CULDROSE air base’s diamond jubilee air day brought record crowds to the Cornish establishment.

In excess of 25,000 people – a good 5,000 up on normal visitor numbers – squeezed into the air station near Helston for the 60th birthday show.

Poor weather has dogged some recent air days, but not the 2007 spectacular which saw home-grown Culdrose ‘talent’ in the form of Sea Kings and Merlins on show alongside the best of the Fleet Air Arm, foreign military jets, and vintage aircraft.

The record crowd was great for Culdrose but not so great for the local road network, with traffic in some cases backed up to half-way between Helston and Redruth.

Air station personnel handed out bottled water to tourists stuck in the traffic while staff on the gate first cut the admission fee, then waived it entirely as the day drew on.