First, the bad news...

Much had been made of the fact that RIAT and Farnborough were back-to-back this year, giving an unprecedented opportunity to share the headline acts and achieve a level of co-operation never before seen on the airshow circuit. Did it work? No.

It was quite apparent during RIAT that little mention of the impending week in Hampshire was made - the preceding days had seen a number of key items drop from the list. The MV22 Osprey was lost a while before, a consequence of the fatal accident to one of the Marine Corps machines earlier in the year, Boeing being understandably nervous about the attendant publicity it may receive as a result. But, in the week leading up to Cottesmore, the F/A18E was withdrawn, together with the Saudi Hawk, due to the SBAC's insistence that they were placed in Farnborough's static park before Monday morning - Boeing cancelled due to the fact that RIAT could not guarantee an early departure in time for Farnborough. One cannot imagine that this couldn't have been envisaged before the eleventh hour, and must cast doubt over the SBAC's willingness to co-operate in the spirit originally imagined. Naturally the manufacturers were not going to compromise their Farnborough showcase, so Cottesmore was quietly avoided. Such a fate also befell the flying appearance of Eurofighter, the work-up to Farnborough not permitting a slot for the weekend at RIAT. One can only hope that for 2002 an extra week is put between the two events, which may allow sufficient time for transiting between the two venues.

Also missing were the Patrouille de France, rumoured because the crew accommodation offered by RIAT didn't satisfy the French team's requirements. From an enthusiast's point of view, it was no major loss, but it seems the flimsiest of excuses if true! It certainly didn't deter other French aircraft, such as the Mirage 2000-5 display. Other lesser items failed to make it too, such as the Ukrainian Su24 and Super Etendard, but with the number of aircraft invited, some mechanical casualties are inevitable...better that than what happened to the South African Shackleton a few years ago, which crashed (without serious injury to the crew) on its way to Fairford!

But now to the good things to be found in amongst the cones...

Keep the Backfires burning

Undoubted star of the show, judging by the long line of enthusiasts queuing to get a peek in the cockpit, was the Tu22M-3 of the Ukrainian Air Force. Arriving on Wednesday, it dominated the eastern end of the static park, occupying a slot where years ago Vulcans had stood on Cold War alert...Successfully leaving on Monday, unlike the example a couple of years ago, the fiercesome blue-burning afterburners literally burnt their way through the layer of cloud as it speared skywards. How we wait for an example in the flying display!

Mediterranean delights

It's not often that both the Turks & Greeks attend the same show, but to park their Phantoms side by side may have been asking for an International Incident! One can only guess that their billets were not quite so close...

Highlights included no less than four F104ASAs from the Italian Air Force, a very colourful AMX (more later) and a rare sighting of a Piaggio PD808, something not seen in the UK for a while since the disbandment of 360 Squadron at Wyton. The Israelis sent a couple of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to give us a taste of RIAT 2050, while the French provided an item second only to the mighty Tu22, a Mirage IVP from ERS 01.091. A shame not to see it in the flying display, but maybe one year before this magnificent delta is put out to grass?

Meet the Clangers...but where's the Soup Dragon?

A nice line-up of Open Skies aircraft occupied the middle of the static line, with no less than three An30 'Clanks' (affectionately referred to as 'Clangers') mixing it with the UK Andover and US OC135B. One from Bulgaria, one from Russia and the other from the Ukraine provided an unparalleled Eastern Bloc flavour. Again, quite ironic that thirty years ago Cottesmore would have been one of their primary interests!

International Exports

Furthest travelled was the Boeing KC137 from Brazil, while most European Air Arms were represented in one form or another. America provided the usual glut of C130s and KC135s, the numbers hardly down from Fairford although ramp space was supposedly at a premium.

Alongside the C17 was the first production example of the Lockheed Martin/Alenia C27, a G222 derivation with Dowty six-bladed propellers. Equipped with Rolls-Royce AE2100 engines, it has a ferry range of 3,000 nautical miles, 1,000 more than its closest competitor. It can carry 50% more weight than the G222 and offers an increased level of performance in line with that of the C130J over the C130H. Although registered in Italy, it was evident that Lockheed was the key promoter, with a succession of suits being shown around the all-glass cockpit. B1B 60097 from the 28th BW was the only US bomber to be found, the taxiways of Cottesmore being unsuitable to cater for the B52 and its outriggers.

Canadian Hornets were ten-a-penny, with the arrival of a detachment of 416, 436 and 441 Squadrons to participate in the 'missing man' formations. Three were placed in the static park, displaying a fine array of mission marks, while four flew on each day of the show. They succeeded on Saturday where the RAF refused to venture (see below).

Mentioned in dispatches

Notable absentees from the RAF included a Puma, Wessex, TriStar and VC10, plus no Tornado F3 could be found, quite remarkable for any airshow, let alone RIAT! But let's not berate the fact, as they can be seen elsewhere. It is the foreign contingent that makes RIAT what it is, and where else could you find a Finnish Hornet, Austrian Saab 105E, German and Polish Mig-29s, Portuguese F16s, South African C130, US Navy E6, not to mention those others discussed before.

