MORE than 11,400 spectators have looked to the sky at one of Scotland’s best-loved events – Scotland’s National Airshow.

Crowds gathered at East Fortune for a programme of aerial events, with highlights including the Red Arrows, a display by an RAF Typhoon and the aerobatics of the Fireflies Display Team.

In recognition of the RAF’s centenary year, the RAF Pipes and Drums played to mark the start of the flight programme on Saturday and performed the Sunset Ceremony after the last aircraft had flown to close the show.

On the ground, the entertainment included a talk by aviator Tracey Curtis-Taylor about her aerial adventures in her Boeing Stearman biplane.

Tracey also used the occasion to encourage more girls to consider careers in aviation and aerospace.

Steve McLean, general manager at the National Museum of Flight, said: “We organise Scotland’s National Airshow as a way to inspire people about aircraft and flight and to encourage them to visit the museum.

“The event involves a huge amount of organisation and the dedication of many different groups of people, from staff, volunteers, ATC and emergency services to pilots, stall-holders and entertainers.

“We thank them for all of their efforts, and also thank our visitors for coming along to experience one of Scotland’s best days out.”

Visitors enjoyed mountain bike displays, live music, dancing, cheerleading and children’s entertainment and were able to see the National Museum of Flight’s aviation collections, including its newest addition, a Red Arrows Hawk T1A.

Crowd numbers were slightly down on what was expected, with the poor weather highlighted as a potential reason.

Despite that, a spokeswoman for the attraction said they were "very pleased" with the number of visitors.

The weather also impacted on the programme which was planned for Saturday afternoon.

The spokeswoman said: "Weather conditions at airfields located further south of East Fortune meant that unfortunately the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and five other aerial acts were unable to fly on the day.

"These were the Percival Pembroke, a Swordfish biplane, a pair of de Havilland Vampire jets, an Autogyro and a Second World War Bristol Blenheim.

"Visitors were still able to enjoy aerial entertainment from 12 other acts including the spectacular Red Arrows, the dramatic RAF Typhoon, the Fireflies Display Team, a Soviet MiG 15, a special Second World War P51 Mustang and Bell UH-1 Huey helicopter.

"We state clearly that the flight programme is weather dependent and unfortunately these last-minute cancellations were outwith our control."