Actor in town

Joe, who is currently appearing in the West End with his brothers Stephen and Mark, in Tom, Dick and Harry, met helicopter pilot Dennis Kenyon, who will be last ever public appearances at the show, which takes place on both Saturday and Sunday.

The 1993 winner of the World Helicopter Aerobatic Championship is retiring after the air show and Mr Kenyon will be marking the event by dropping a large number of tennis balls from 1,000 feet in the air, aiming for a dustbin target on the airport runway.

The owner of the tennis ball which lands nearest to, or even in, the dustbin will win a helicopter flight with Mr Kenyon as the show closes.

Tennis balls can be bought in advance from the terminal building or at the show itself, and the money raised will be divided between the Royal Air Forces Association and the Dennis Kenyon Junior Helicopter Scholarship Fund.

The fund has named after Mr Kenyon's son, who died in a helicopter crash, and was the first of its kind in Britain to train young people as helicopter pilots.

Mr McGann also spoke to Hannah Nobbs and Zoe Spain, who have benefitted from the scholarship. Zoe, who now works as an air traffic controller, received the scholarship in 2000.

She told the Herald: "I always wanted to work with helicopters and it was one of the reasons who I applied for the scholarship."

Hannah is currently learning how to be a helicopter pilot under the scholarship, and added: "I applied because I have always been fascinated by how helicopters work, because you can move in any direction."

The film is expected to be broadcast tomorrow (Friday) in the 6.30pm edition of South Today.

The Shoreham Air Show, which is organised by the Shoreham branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, takes place on Saturday and Sunday.