He was pushed off the scaffolding by the event’s chairman, Barry Jones, after he decided the mayor’s speech ‘had gone on far too long’. Mr Brooks, who was raising money for Samaritans, said it was a fantastic day and the support from the crowd was tremendous. He first took part in 1978 and admitted, 33 years later, that he ‘definitely did it better this time’.
Bad weather saw the first date in July having to be scrapped but Birdman got a second chance to soar and the weather for the second attempt on October 1, 2011, was superb, the sun was out and the sea was calm. It all went without a hitch, with about 4,500 people going along to watch, which delighted organisers as they were not able to have much publicity.
The event featured only entrants from the flamboyant Kingfisher class, with judges awarding points for costume, pre-flight performance and crowd reaction. Winners were Dave Morris and Craig Etherington as The Full Monty, with the team from the Elizabath II pub second and The Wedding Party third.