A great show given the tough times; and one which seemed to tick many of the boxes.
Flying wise the Rafale was phenomenal, and the RAF Typhoon was a very close second I thought. Top marks to both the Red Bull guys and Dan Griffith in the Meteor who proved vintage aircraft over Fairford work just as well as modern mil. Great to see the Reds back to full strength at Fairford and forming up for lovely passes with both the A380 and A400. Also, and this may be controversial, I felt the Estonian L39 display was far more visually impressive and interesting than any RAF Hawk display was.
On the static side the Americans were sorely missed; huge gaps which would have normally accomodated B52s, KC135s, MC130s, the like. However there were a number of beautiful additions - of course the Breitling Super Constellation and the Canberra were wonderful to see however for me the highlight had to be the mass lineup of Typhoons, some great photos available there. My thanks to the Dutch, German and French contingents who always provide us with a strong static showing, and this year was no exception. The Tiger Tornado and special Mirage in particular were incredible.
Being up close to the Canberra as it taxied in on Friday evening ranks up there as a real highlight of the show.
The downsides...
- George Bacon's regular interruptions to commentary to remind us about events within the showground... If we were interested we'd be there!
Of note this belief RIAT has that families need a variety of attractions to keep them entertained seems to be balderdash - I saw an absolutely packed crowdline all the way toward each threshold, and a handful of people in 'Liquorice World' and a pet treat stand...
- The changes to FRIAT - with the departure of Marion from the FRIAT team; gone also seems to be the friendly customer service that members have become accustomed to expect. Messages given to the enclosure over the tannoy seemed very instructive and without any real emotion or personality - even a simple 'thank-you' would not have gone amiss. The worst event was the sudden announcement 'Left Luggage is now closed' - with no warning whatsoever. I saw more than one member having to make a quick dash to try and collect their belongings.
As has been discussed the FRIAT enclosure will no longer be open on Thursdays, instead the current plan is for a FRIAT 'area' in the east Park & View. A member of my party pointed out to Marion's replacement that this was all well and good provided the aircraft were operating off 27, but that things would be less good if 09 was in use, obviously due to the wind changing and aircraft therefore arriving a long distance away; whereas previously of course we have had the central enclosure; so this has not been a problem before.
Her reply to this was "What's the wind got to do with it?!"
This lack of even basic air-mindedness from a paid member of RAFCTE, as DanO has alluded to previously, is slightly concerning; especially as this is the person who makes decisions for members.
). But if it has to be there, a couple of interesting facts (no, not engine mark etc.) will do just fine.
