THE Night Air show finally returned this evening to amazed spectators after the first night was cancelled. 

Four displays returned in spectacular energy on Friday evening as the Bournemouth Air Festival stepped up a gear. 

Crow favourite the Typhoon was seen – and heard – along the seafront as it flew high-speed laps across the coast. 

At one point, it cruised in the air at just over 100kph – a stark contrast to the usual two times the speed of sound (Mach 2/1,320mph) it is capable of. 

Bournemouth Echo: TyphoonTyphoon

Visitors looked on in glee as the jet engines lit up orange and covered their ears moments later. 

After that, the Firebirds display returned with a bang and lit up the sky with a starry, acrobatic display featuring Poole pilot Nigel Reid. 

Starting as the sun set, the two RV4 X2s circled the sky before setting off fireworks in front of a jaw-dropped crowd. 

New for this year, the planes were customised with eco-friendly smoke systems and LED lighting had been added to fuselages, along with LED strips added to the wing tips. 

Bournemouth Echo: Otto the Helicopter Otto the Helicopter

Tigers FFT Parachute display team then leaped out of a Cessna aeroplane 13,000ft in the air and performed daredevil mid-air manoeuvres, concluding the first Night Air display of the year. 

Thursday’s display had been cancelled, along with all the other displays in the day bar the Red Arrows, because of the bad weather. 

The Air Festival will continue over the weekend, with one more Night Air display on Saturday.