Farnborough Air Show

John P Mitchell captures many famous and exotic examples of Britain's once vibrant aviation industry at the 1961 Farnborough Show

John P Mitchell's film of the 1961 Farnborough Airshow starts with a view of Britain's ill-fated Blue Streak missile followed by various planes and helicopters flying past the appreciative crowds below. We see Hawker Hunters, a Bristol Beverley and the unusual twin-rotor Bristol Belvedere. A Victor represents the V-Bomber force while two experimental aircraft, the HP115 delta wing and the Shorts SC1, Britain's first vertical take-off jet, are put through their paces.

Film-maker, John Mitchell, was a member of the Brighton & Hove Photographic Club. He made several vibrant film portraits of Brighton and Hove and Sussex in the 1960s, primarily focusing on visitor attractions. Other films show excursions to London and to other locations including the Farnborough Air Show, the Bluebell Railway and the wildlife animal parks at Longleat and Bentley.