Tails of RIAT

by Gary Parsons

Part one: Highs and lows

Too big? Too much? Whatever you think, the Royal International Air Tattoo is the show to top all shows. Over the weekend of 24 and 25 July, a delicious selection of goodies was on display, with many special colour schemes in evidence to celebrate fifty years of the NATO alliance. With a dearth of airshows in the UK this year, Fairford more than made up in terms of quality and quantity.

The highs were many; under cloudless skies most of the weekend, an all-time record of 483 aircraft, representing 45 international air arms, took part in the massive tribute NATO. A crowd of over 190,000 saw two days of aerial routines plus a runway display of NATO aircraft that had a specially painted AWACS E3A as its centre-piece. Also celebrated were 75 years of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the volunteer personnel currently supporting RAF operations in the Balkans, Cyprus, Italy, the Gulf and Turkey.

A poignant moment came with a flypast in memory of the late King Hussein of Jordan, watched on both days by Her Majesty Queen Noor. Her late husband's favourite aircraft, the Dove, was flanked by the Extra 300s of the Royal Jordanian Air Force aerobatic team, the Falcons. King Hussein, an honorary Air Chief Marshal of the RAF and former military pilot, was Royal Patron to the Tattoo from 1983 to 1989, often arriving at the controls of his TriStar with the words "This is King Hussein...".

Dominating the static park were a giant Antonov An124 and Lockheed C5 Galaxy,  the two biggest aircraft in the world. The An124, a much later design than the C5, actually looked rather more agricultural than its American rival, which was designed in the early sixties. Air Foyle, operator of the Antonov, were celebrating ten years of operations with the leviathan, having logged over 15,000 hours since 1989. It has also achieved the heaviest shipment ever moved in one flight; 146 tonnes in 1994.

Star of the weekend was the B2A Spirit 'stealth bomber', direct from Whiteman AFB, Missouri, which displayed on both days, departing for the States on the Sunday evening. The Commander, Colonel Eric Single, said "It was great to see such huge crowds and the excitement generated by our aircraft. We feel honoured to be here, and I hope we'll be back for a future Tattoo."

Top prize for the 'best kept' aircraft in the Concours d'Elegance was the immaculate F117A from the 49th FW, just edging out its more secretive B2A stablemate. The RAF was winner of the NATO ground competitions, a Nimrod MR2 crew from 120 Squadron triumphing over its NATO partners.

'Top Gun' was Major Gyula Vari of the Hungarian Air Force who won the Superkings Trophy for best overall solo jet demonstration in the Mig 29, also winning the 'As the crow flies' trophy. Other winners were Captain Anders Eriksson in the Swedish Air Force Viggen with the Lockheed Martin Cannestra Trophy for the best flying demonstration by an overseas participant, Squadron Leader Terry Cairns with the Steedman Display Sword for best flying demonstration by a UK participant in the Canberra T4 and Captain Alan Wade, winning the Sir Douglas Bader Trophy for best overall flying display in the Slingsby Firefly.

Overall winners of the NATO 'Pit Stop Challenge' were the team from the 48th FW at RAF Lakenheath. In an eight nation contest, personnel worked on aircraft not deployed at their home base; for individual aircraft, the Royal Netherlands Air Force won on the Jaguar, the Royal Navy on the Tornado and the Belgian Air Force on the F15E. The RAF was not to be out-done and proved the best cross-servicing team on the F16.

Comic moments included the rapid departure of the G222 crew on Sunday after the left hand propeller threw off its rubber de-icing cover, punching a hole in fuselage. A very swift landing saw the crew leg it as fast as possible, while the fire engines did their best to avoid the fleeing pilots. A Mail on Sunday poster was later seen to cover the offending hole! Needless to say, the aircraft was one of the few that failed to leave the following day. One of the French Crusaders decided to shed a tyre, fortunately towards the end of the display, but these were the sum total of incidents during the two showdays.

So many highs, but what of the lows? It gets down to nit-picking, the lack of crowdline is one, as the corporate hospitality tents seemed to have flourished beyond all control; it surely would be possible to set them back about thirty yards, together with the grandstands, to enable the paying punter to get to the fence for those take-off and landing shots. Allied to the Lockheed enclosure was a C130J, which spent all day showing the favoured few around its decks, which meant the generator was running full chat, drowning out the commentary for many nearby. A bit of thought would have put it near the Antonov and Galaxy, to join their gennys in their merry tunes. Another negative point were the 'photo-stands'; at £2 for ten minutes, it was patently obvious no-one was going to use them, as they had not been positioned at all well, especially the one by the stealth aircraft. At most one would have needed two minutes, so why not charge 50p, one-by-one? Lastly, a perennial problem, those blue cones!! I guess we should be grateful that they are not dayglo orange...But, that's all I can think of from four days. As I said, just nit-picking. Don't moan about the entry fee, just check out the cost of the British Grand Prix next year.

RIAT 2000 won't be at Fairford, as the base is due for a long-overdue facelift with the runways, taxiways and aprons all being replaced over the next two years. Wherever it is, be there!

Part two: Stars on parade.