Vulcan howls and Tornado roars!

Today was a big day! It was Wings and Wheels at Dunsfold - the airfield that doubles as TopGear's test track.

I went with Ina and Oliver, leaving Leon and Mel at home to do more Ork painting.

It turned out to be quite exciting for the children - and definitely an eye-opener for me. The number of fighter-jets, WWII aircraft showing off as well as some strange exhibits - balloon bursting and flower bombing amateur pilots and a clown aircraft trying desperately to land on a trailer stuck to a Bentley - were definitely worth the trip.

The wheels part of Wings and Wheels didn't really make that much difference.

When we turned up, a propeller plane did the weirdest maneuvers, and almost caused heart attacks amongst the audience as it looked like it might fall out of the sky any second. And following this, a massive display of different pilots tormenting their planes into doing impossible things. And got away with it! The kids were exhausted just by looking at it.

The similar shows I have visited in Sweden (a long time ago, I must confess) was nothing like this. They normally sported a Viggen and a Draken, and later a JAS-39 Gripen and not much more.

So the violent 20th century British history has definitely paid off in terms of what to put on an air-show. And the size of the population interested in cars and planes are much bigger here, allowing for bigger events.

The two loudest acts were the Vulcan - apparently the only one still active - and the Tornado. The Vulcan put up quite a show, and it was amazing what agility an old bomber like that could sport in the impossible winds at Dunsfold today. And when its four jet engines made their signature sound, called the Vulcan howl, a large audience cheered and applauded. It is astonishing that the British people has raised 8 million pounds to get this Vulcan in shape to use for active duty.

The Tornado - a much more modern aircraft - made a sound that was loud enough to set the car alarms of the on-display cars off as it roared above the runway, showing its grunt power and maneuverability. Ina thought she could feel the heat from the after-burners, as it accelerated straight up from the crowd.

Lunch next to some large military lorry.

An interesting display was the old and completely shot-up German fighter with a sign saying "Built in Germany, landed by the British". Especially as the Tornado is a display of the later European peace-keeping efforts, where the German as well as the British Air Forces both used the aircraft.

And the 747, landed quite a way from the rest of the planes, is just big.