The popular family-friendly show, in its sixth year, displayed a combination of aviation and automotive exhibitions, providing the public with a rare opportunity to get a view up close and to interact with the vehicles and aircraft present.
‘A lot of other events have been cancelled today, so it’s turned out to be a very busy for us. Far busier than expected,’ said Rob Le Page, the event organiser. ‘And the weather hasn’t turned out to be that bad at all either. We’ve been quite lucky really.’
While he was not expecting attendee numbers to quite reach the 2,000 mark achieved for their first ever Wings and Wheels, which he believed had been inflated due to it being one of the first events held after the 2020 lockdown ended, Mr Le Page did think it possible they might welcome around 1,500 visitors over the course of day.
Visitors this year were first treated upon entry to an array of classic cars parked around the front of the club, including Paul Billington’s 1934 Austin Seven RP box saloon deluxe, which he calls Ivy, and Hirzel Dorey’s 1934 Morris 10/4.
They were parked next to Bob Lee’s 1929 Bentley Le Mans ‘Spitfire’, an impressive car that had previously attended the Aero Club’s show in 2024 and generated much excitement when it was posed on the airport apron next to a 1942 Spitfire plane.
The car is also in for an exciting next few years as it nears its 100 birthday.
‘We’ll be going around Silverstone to celebrate,’ its owner said.
Around the back of the club on the apron, the displays continued as the ‘wings’ aspect of the event took over.
One particularly popular display was that of Jules Mountain’s helicopter which he flew across the Atlantic from Canada to the UK.
‘I was initially told that it wouldn’t be possible. But I said, “No I can do it”, and put together a plan,' he said.
He removed the helicopter's two back seats to fit in a larger bladder tank and extend its flying time, scheduled stops in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and then set off.
It was only upon completing the journey, which was marred with foggy conditions that pushed his unpressurised cabin up to heights of 14,500 feet, where temperatures also plunged to minus 14C, that he finally appreciated just how risky the trip had been.
He credited his bold approach to his lack of expertise in flying helicopters.
‘I’d only started training two years previously,’ he said, ‘and I think it was that lack of experience that gave me the courage to do it.’
Despite being a long-time member of Guernsey’s Aero Club, the 2026 Wings and Wheels marked the first occasion he had to bring his famous helicopter to the show for the public to see.
‘I’m loving it. It’s such a great event and the people have been lovely. Especially the kids.
'It’s been wonderful seeing them all look so happy sitting up in the cabin, and hopefully it inspires some of them to get into flying.’
Despite the success of this year's event, the Wings and Wheels organisation team will not be taking any time off to celebrate.
‘I know it’s a bank holiday, but we’ll already be thinking about planning for next year,’ said Mr Le Page. ‘It’s about sorting the risk assessments, the insurance, all the permissions we’ll need. It’s a long process and really does take about a year to do. So we need to start sowing the seeds now to be ready.’