Wing walkers wow crowds at this year’s Midlands Air Festival at Ragley Hall

AERIAL acrobatics and daredevil stunts wowed a capacity crowd of 27,000 at the Midlands Air Festival at Ragley Hall at the weekend.

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Now in its fifth year, the three-day event included the RAF’s world-famous Red Arrows display team, which performed a spectacular show of aeronautics.

More than 45 different aircraft from around the world also took part, from vintage World War II planes to the latest fighter aircraft, such as the RAF Typhoon in its red, white and blue livery.

The Falcons, the parachute display team based at RAF Brize Norton, performed an impressive formation sky-diving display.

However, the strong winds did hamper the usual hot air balloon ascents at dawn and dusk, but around 20 did make it into the sky successfully on Saturday morning.

There was an exhilarating performance by AeroSuperBatics from Cirencester in their two 1940s Boeing Stearman biplanes, flown by pilots David Barrell and Brian Cornes. They are only formation wing-walking team in the world and reach speeds of 120mph at 1,200ft… which shows the skill of 25-year-olds Emma Broadbent and Kirsten Pobjoy who perform the acrobatics while strapped to the wings.

The two, who are from Stroud, are best friends and met at school aged 11-years-old.

Kirsten, a former trapeze artist who has worked with the team for six years, told the Herald: “It’s absolutely brilliant fun, this is our office. I feel so privileged as I get to see this unique perspective of the world with my best friend.”

Also spotted – this time on the ground – was the much-loved actor David Jason and Repair Shop host Jay Blades who were filming a new TV series for BBC2.