“IT'S fast becoming one of the best shows in the country.”

That’s the verdict from one pilot who will lead his display team at this year’s Bournemouth Air Festival.

Jez Hopkinson, who owns the Yakovlevs, said the Bournemouth event was already a firm favourite for his team, which is based just 16 miles away by air in Henstridge, Somerset.

He said: “One of the great things about Bournemouth is it’s our local show and it’s great to be able to display in our local area.

“A seaside venue is always very good, it’s great fun and we can get very low. A lot of people are on the clifftops and it looks fantastic.”

The Yakovlevs will always have a special place in Bournemouth Air Festival history.

“It was a display by them in 2007 in front of councillors that impressed them enough to launch the first full-scale event in 2008.

Jez, who said the organisation of the festival was “fantastic”, created the Yakovlevs in 1999 after he bought a Yak 52, a Russian aircraft. The formation is completed by three Yak 50s.

The pilot said he was looking forward to this year’s festival for one particular reason.

“Hopefully, because people are saying it’s going to be a great year for weather, this year we’re hoping to get some good weather days.

“In the past years it’s been good on some days and bad on others,” said Jez.

But, whatever the weather, Jez is sure the festival will be a huge success once more.

He added: “It’s great that over four days you’ve got over one million people, which is unprecedented.

“It’s fast becoming one of the best shows in the country.”