RIAT 2009

The 2009 Royal International Air Tattoo (probably the biggest military airshow in the workd)was held over the weekend of 18th -19th July 2009 at RAF / USAF Fairford in the UK.

Arrivals for the show take place duing the preceeding week starting on Tuesday and may die hard photographers are there from Tuesday to Monday. This year I have been there for 3 days; Saturday at Totterdown Hill Farm, Sunday in the Showground and on Monday for departures from the Eastern Park and View.

Duing the 3 days we have experienced many climatic conditions with Saturday being a nice Sunny Summers Day, this was spent at the campsite but we were able to watch the show while we set up camp for two nights. The Farm is a great site to watch the show from as may aircraft fly very close during their routines, probably closer than they get to the display line in the showground. How nice it was to catch Vulcan XH558 virtually overhead! Then there is always the amazing display of the NZAF B757-200 (NZ7572), flying to a holiday destination on a B757 will never be the same again.

It was nice to see the debut of the French Airforce Rafale at RIAT and to see the Algerian Airforce represented for the first time with a C130H in a nice camo livery. The 3 F-18's gave spirited performances but the display from the Swiss F-18 was cut short due to the adverse weather conditions. The participation of the Saab Grippen was welcome and the show saw both the Swedish and Hungarian Grippens display.

Sunday was the strange day with periods of nice sunshine and then tropical downpours of rain supported by a driving wind. At least 5 of the flying displays on Sunday were cut short due to the adverse conditions and the BBMF failed to display due to the weather. How nice it was though to see the Vulcan take off and to hear the Vulcan Howl again, yes even with the weather Vulcan XH558 did display and it was probably her best of the season, with a very steep wing over after take off to remain within her permitted limits below the cloud base that was at about 1600ft.

Monday was spent in the Eastern Park and View for departures, with great photo opportunities for very close taxi shots as the static display departs the show and the bonus being that it did not rain during the day! Sadly many static aircraft from the far end of the show taxied out via the runway and far taxiway as did the aircraft that had flown during the show, however standing a matter of 30 feet from the Vulcan starting up was an experience that will stay with me for a long time!

Over the next week or so you will see many of my shots from the show, some from Totterdown on Saturday, some from the Show on Sunday including a unique shot with a B52 flying over XH558 (sadly not my best shot from the show, but the only one i have seen like it and hence I have added it to A-P.net), and finally taxi shots from departures on Monday.