Jersey International Air Display 2010   was held on September 9th 2010. Once again this growing event on the UK airscene was organised by the efficient and enthusiastic team with Mike Higgins leadership. The air display took place over the bay of St Helier in the afternoon from 12-45 PM to 16-52 PM with a line-up even larger than ever put on before in any Jersey airshow. The RAF launched the display with the sole Nimrod MR4 flypast in 2010. Later on in the day the RAF contributed to the flying program with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a Grob Tutor, a Shorts Tucano, a Beech King Air and the Red Arrows.

Jersey Air Display always gather unusual if not exclusive items : so this year came the world's last flying Saab J-29 Tunnan with a Saab 105, both from the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight. A Saab J-32 Lansen from the same group was to have joined the show but it did not make it this year for maintenance reasons. Big surprise came form Nevada. Tom Schrade flew his Sikorsky S-38 Osa's Ark all the way from the USA to Europe this year. As part of its tour, it flew to Jersey and even if the S-38 only landed on St Helier airport in the evening after the show on the 9th, it still made the headlines on the Island. Other vintage items appearing included Armor Aero Passion MS760 Paris flying from Brittany in France, the Golden Apple Trust F-86 Sabre, a Supermarine Seafire, a Skyraider, Rob Davies's P-51 D Mustang, and Martin Willing's T-28 flying at home over St Helier. An Antonov An-2 Colt caught everyone by surprise with a slow speed routine with near stalls over the beach.

 The Belgian Composante Air came " en force " with the Hardship Red four SF-260 Team, a Sea King from 40 Smaaldel for a static display, and the unforgetable F-16 Solo Display. Notice Mitch Beulen was allowed to pull his Fighting Falcon with flares to light a cloudy bay. One more foreign air force was there : the french with their Patrouille de France reminding that La Manche and Normandie are a few kilometers away from Jersey Island only, and that strong historical and cultural ties are preserved between both countries. Due to strong winds and low clouds, the french chose to curtail their show, and complete what became a " bad weather " appearance. Surprisingly the RAF did not send any jet at all, and the advertised Rafale from the French Air Force could not make it this year.

Specific to Jersey are exclusive formations involving airplanes that never joined before to perform a flypast. So amazingly the Armor Aero Passion Morane MS760 Paris flew along with the Swedish Saab 105, the Saab J29 Tunnan flew with the Golden Apple Trust F-86 Sabre, and the Me-109 was with the Mustang. The Red Arrows and Avro Vulcan XH558 joined for a memorable flypast that even this year's Fairford show did not do...
It is true that Mike Higgins and the Jersey Air Display team do all their best to create emotion. It is fair to say that Avro Vulcan XH558 was an item worth alone to travel to the scene. How impressive it was to watch the giant bird roaring around the bay. The Bat. of Brit. Memorial Flight came as the second best item not only as the 70th Anniversary Battle of Britain representative, but also due to the peaceful local landscape, as Jersey coastline provides a suitable and authentic theater scene to this high profile memorial formation. If you glance at the bay of St Helier and its shore beamed with low sunlights , spotting the fortresses on the coast that were " ops " during the occupation , it is true that the memory of WWII remains strong on the Island.

The author would like to express thanks all the Jersey Air Display Team for their warm wecolme, Mike Higgins, Martin Willing, Darren Dupre, Gp Capt. Les Gardside-Beattie, Sq.Lead. Clive Rowley and Leanne Bass.