There were lots of things I was hoping to see at RIAT but I did get a few that were very pleasant surprises. Various air forces had business jets showing up and departing throughout the show as dignitaries (or urgent spares) needed to be moved. The Swiss brought in several jets while I was there but one of them looked a little different. My first encounter with a PC-24. To say I was surprised and pleased would be to understate my response!
We recently had the 40th anniversary of the Fastnet race that ended up with a significant loss of life and boats. Weather forecasting technology and the methods of communicating were very different forty years ago and some of the boats were ill-suited to open water racing of that nature. Growing up in Cowes, the Fastnet race was always a big deal. It was every other year as part of the Admiral’s Cup. Some of my school friends got to crew on it. I watched the start of one of the races when we still lived in the UK and I scanned in some of the shots I got that day. The start was always frantic. Boats are jockeying for position, often very close to shore. Lots of shouting goes on. With a good wind, big sailing boats look so cool to me.
The F-35 has been around for quite a while by now so I have shot them on plenty of occasions (although an F-35C is still on the wish list). My UK trip was one where I was hoping to get an RAF F-35B. It was scheduled to make an appearance at RIAT but the information did not make it sound like a display. On the first day of the show, the weather was shocking. Low cloud and rain got in the way of a lot of things displaying. Late in the day the F-35B was due in. Our initial forecast for arrival was extended as the cloud base meant an instrument approach was needed. It finally appeared and flew through the display line once. Then it powered away and a while later we were informed it had gone home.I was shooting video of that which is at the bottom of this page.
The next day had better weather so I was hoping for a little more. It did show up and we did get more than one pass. However, even then, it was a rather lackluster performance. I guess they have not worked up any form of display – not even a hovering portion – so we got some passes and a couple of configurations and that was it. I don’t think I was alone in feeling a little underwhelmed by what they put on. I guess in coming years, a more worked up display will be seen but I will have to wait a while for that.
Regular readers know I like the hovercraft. I didn’t make a specific visit to Ryde on our last trip to see them but I did get to see them on our two ferry crossings and we also stopped at Southsea where I got to see a couple of arrivals and departures. The new hovercraft have not had a trouble free introduction but I suspect they have had a few fixes embodied. The memory of introduction problems will probably last far longer than the actual problems but I don’t know for sure whether they are doing fine now or not. All I know is that the service was running while we were there.
I was rather pleased that one of the crossings ended up getting very close to the ferry as we headed in to Portsmouth. It provided a far more interesting angle on the hovercraft than I would normally get. Combine that with some shots from the beach at Southsea and I was happy with having got some shots of the new craft which I hadn’t really seen before. During the departure, I was conscious of the potential for spray sideways as they lifted off. What I hadn’t considered properly – pretty annoying given how I know to deal with jetwash when on a ramp – is that the departing craft got quite far offshore before you got blasted with their propwash. That was mixed with seawater – an ideal combination for electronic equipment! No permanent damage though.
RIAT is known for special formations and British Airways has been part of them in the past. Concorde with the Red Arrows and an A380 with the Red Arrows spring to mind. For 2019 and BA’s 100th anniversary, they wanted to do something special. The focal point was to be the BOAC liveried 747-400. I shot this jet at SeaTac and covered it in this post. To see it in formation with the Red Arrows sounded pretty good. They put together two passes.
The first was from the right and involved a gentle turn in the direction of the crowd to give a slightly topside view of things. This was nice but the distance involved did mean there was a bit of heat haze to combat. The second pass in the other direction was a more straight pass along the display axis. The sun was popping in and out during this time so the colors popped sometimes and not others. It made for some tricky shooting but it still looked pretty good and it was nice to just watch when not shooting.
The journey to Portsmouth on the ferry is one I have made more times than I can recall and one of the landmarks that is embedded in my mind is the Naval Memorial on the front at Southsea. This obelisk is a clear sign of either arriving or leaving but it is something that I have never actually looked at in any detail. After we departed the Island on our last trip, we stopped off on the seafront at Southsea and walked along to the monument to check it out.
The obelisk is all I had in mind previously, but the memorial is so much more. The original monument was created after the First World War for all the seaman that lost their lives. There are many panels around the column with names and ranks of seamen. Just looking at the different roles of sailors in that era of ships is interesting and to think of them all lost is sobering.
The memorial was expanded after the Second World War. The walls surrounding the tower and the columned end sections were added along with sculptures of sailors. The detail of them is impressive considering how long they have been exposed to the sea air and the Woolly sweaters, boots, beards and hats have a very authentic feel to them. I find it hard to believe I have passed by this memorial all my life and only now did I stop to look and appreciate it.
I do love the Tornado. It was coming in to service just when I was getting into aviation and I ended up working on handling clearances for them when I was a junior aerodynamicist. Their retirement by the RAF was a sad thing for me but I was consoled by the fact they remain in service with the other operators. I was looking forward to seeing some at RIAT. I did get to see some flying at a distance on arrivals day and they taxied up our way. Nothing too close in the air though.
I did get a chance to see them on static display which is fine but not as fun as seeing them flying. A lot of my hopes, therefore, were focused on departures day. The German jets were scheduled out at various times during the morning. However, they weren’t hitting their designated times and I was getting close to needing to leave. Eventually I realized my time had run out. I walked back behind the FRIAT stands and popped to the facilities prior to making the drive away. While in there, I heard a very familiar roar. Sure enough, as soon as I was out of sight, a Luftwaffe Tornado made its departure. The Tornado doesn’t climb fast so it was nice and low as it passed the stand – apparently. Bum!
Based on a Global Express business jet, the RAF’s Sentinel battlefield surveillance jet has plenty of lumps and bumps to distinguish it but the paint scheme is a different story. It is painted plain gray and, aside from one example I saw at Red Flag, it doesn’t have any interesting squadron markings. The Friday of RIAT was a very wet a dreary day but this had the effect of making the Sentinel look rather glossy. I have never seen them look too interesting before (aside from Red Flag) but this looked okay. I did shoot it departing too on an overcast day and it didn’t look too bad then so maybe this one was fresh out of the paint shop?
A spot of Sunday lunch with the family meant a trip out to Beaulieu. Located in the New Forest, it is well known as the home of the National Motor Museum. However, that was not our destination. Instead it was the Montagu Arms for some food and then a stroll around the village. It seems the place is also a destination for people with old cars as a few rumbled through the place while we were there including what I think is an MG-A that I did happen to get a shot of.
The swans that were swimming nearby seemed pretty interested in us when they thought there was food involved but rapidly realized we were of no use to them and went back to what they were doing – also eating it seemed. We did notice a house across from the pub with conspicuously red doors. It attracted a lot of people who were having their picture taken outside so I wonder whether this is a location that is popular on Instagram?
I am a big fan of a certain Piaggio aircraft this this post is not about the Avanti. This is an older generation of Piaggio aircraft and a piston powered one at that. However, it still goes with the theme of interesting configurations and it is a pusher. The P.166 is an interesting looking plane and this one appeared at RIAT. Apparently, it is a regular for the show but a first for me.
I didn’t see it arrive so my first look was in the static display. It was parked up at the end of the field but this was the end where I was parking so I got to see it each time I arrived. It was fenced off on the Friday but was easier to see after that. I was hoping to get a good look at it on departures day but it only backtracked a short way and then took off away from the FRIAT stand. That was a touch disappointing but there were a lot of planes to get out that day, so I guess there was no point making it use all of one of the UK’s longest runways!
