Tag Archives: military

Czech Helo Stellar Displays

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.

Chinooks Use Our Area for ILS Training

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The RAF’s base at Odiham is not too far from where we live and it has been home to Chinook operations since the type was first introduced to service. I guess that there are training requirements for instrument approaches for the crews because it is not uncommon for them to show up over our house as they head to Southampton Airport. They will fly a few patterns which can include coming over the house.

Usually, they are a bit offset from us if established on the localiser and, while the Chinook is a large airframe, they are a bit distant for a good shot. However, I have managed to get a few when the light was more favourable. At some point I will get a closer encounter with them.

Solent Sky Museum

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I guess I knew that there was an aviation museum in Southampton because I had heard about it in some place or other, but I wasn’t really au fait with what was there. However, I did know that it had a Shorts Sandringham flying boat which was a conversion of the Sunderland. One wet afternoon, I decided to head down and see what it was like. This proved to be a very good choice because it was a far better museum than I had expected.

Located a short distance from the centre of the city, Solent Sky museum is actually three museums in one. Aside from the aviation collection, there is a museum of Hampshire policing and of the fire service. There is also a selection of exhibits of Southampton’s history during the Second World War. Plenty to take a look at if you are able to dedicate some time.

The Sandringham dominates the main hall, and it will get its own post in due course so, other than it appearing in a wide shot, I won’t include specific pictures of it here. It is not the only flying boat. There is also a Saunder Roe SR.A/1 which is a very unusual type to find. Things are pretty crammed in because the building isn’t massive, and the collection is extensive. Tucked under the Sandringham is a Sea Vixen – a favourite of mine). There is a single seat Gnat, a Spitfire – a plane with strong Southampton connections – and a Supermarine S6 which will also get its own post. There are some human powered aircraft and some weird and wonderful types along with some Saro Skeeters!

A unique aircraft is the Wight Quadroplane which was designed and built on the Isle of Wight, and which went through a few modifications before it ended up as a collection piece. Some other originals and replicas add to the collection along with engines. It is a great selection. I have also stuck in a couple of images of the non-aviation stuff. Outside is the fuselage of an old QinetiQ BAC1-11and I understand a TrIslander has been delivered but is not yet on display. I guess I’ll have to go back for that at some point. What a pleasant surprise on a dreary afternoon.

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.

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.

On the Voyager Line

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My Voyager ride with 101 Sqn ended back at Brize Norton and we pulled into the line with some other Voyagers. This included Vespina, the jet that is painted in national markings rather than the usual grey. We hung out on the ramp to get a group photo before heading back to the terminal. I got some shots of the Voyagers on the line while I was there (including the jet that we had just been in).

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.