Many Heritage and Privately owned aircraft were on display alsoā¦
BAE Strikemasters
PBY Catalina
Aircobra
Gulfstream G5000 on arrival, followed by the RAF Tornadoes
The Static Display stretched for three miles! I spent six days at this Air show, and yet on the Sunday and Monday I kept finding new airplanes I didnāt even know were there. It was nice to see the crews hanging out informally in and around their Aircraft, especially the Brazilians who had great Latino party with people dancing and music playing inside the back of their Herculesā¦
The F-117 was defiantly stealthy, because I seem to have totally missed it in the Staticā¦ I also missed the Indian Hawk and the new Aermacchi M346 ļ I think I have āmanā eyesā¦
Everynow and then these tiny Self Propelled Organic Air Vehicles would swoop in to eat dropped friesā¦
I spent the week surrounded by thousands of Photographers! It was great to see how everybody worked. At the start I was clicking away madly on full continuous focus and burst at every thing that movedā¦ and Paul would click just when the time was rightā¦ Of course I was chewing through three batterys in a day four 4gig cards a day, while he used one battery and 1 4gig card. After seeing his stunning images, I realized what the vibe was and tried to relax a little. Of course sometimes I just couldnāt resist. Every time there was a ācrossā or Flares in the display, the FRIAT stand would erupt in a cacophony of motor drives. I have never seen so many Zoom lenses! Some people were carrying around what looked like Telescopesā¦ 500 and 600mm lenses. But its not the (focal) length its how you use it I hope.
My old school friend trying out my baby (umā¦ I mean cameraā¦)
A famous visitorā¦
Since this was my first RIAT (and my second only āproperā Air show), I am very proud of theseā¦ Though of course I would welcome even demand, your criticism and critique.
If you want to look at all the images from RIAT and a few other airshows go to
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v128/chrisgee/Aviation/
I recommend going straight to the View All button on the bottom right of each page. It actually works out fasterā¦
I will put together a post like this for my visit to MAKS 2007 as well.
I havenāt even started trying to get them into the DB yetā¦ Do you think I have a chance with some of these?
Cheers!
Chris Gee
KC-10 Tanker
Northrop Grumman Predator (notice how the pilots names are still stenciled in placeā¦)
Unfortunately I did not see the Spanish perform due to transport concerns
Team Guinot Wing Walkers using Boeing Stearman biplanesā¦ Crazy just crazyā¦ The girls dance on top of the wing while the Airplanes perform Formation Aerobatics.
The Czech Mi-24D was a highlight for me.
Dutch AH-64D
Dutch C-130 Hercules
Belgian Sea King performs a rescue scenario
The RAF Gnat
GR4 Tornado
2007 was the 60th anniversary of the USAF, and the Americans were there in force this year. No B-2 bomber turned up due to prior commitmentsā¦ The reality behind our āentertainmentā is sobering.
The Thunderbirds, the USAF Demonstration Team was also in attendance, performing a very tight display.
C-5 Galaxy (can you believe they land these things on the ice in Antarctica?)
P-51D Mustang
KittyHawk
F-15E Strike Eagle in formation with the P-51D Mustang
The UK Army & Navy Helicopter displays were very impressive, āDid that Lynx just do a back-flip? No thatās not aerodynamically impossibleā¦Canāt beā¦ Did that Lynx just do another back-flip? What are they putting in that pilots coffee?ā
The Royal Navy Black cats using the Lynx Mk8
Royal Navy Merlin MK1
Royal Army Display Team using Lynx MK9ās and Gazelles
RAF Chinook HC2
RAF Melin HC3
DHFS Griffin HT1
The FRA Team gave an example of their services to the Royal Navy
RAF R1 Sentinel ASTOR.
RAF E-3C Sentry AWACS
RAF GR9 Harrier
The QinetQ DOD Jaguar
One the Saturday and Sunday each day was capped off with the finale supplied by the RAF. The āRole Demoā was a fictitious insertion of troops to the ground in CH-47 Chinook Helicopters with the support of an AWACS and four GR4 Tornadoes. Seeing these Aircraft in the flesh is one thingā¦ Seeing them put to their use is different experience entirely.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was supplied an experience of the RAFās aviation heritage
Lancaster Bomber
Supermarine Spitfire
Hurricane
Of course The RAF had a formidable presence at RIAT, although on what was essentially a reserve American Airbase.
The Typhoon F2 is an impressive machine. Displaying its ability to point in a different direction than it was traveling, and some phenomenal take-offs.
RAF MR4 Nimrod
Italian C-27J Spartan (this baby does loops and barrel roles with easeā¦)
Italian Panavia Tornadoes
The Italian Precision Display Team Frecce Tricolori: Sensational flyersā¦ Whole formations of jets performing close cross’s with each other? Are they mad? It was nice to see them taking some Red Arrows pilots and ground crew up for a spin on the rehearsal days tooā¦
Finnish F/A-18 Hornets
French Mirage 2000,
Spanish CN-295M
Spanish EF-2000 Eurofighter
Danish Challenger
Hungarian SAAB Jas-39C Gripen
Saudi Arabian C-130 Hercules
Irish PC-9ās
Brazilian Embraer EMB-145 ERIEYE AEW&C
Greek A7 Corsairs
Greek C-130 Hercules
The Royal Jordanian Falcons
German IDS and ADS Tornadoās
German F-4 Phantom
German C-160 Transall
NATO B707
Sign In
