August. I haven't seen a detailed timetable yet.
fred
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I was on commedagh which was a fantastic view point, the arrows and Vulcan flew through the saddle. Again like Fred parked in meelmore and avoided traffic.
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Thanks for the input.
My thinking is that traffic is going to be a nightmare and public transport will probably be impossibly overcrowded, I doubt if translink will provide any extra busses. Whilst the air displays will be arranged to be best viewed from the shore, the view from the mountains will be unique and I could combine this with a bivvi on Saturday night. Of course if there's low cloud, this wouldn't work out.
Just a thought
Fred
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I had been planning to go down for the air show (although planning is a strong word - a mate and I discussed it for a few mins really, although for us that's about as planned as things ever get ;-). I am sure you will all frown as its not "NI Wild" enough, but we would plan to camp at Meelmore in luxury with a big tent, a fire and a crate of beer :-)
I had just assumed we would head to Donard to watch the planes, but I see everyone here has opted for Commedagh. I was just wondering is this because it is the best place to get a good view?
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I suppose that either mountain would be good but Commedagh is a bit closer to the show.
Fred