A SCALED-back day three of the Bournemouth Air Festival finally started as evening approached.

Strong winds, with gale force gusts, put paid to the afternoon's flying, but organisers did manage to pull together a late, late show to delight those still gathered along the seafront and cliff tops.

And to be fair, sizeable crowds remained throughout the day, making the most of the event's other attractions such as the Royal Navy and British Army villages.

Then, at 5pm, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines beach assault finally got underway.

Two Hawk naval jets, and the helicopters of the Black Cats display team took part, alongside the Merlin helicopter.

A big cheer went up from the crowds as the Red Arrows arrived, in their usual tight formation, at 6pm.

Stunts such as Apollo - in honour of British astronaut Tim Peake - were performed over Bournemouth Bay.

Spectator Andrew Sachs said: "It's great they were able to put a show on. We've been waiting all day. Shame about the wind but well done to the guys from getting up there."

Onlookers particularly appreciated the opposition barrel rolls, when two of the Hawk jets appear to almost collide.

Then, to finish, the Reds completed a poignant fly past in memory of their former colleague, Jon Egging, who died in Bournemouth five years ago.

Other evening displays included the Swiss Air Puma helicopter, The Blades and the BAC Strikemaster.

The determined crowds were thanked for 'sticking it out' during the bad weather to watch the impressive shows even though their view was severely impacted.

There were some impressive loops from Gerald Cooper in the Xtreme Air XA41 and his specially designed plane seemed to hover upside down midair before tumbling towards the sea.

Next up was the B-25 bomber which celebrated its 76th anniversary yesterday.

The Sally B did a brief flypast shortly after before the organisers called off the remaining three acts.