Tag Archives: Leonardo

The Better Way to Get to Padstow

We had a holiday in Cornwall which included a few days in Padstow. I was in our room when I heard a helicopter. I figured it wasn’t going to be too visible so, rather than grab the camera, I just walked to the window to look out. As it happened, an A109 was descending across the harbour to land just out of sight to my right. The light was rather lovely on the airframe as it passed in front of me. I was rather annoyed that I hadn’t grabbed the camera.

However, I figured that it was likely either dropping someone off or picking someone up so was unlikely to be staying on the ground. Would it come back out the way it had come, or would it depart in a direction I couldn’t see? Only one way to find out. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long. They were retracing their route back out over the water so came nicely in range. Sadly, the light had faded a touch, but it was still pretty good. I had driven for a number of hours to get to Padstow. This looks like a far more convenient way to make the trip.

Naval Wildcat Being Thrown Around

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I shared some images of the Royal Navy’s Wildcat in formation with the Swordfish. The Wildcat also did some solo demonstration manoeuvres and, while the lighting was still a bit difficult, I quite liked some of the angles it was possible to get on the airframe. While the Wildcat is quite an evolution of the original Lynx, it is nice to see that it still has the agility that the Lynx was renowned for.

Photographing a helicopter, I am looking for a more dynamic angle on the airframe. Their ability to keep the speed low and have things close to the crowd line means you can get head on shots, underside shots and topside shots as they throw the helicopter around. The topside is the one I want the most. Things went pretty well and I am overall quite happy with the results. Oh, to have something like this on a summer evening with the light behind me.

Blue Eagles Return

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One of the teams taking part at the show at Cosford was the Blue Eagles. The Army Air Corps used to have a team called the Blue Eagles and I saw them on a number of occasions but, apparently, the name went away for a while. It has returned and the routine is a combination of a pair of Apaches and a single Wildcat. This was my first time seeing an Army Wildcat display and that might not happen much more since the recent defence review announced the=at they would be phased out.

The coordinated manoeuvres of the two Apaches combined with the Wildcat doing its own thing. It kept something in front of the crowd at all times. The Apache is such an impressive machine with a menacing air about it. Meanwhile, the Wildcat has inherited the agility of the Lynx and so was thrown around with some vigour. I was happy to watch them perform and liked the synchronisation that they put into the planning. It is a good demo of the Army’s aviation capabilities.

Didn’t Realise How Close This A109 Is to Being Gone

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This Belgian A109 was on the static display at Cosford’s show this year. I actually used it as a reference point when meeting up with a friend. There is something about the shade of green that they use that really makes it look cool. What I didn’t realise at the time is that its days are numbered. The Belgian Air Force has just taken delivery of its first H145M with a batch of these due to replace the A109s. I wonder if I will see one again or not?

Who is Holding Who Up?

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The Royal Navy contribution to the RAF Cosford air show was a great combination. They brought a Leonardo Wildcat in partnership with a Fairey Swordfish. This is right up there with the odd combination that I have seen at air shows over the years. A rotary airframe and a fixed wing has happened before but often the fixed wing is really struggling to go slowly enough for the helicopter. In this case, the helicopter has the speed advantage on the Swordfish. It is not a speed demon.

They did a pairs takeoff which was really interesting and then commenced their display with a flypast in tribute to the lost crew from the Merlin crash that had occurred not long before the show. They then carried out a sequence of passes before splitting for individual performances. The Stringbag is a beast of an aircraft, even if it isn’t fast. I got some other shots of it that will probably show up at some point.

Qinetiq’s Attendees

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Some of my previous RIAT visits have included a selection of aircraft from the Qinetiq fleet. In 2025 I only saw a pair of aircraft from them. One was a King Air while the other was an AW139. The King Air didn’t look too special other than the raspberry ripple paint job. The AW139, on the other hand, is a helicopter that I think looks really good at any time. The livery suits it well and the crew made a pretty sporty arrival. It was nice to see both of them. Maybe some more airframes would be good next time.

The Wildcat’s Pilot Must Have Had Their Mum Nearby

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While the Merlins departed for base after the arrival of HMS Prince of Wales, the Wildcat wasn’t going anywhere. I suspect that they had a film unit on board that was recording the arrival of the carrier strike group, so they were getting aerial shots from different angles. A number of times they flew out of the harbour and then turned to run back in. It is possible that this was necessary for a shot that they were trying to get but my suspicion is that the parents of the pilot were in the crowd and a few flybys were for their benefit instead. Who knows???

Flyby of RN Helos for the Returning Carrier

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The arrival of the carrier strike group was the big theme of the day, but the Fleet Air Arm was going to support the process with a flyby. A pair of Merlins and a Wildcat were assigned to the role, and they were initially noted off Bournemouth as they joined up before heading to Portsmouth. As they came over Portchester, we could see them from where we were, and they flew up the harbour and over our location to head out and meet the carrier.

We would see them a bit from a distance as the manoeuvred around the ship and this allowed us to have a reasonable idea of where everything was at any point. Then, as the ship entered the harbour, the formation flew over the top to celebrate the return to home port. The Merlins then peeled off while the Wildcat hung around.

Throwing a Transport Around the Sky

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I have seen plenty of footage of C-27J displays where the crews make use of the plentiful power of the type to undertake aerobatics. However, I had never seen it in person. The only C-27Js I had seen display were from the US Coast Guard and they were much more benign in their performance. RIAT brought an example from the Italian Air Force’s test centre and the crew that displayed it knew exactly how much performance they could wring from it.

They displayed a few times during the show, and each performance was worth stopping to watch. The ability to loop and roll a decent sized transport was impressive. The conditions during some of the displays were not ideal from a lighting point of view but the humidity in the air did make for some great prop vortices. An inverted plane streaming vapour from the props makes for an interesting image. If you haven’t had the chance to see the display and an opportunity presents itself, do be there.

Portugal’s Merlins Just Look Better

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The AW101 is a great looking helicopter. I saw the original prototypes fly in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s including one that was configured as a civilian passenger type (sadly never to have the demand to make it to production). Since that time, I have liked to get photos of them wherever possible. The Canadian Cormorants look great in their yellow paint, and I finally got shots of them last year. Normally they are not painted in a very exciting way.

However, the Portuguese Merlin came to display at RIAT this year and it was way better looking than the average. It has a camouflage finish which seems to be a rarity these days. The colours of the camo were also quite vibrant, and it made for a striking subject. It certainly helped that the crew were throwing it around quite energetically and performed on more than one occasion, so I got plenty of shots of it.

An air show is an opportunity to see an airframe performing in ways that you wouldn’t normally get but it is also a rather sterile environment. These helicopters are used for search and rescue along the coastline of Portugal, and I imagine it would be really nice to get to photograph them in their “natural habitat” with cliffs and the see behind them. Maybe I might find myself out there one day.