Category Archives: Air Shows

Images Won’t Let You Experience the Scream!

The Pakistan Air Force IL-78 showed up at RIAT in 2025 supporting the JF-17 Thunders. Unlike the more recent versions of the IL-76 family, this jet has the original engines. They are a low bypass ratio jet and are not in any way quiet. The high-pitched scream that they produce when idling is really hard on the ears. An occasional bit of fingers jammed in ears was necessary when the angle to the plane made the noise particularly painful, but it was worth it. However, nothing about stills images can convey just how loud these four engines were!

Czech Helo Stellar Displays

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The Czech Air Force brought a pair of PZL-Swidnik W-2 Sokols to RIAT this year. One was in camo and the other in a SAR paint scheme. While this was a type that I hadn’t seen display before, I must admit I wasn’t terribly excited by the prospect. Helicopter displays can be pretty good but often lack punch. This team couldn’t have been further from that idea.

I first saw them display when they were doing a rehearsal. They were absolutely throwing the machines around. A ton of really good, coordinated manoeuvres that showed off the capabilities of the helicopter and the crew in equal measure. They would be pirouetting around each other and keeping the action right in front of the crowd. They never seemed to take a breath, and you were never tempted to stop watching.

The highlight of the demo for me was a winching demonstration. This is not an unusual thing for a helicopter display to include. It is something that makes the type special and the search and rescue role will appeal to people that can imagine needing to be helped at some point. In this display, they added something that showed off the skill of the crew coordination. While in the hover, the winchman would pick up someone on the ground. They would winch them up a certain amount and then stabilise the hover. Then the pilot would climb while the winchman would let out line. The person at the end would stay exactly where they were as the helicopter climbed.

Then the pilot would stabilise again before starting a descent. Again, as the helicopter came down, the line would be taken in and the person at the end wouldn’t move. The whole thing was perfectly coordinated. I don’t know whether the winchman could vary the speed or if the pilot was modulating power to make it work and I don’t mind which it is. It was perfectly executed every time they did it across the days of the show. Top work. I hope other crews get to see this performance and it inspires them to try something innovative with their displays.

Types I’ve Never Seen Before

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I am going back to a previous fly in at Concrete for today’s post. I am not a specialist when it comes to the wide variety of light aircraft that are out there. I have friends that know them all really well, but my knowledge is more limited. It is fair to say that, over the 20 years I was in the US, I became a lot more familiar with some of the types. Probably true to say that about warbirds too. However, an event like Concrete would often bring in planes I knew nothing about.

In this selection of shots, there is a Dart and a pair of Highlanders. Probably some others that were a bit of an unknown for me. It still amazes me to go to an event and see an aircraft that I had no idea existed.

Retro Frecce

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For as long as I have been going to air shows, the Italian Air Force’s display team, the Frecce Tricolori, has been flying the MB339. I knew that they used to fly the Fiat G91 but that was before my time. I have seen some G91s at museums marked up as Frecce jets but, whether they were actually previously in the team or just painted up in the same way that there are a ridiculous number of Hornets in Blue Angels colours, I didn’t know.

With the team getting ready to transition to the M346 before too long, it was an interesting comparison to have RIAT include a recently restored G91 display in Frecce colours. I think the original team jets has a pointed nose rather than the camera port on the majority of production aircraft, so I doubt this is an original team aircraft, but it is still something special to see. It did fly in formation with the M346 which is a nice before and after idea although not with the current team which would have been even better. Here is a selection of images of it from across the weekend of RIAT.

WestJet Air Show Takeoff!

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The Abbotsford Air Show takes place on an airfield that is still open for business. At various times during the display, there will be a pause while a scheduled commercial flight arrives or departs. During the show a couple of years ago, WestJet had one of their 737-700s show up, drop off some passengers, pick up a new bunch and head out. I was thinking that a 700 would be off the ground pretty quickly so decided to get some shots of it.

I was mistaken. Instead of blasting up quickly and getting a nice shot with Mt Baker in the background, they appeared to use as much of the runway as they possibly could. Rotation was a long way down the field and the climb out seemed leisurely. Not so dramatic. I have been to a few shows over the years that have movements that break up the display and, while it is nice to get airliner shots from on the field, the amount of time it takes out of the display is probably not worth it.

Was That Engine Supposed to Fit in There?

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The JF-17 Thunder was one of the interesting aircraft to make it to RIAT in 2025. It had been before, but this was the first time I got to see it. The Pakistan Air Force brought a pair of them. I got to have a good look at one of them in the static park and something struck me about it. The engine installation. The plane is fitted with the Klimov RD93 engine which is a derivative of the engine for the MiG-29. The diameter of the nozzle for the engine seems to be very small compared to the rear fuselage size. Afterbody drag is a big deal on fighters and I wonder how bad the penalty is for this configuration. I understand that China is developing an engine to replace the RD93 and maybe the sizing of the fuselage is for this new engine. In the meantime, it does look like someone made do with the engine available.

Festival of Flight Other Stuff

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There have been a few posts of specific aircraft from the Shuttleworth’s Festival of Flight this summer. While those planes were of specific interest to me, there was an extensive display with many other types of planes taking part. Some of these were familiar types but some were new to me. This included variants of the de Havilland Moth family and an old Sopwith. I have run through the many shots I took that day and here is a selection of images of the displays although by no means a comprehensive one!

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.

Sensors Versus Markings on the Gripen E

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I was editing my images from RIAT recently and culling those that were never going to see the light of day. As I was working through the images of the Gripen E demonstrations, I noticed an array of sensors on the fuselage of the aircraft. There were also a bunch of markings that looked quite similar. The sensors seemed to have a specific shaping to the fuselage to align them with where they needed to face whilst the markings just seemed painted on to both the fuselage and the pylons. My assumption was that these were tracking locations for stores separation tests, but they were different to what I have seen used for this previously. I can’t tell for sure whether one is designed to distract you from the other! I have no knowledge of the systems fitted to the Gripen and will have to do some research but once you see this array of sensors, you can’t help but notice them thereafter!

Have I Ever Seen a Boomerang?

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Before you think I am being ridiculous, I am not referring to the profiled wood that will come back to you but the plane. In fact, there is more than one plane called the Boomerang. A Rutan design called the Boomerang was a one off which I once saw on the ground at Oshkosh. However, it was also the name of a piston fighter built in Australia. I had never seen one of those before. If I am being totally honest, I still haven’t since the one I saw was a replica built but it is a pretty impressive replica so we shall let that go.

It was brought to the Festival of Flight that was held by the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden in the summer. Having an old type with an unfamiliar shape when you can get blasé about the various Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mustangs etc. is a nice change. It had a great paint job, and the tighter confines of Old Warden allowed it to be displayed nice and close to the crowd line. Certainly, one of the more notable things I got to shoot this year.