Record expected at Cosford air show

A motorway slip road will be opened up to cope with the extra traffic queuing for this year's big RAF Cosford Air Show on Sunday, which will celebrate aircraft from the past and present.

Preparations are well advanced for the event, which is expected to attract around 55,000. This is thousands more than in the past.

An historic plane which flew out of Midland air bases during World War Two will be returning to the region, as part of a five-hour flying display during the show.

A P-51 Mustang, the same type of plane that flew out of RAF Rednal, near Oswestry, more than 60 years ago, will be taking to the skies above aircraft enthusiasts.

Mustangs became a familiar sight in the Midlands during World War Two as the type was operated from Rednal and, for RAF fighter pilot training, at Montford Bridge, near Shrewsbury.

Norman Branagh, show co-ordinator, said: "We have received inquiries from people wanting to know about the display and the final line-up will include the P-51 Mustang.

"The plan is to bring back all of the displays visitors know and enjoy but also add in a few more. We are in talks with Hangar 11, which runs historic aircraft, about the P-51 Mustang, a Spitfire and a Kittyhawk."

Cosford Air Show has made a name for itself as one of the most popular events on the museum's calendar.

It will also include a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a display by the Red Arrows, a fly-over by the latest Jet fighter the Typhoon, and the Falcons freefall parachute team.

Members of the Large Model Association, which travels up and down the country with model aeroplane displays, will also be setting up displays.

Tickets for the show, which runs from 8.30am until 6pm, are available at the RAF Museum at Cosford, branches of the Mid Counties Co-Operative Society, tourist information centres in Birmingham, Rotunda and Stafford's Gatehouse Theatre, or by calling the special air show ticket line on 0871 230 1083.

For more information visit www.cosfordairshow.co.uk