Category Archives: Air Shows

The Tutor is Going

It seems that equipping display teams is becoming rather difficult for some countries. The RAF has taken the Red Arrows down to seven jets because of engine issues and a replacement has not yet been selected. Meanwhile, the RCAF has selected the PC-21 to replace the Tutor with the Snowbirds, but they won’t arrive for a while. In the interim, the Tutor is being retired so there will be a hiatus for the team.

The Tutor was a strange little jet. Looking a bit like a Jet Provost but with a bit more oomph, the RCAF retired it from training duties a long time ago but kept a bunch of them running just to support the Snowbirds. I have seen them display on multiple occasions and really enjoy the display. The team also were a lot of fun when I got to spend time with them in Waukegan for the show there. Moose Milk is dangerous stuff.

This year is the last year that they have displayed with the Tutor and, since we have been gone for a while now, I didn’t get to see their last shows. My last year of seeing them display was filled with difficulties either with aircrew that had been injured or with unserviceability. In one show a jet went down and the pilot ran to a backup jet but couldn’t get that one to work either. I guess that was a sign of just how much the fleet was aging. Oh well, farewell Tutor. I hope I get to see the display with the PC-21 at some point.

Won’t Forget the Blue Angels Crosses Too

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I posted a bunch of crossing shots of the USAF Thunderbirds and, since I was doing that, I thought it might look like favouritism if I didn’t do the same for the Blue Angels. I saw a lot more of the Blue Angels in the second half of my time living in the US because Fleet Week in San Francisco and Seafair in Seattle always had them in attendance. That meant I got to see them after the transition to the Super Bug but the majority of shows I saw over the years were with the legacy Hornets. Anyway, here are a bunch of crossing shots for the Blues to balance things up.

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.

Old Wessex but They Still Look Good

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When I was first seriously into aviation, the Wessex was in widespread use with the UK armed forces. The Navy had a load of them while the RAF used them for both troop transport and for search and rescue. The Sea King was in production and was gradually taking over the roles. As a fan of anything new at the time, I viewed the Wessex as rather old and uninteresting. The new Sea Kings were far more appealing to me at the time.

Two things have changed my perspective. First, I have grown to appreciate a load of stuff over the years that I didn’t care too much about when younger. Also, having had the fun opportunity of spending a load of time with Midwest Helicopters and their S-58Ts when living in Chicago, it reignited my interest in the type. I think Historic Helicopters have an operating Wessex, but I haven’t seen that myself. However, Cosford had a couple of examples on display – one in SAR yellow and one in camo. They looked immaculate and it was great to see them on the ramp looking just as if they could be ready to head out on a mission as soon as the show wrapped.

Thunderbirds Crossing Shots

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As is often the case, I was looking for something when I came across something totally different and that took me down a rabbit hole. In this case, I found myself looking through some old shots of the USAF Thunderbirds. Particularly when living in the Midwest, I used to see them display pretty frequently. You get a bit blasé about it after a while. Anyway, I was skimming through shots to see whether I had any crossing shots that I liked. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few of them that came out pretty well. Modern cameras allow rapid frame rates which help with crossing shots but apparently, I could still get it right occasionally when the tech wasn’t quite so advanced. The weather and lighting might vary a bit but here are some of the ones I liked most.

Generations of Provost

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RAF Cosford provided a perfect venue to have a demo from an old RAF Jet Provost T5. As the home of part of the RAF Museum collection, they have the original Jet Provost which is currently stored at Cosford outside the museum building. Looking at this airframe on its stalky undercarriage, you can see that not a lot was changed when adding the jet engine from the original Percival Provost. I saw one of these flying at Old Warden last year.

The later versions of the JP had a more optimised approach. The airframe was tweaked and the undercarriage was shorted considerably. With the need for prop clearance, there was no need for long undercarriage and, I imagine, it was probably really inconvenient for boarding and servicing. The JP3, JP4 and JP5 have their differences but they can clearly be seen to be of the same basic design. Having two of the three on one day was an interesting comparison.

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?

A Pitts with Extra Oomph

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When I was a kid, the Pitts Special was the pinnacle of aerobatic aircraft. Then, the arrival of a bunch of high-powered monoplanes like the Zlin Z50L showed up follow by Extras, and the Pitts became more the preserve of individuals getting into aerobatics. It can still make a good display platform, though, and plenty of souped-up versions are on the air show circuit. The Cosford show included one flown by Rich Goodwin that has been modified with a pair of turbine engines mounted on each side of the fuselage.

This makes for a lot of noise and plenty of extra power. The piston engine still does the majority of the work but, when going vertical, the jets are fired up and give a major boost in performance. That can include hovering in place if required. From some angles, the plane is hard to notice as being any different to any other Pitts. However, from the right angles, the engines are conspicuous. A pretty cool display act. I assume top speed is constrained by the original airframe limitations so not much point in using the jets unless pointing upwards.

Hats Off to the Chinook Demo Team

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The final display of the Cosford air show was the Chinook demo. I have always enjoyed a Chinook display because it is a very agile helicopter despite its size and it can be thrown around which impresses. There is also the wheelie that it can do which has a unique feel to it. However, I wasn’t prepared for just how much I enjoyed the display.

There were a number of elements that made it so good. First, it was at the end of the show, and the light had come around to be more favourable for photos. This could have been even better because a bit of cloud cover rolled in. A little while after the display was over, this cleared and the warm light was so nice. It would have been great to have that on the helicopter during the display. Let’s not focus on the negative though, when there is so much positive.

They started the display carrying in a couple of underslung loads. Showing off the lifting performance of the helicopter is a great way of showing what this capability is all about. They had a howitzer and a truck on lifting lines using two of the three pickup points that the Chinook has. A bit of manoeuvring with that before dropping it off on the airfield. The gun crew then came out and set the gun up. They proceeded to fire off a few blank rounds.

Then it was back to throwing the helicopter around for a bit. A helicopter display always has an advantage in that it can keep things in front of the crowd, and some tight turns certainly achieved that.

However, I haven’t yet highlighted what really made the display great. The commentary was top notch. You might think that a military display narrator is going to run through a staid list of talking points but that was not the case here. Sure, they did highlight the capabilities of the helicopter and the helicopter force as a while but there was so much ridiculousness thrown in to keep you amused throughout.

Whether it was pointing out that one of the crew had both of his friends in attendance or describing the vertical climb and pointing out it has no operational benefit but it does look really cool, the lines kept coming. They were delivered in such a normal way, though, that you needed to pay attention to spot when the serious bits had been superseded by the more flippant lines. Top stuff and hats off to the team. Great flying, great performance and excellent writing!

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.