The 60th anniversary of the United States Air Force was celebrated at an airshow in Britain over the weekend. All kinds of aircraft were featured at the show, from antique B-52s to the agile Thunderbirds aerobatics team. As Mandy Clark reports, organizers wanted to celebrate the close relationship between the U.K. and U.S. military forces.

The Thunderbirds aerobatics display

The star attraction for many was the Thunderbirds aerobatics display.  It was the team's first time to the airshow but for pilot Ed Casey it felt familiar.  “Of course, Great Britain and we are so similar in our values and background, here we feel like we are home," says Casey.

Ed Casey, pilot

People had various reactions.  "I liked the Stealth," says one.

"The Red Arrows were good," says another.

"We liked the display by the Lancer."

A graceful twirl of a Chinook helicopter and a flypast from the Red Arrows had even the aircrew grabbing their cameras.

The pilots were stars for the day, signing autographs and posing with fans. For fighter pilot Captain Jen Fugimoto the event meant a lot.
"It's just a great honour to be here,” said Fugimoto. “Obviously the British are our strongest allies, it's fantastic."

There was no doubt “red, white and blue” was the theme for the day.

But beyond celebrating the anniversary, the event also seemed to inspire a future generations of flyers.