Up, up and away . . . Bray display breaks all records

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.