Not a single Royal Navy helicopter, nor there were any from the German, French or Danish armies! But, despite such absences, there were many treasures to be found in the rotary parks, most notably a Spanish CH47D and Cougar, Luftwaffe Cougar, Swiss Super Puma, Dutch AH64A and rather more intriguingly, a Bo105 with a large Grasshopper painted on the side - does this mean a return by the infamous display team?

Oh, and by the way, congratulations to the checklist team - as usual an excellent publication. As always, unsung heroes of the night before!

Flying amongst the clag

Absent in the flying display over the weekend were some of the key items, most notably the B1 and B52, due to the weather previously described. Staging from Mildenhall, the low cloud was outside the safe operating limit for the two bombers, so sat in Suffolk they remained. Saturday was particularly affected by the clag, with few acts venturing to the grey skies - the White Albatros were able to display a six ship when others, such as the Eagle, Dutch F16 and Viggen, were unable or unwilling to get airborne. Different air forces operate to different minami regarding cloud cover and visibility, not something RIAT has authority over. To illustrate the point, the Viggen pilot was heard to be asked if he would be willing to take off and perform a few flypasts in place of his full display. His reply was something along the lines of "I have no routine for this type of request". Also, a similar thing happened to the RAF Tornado F3s in the Saturday 'Missing man' flypasts - all four aircraft did get airborne from Coningsby but shortly before commencing the run-in the lead Tornado pilot ordered numbers 2, 3 & 4 to split and return to Coningsby, as they were operating to pre-determined limits from which they could not, and should not, deviate. However, the Canadians were quite happy to perform, sending number 3 skywards and later conducting a radar join-up.

Although the Viggen couldn't accommodate a change in routine, he did manage to squeeze a flat display in on Sunday. Rather more flexible was his Scandinavian counterpart in the Finnish F18, who although not able to perform his rehearsed routine was more than happy to do a few touch-and-goes, using full reheat and climbing away as vertical as he could get it. Top marks, it's just a shame some of the other foreign pilots couldn't have been quite so tied by regulations. A Belgian Magister was potentially the star performer of the two days, a dazzling routine of turns and low passes putting many another jet fighter in their place.

But, an example of how difficult the conditions made the flying was experienced on Saturday when the Mirage F1 formation pair committed a very obvious crowdline infringement. After one more pass they were downwind with undercarriage down and their display ended much earlier than normal. They cancelled their display with ATC immediately after they over-flew the crowdline because they lost sight of both the ground and each other - rumours of a 'red card' from the flying committee abounded, but it is quite certain that it was a decision of the French pilots.

Similarly, later on even the sedate Blenheim seemed to be making a particularly tight turn, and it looked as though he was having trouble avoiding the crowdline. Next thing he was downwind and then landing when he obviously had more to do.

Several displays were entirely to crowd centre, a problem with such a vast crowdline and acts such as the Firefly, Grob and gliders to fill it. Even the Harriers were scarcely seen at each end - maybe an idea would be to put the GR7 and FA2 up together, with one at each end for the hovery bits! The 'Lazy Lunch' section was aptly named, but some brilliant flying by the RAF Gliding & Soaring Association Instructors kept spirits high.

Making a first flying appearance was a Polish M-28 Bryza, as part of the AirLift 2000 segment of the programme. First seen on static last year, a spirited performance ensued, in contrast to the Ukrainian An-72 Coaler which had been one of the stars of '98, this time seeming very subdued in comparison. Not really a consequence of the weather, as the Friday practice under cloudless skies had seemed tame without the near barrel-rolls of previous displays.

As each display item finished, a replay of the highlights was flashed across the many enormous 'star screens' dotted around the airfield, a neat touch that brought home just how hard the pilots were working and the enormous physical forces in play. Some criticised the fact that they couldn't see the screens, but we think they add a new dimension to the airshow experience, and should be encouraged more often!

Red Arrows attract the birds

On Saturday, midway between Cranwell and Cottesmore, Red Four (Chris Carder) struck a bird. In accordance with standard procedures, Chris departed from the formation, found that his aircraft still appeared to be flying normally, and returned to Cranwell. The remaining aircraft flew an eight-ship flat display. Similarly on Sunday, the display was interrupted after just three minutes when Red Two struck a bird - Red One saw a large flock of birds looming but was unable to pull up in time to miss them. Red Two, Jas Hawker, felt a large impact down near his right foot, and fearing that some debris might have gone down his engine, Jas pulled up out of the formation and made a text book fixed-throttle approach onto runway 05. Andy Offer re-started the flat display with Red Four moving into Red Two's slot for several of the manoeuvres. Before the displays, a flypast with one of the BBMF's two airworthy Hurricanes was flown as a tribute to the men and machines that prevailed sixty years ago in the Battle of Britain.

And the winners are...

As usual, awards were given to the best displays of the weekend, although this year not everyone got the chance to compete...taking the honours were Major Ken Burch and the C17 for the Lockheed Martin Cannestra Trophy, Hungarian Air Force Captain Peter Kovacs and his Mig-29 for the 'As the Crow Flies' trophy, following in the footsteps of Major Gyula Vari in the last two years, best UK display Flight Lieutenant Tony Parkinson and Flight Lieutenant Dave Hake and the Tornado F3, receiving the Steedman Display Sword, and Captain Anders Eriksson flying the Saab Viggen for the best Solo Jet award.

Part Three: Themes