This has been the century when man reached for the skies - and conquered them. So much so that aircraft are a commonplace part of our lives.

Yet powered flight still has the ability to thrill, as the thousands who flocked to the Elvington Air Spectacular this Bank Holiday weekend will testify.

The crowds saw breath-taking aeronautic feats. They left with a renewed respect for flying machines and the magnificent men and women who control them.

It would be hard to imagine a greater display of technological advancement than that put on at Elvington.

The entire evolution of the aeroplane unfolded before the crowd's eyes.

Early aircraft seem impossibly fragile to the modern traveller, used to those giant jumbo jets.

To watch the tiny Sopwith Triplane's dogged triumph over gravity was to witness a minor miracle.

Then the spectator was reminded that young men flew to war in these same machines. It is hard not to be humbled.

By the century's second global conflict, air power had improved considerably. Hurricanes and Spitfires performed with such agility at the show that their airworthiness was not in question.

But when placed in context, at the heart of the Battle of Britain and other life-and-death contests in the Second World War, their vulnerability became all too apparent.

The Elvington crowds were also treated to a glimpse of today's awesome aerial strikeforce. Capable of more than twice the speed of sound, the Tornado is a frightening demonstration of raw power.

The Harrier, too, bristling with weaponry, was an example of the military technology that has been used to such devastating effect in modern conflicts in the Gulf and elsewhere.

Every spectator at the air show ended the day with considerable respect for the pilots. The bravery of the aircrew who flew to war is not in question. And in peacetime, the precision flying of air display teams, most famously the Red Arrows, takes a special kind of courage too.

No wonder the Elvington Air Spectacular is a huge draw. It has attracted astonishing crowds this weekend - as everyone who struggled home in the all-too earthbound traffic was aware.

So it is a great shame that York's last air show of the century threatens to be the last of all time.

We fervently hope it can be saved for future generations of aviation enthusiasts.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.