Star of the show

[tomw94]

Vulcan was the star but my favourite was the spanish f-18 its fast past was superb, the navy flypast was also excellent infact the whole show was.

[b1rdman]

Yeah Vulcan (obviously! and F18 very good but the Chinook was brilliant and enjoyed the NZ Boeing, that was great.

[chill51]

Typhoon , Rafale both awesome machines and brilliantly flown

Mike

[pako-2008]

Seeing the two harriers in the air for the flypast was a bit of a highlight after the solo display for 09 was scrubbed. Ive seen it many times this year but the typhoon display also stood out alot. Nice and noisy.
Aaron

[Mictheslik]

All of the F18s, but specially the spanish and that high speed pass with shockwaves....Also really enjoyed the Dutch F16 and RNZAF 757 (lovely in the sun against those grey skies). was an obvious highlight, also enjoyed seeing the harriers come into a hover stop, albeit brief.....brought back memories of the solo displays a few years ago.

All in all a great show...well done RIAT!

.mic

[tomw94]

In the hungarian gripen display did anyone esle see the flame come out the back (no not the afterburner)

[chill51]

In the hungarian gripen display did anyone esle see the flame come out the back (no not the afterburner)

Yeah i saw that and to me i think it was some unburnt fuel that was being vented out while the grippen was inverted and then ignited when the burner was selected.

Mike

[Mictheslik]

Yeah....I saw that...so how about a dump and burn next year

.mic

[chill51]

Yeah....I saw that...so how about a dump and burn next year

.mic

Yeah who needs an aussie F111 when we have the gripen.

Mike

[b1rdman]

Yeah....I saw that...so how about a dump and burn next year

.mic

You're off topic, put that in the toilet thread

[boff180]

Rafale for me.

Completely unimpressed with the Dutch demo this year; not as aggressive as past displays and he spent most of the time east of crowd centre!

Andy

[paulb1973]

My first time seeing a Vulcan at Fairford (my first show was in 1993) the take-off being one of those Tattoo moments where everyone stands up. And the glow of the Typhoon's afterburners against that dark sky! (which didn't drop any rain).

[danspuggti]

My first time seeing a Vulcan at Fairford (my first show was in 1993) the take-off being one of those Tattoo moments where everyone stands up. And the glow of the Typhoon's afterburners against that dark sky! (which didn't drop any rain).

Did she howl?

[tomw94]

She howled

[paulb1973]

My first time seeing a Vulcan at Fairford (my first show was in 1993) the take-off being one of those Tattoo moments where everyone stands up. And the glow of the Typhoon's afterburners against that dark sky! (which didn't drop any rain).

Did she howl?

There were several instances of the howling! - the take-off and one left-to-right pass when the crew really applied the power.

[Batman3]

I didn't really go much on the spanish F-18 it was far too slow - you would have thought it would have been balanced out abit more but there was no denying how good those shock waves looked. The Swiss F-18 was the best out of those 3 and Sheiks display in the orange F-16 was definetly one of the highlights....roll on tomorow now. I was one of the first in and still struggled finding a place on the crowdline!

[PaulB]

Rafale for me.
Really thrown around with burners on the whole time.

Vulcan did a nice howl at the end with a full power climb/turn. Take off was awesome.
There were some old guys near me (right at the eastern point) who were in tears.

[exocet_uk]

Rafale for me too. Seemed to be going hell-for-leather with burners plugged in, but remained incredibly agile.

[Johnhbailey]

Rafale for panache, Vulcan for sound and sheer nostalgia - oh, and Reds for old-fashioned British reliability.

[craigus78]

Got to be the Swiss F18 for me

He really did chuck that aircraft around in the sky. Loved the high speed pass at the end

[LN Strike Eagle]

757.

[jetwash]

I liked the Spanish and Swiss F-18! What about that Vrrrrroooomm at the end of the almost supersonic pass! PC-7 team, RJF and BJT were also highlights...

[Blackbird]

I thought the Rafale was outstanding along with the Swiss Hornet. Obviously enjoyed the Vulcan and the 757 looked good against the steel grey sky. Edit - in my tiredness forgot the RN 100 flypast which was impressive.

I thought it was RIAT at (pretty close to) its best.

Andy

[sideeffectwhu]

My first Riat and the best Ive have seen. Its the first time i have seen the grippen and rafale so they were my favs but I also enjoyed the dutch f16. I need this questioned answered please and it is not knocking any jet. but what is the max speed they can do with a fast fly by. It seemed everytime there was going to be one they just flew up.
Also how did you tell the difference between the grippen, rafale and typhoon.
All ready looking forward to next year. Hope I see you at lowestoft in the week

[mattlaker]

Firstly, I have to say this is one of the best RIATs for a long time. The display was packed with good stuff, yet also allowing space for toilet breaks (TBM 700). I found the whole thing to be pretty seamless, obviously allowing for changes due to various reasons, yet the organizers did a fantastic job on it. Highlights for me were as follows

Spanish Hornet- absolute belter- that 0.9 pass was a real beauty, and i've never heard a 'VROOOOOM!!! like that before! If only i had been closer to the east end of the airfield, I may've got some cracking shock-cone images... All three F-18s were brilliant, but the Spanish one edged it for me.

Rafale- a stunning display- really hooning it about, and such a cracking aircraft to boot... close run thing for me, between the two as best solo display...

C-27 spartan- fantastic to see that one thrown about a bit!

Swedish Gripen was good- thought the display was a bit tighter than the Hungarian one, to be honest. Nice to see them both tho!

Nimrod and Tristar- not regulars really, so fantastic to see them- I miss them!

The Black Seahawks- really a great display by them- still as exciting as the first time i saw it!

Harriers- great to see some there!!!

Disappointments? Well, there are always a couple- firstly, the Sea Vixen... ONE pass, and as part of a Balbo?! That isn't right- at least we saw the harriers blast past, then hover...

Dutch F-16... lovely looking aircraft, but i miss the flares, and the display didn't seem as tight.

Vulcan- brought back so many childhood memories, although i thought the display was really goo, it did seem a bit sedate? I loved it tho!
however, the RAF were on top form today- the Chinook did it's bit brilliantly, the Hawk was displayed in a brilliant manner, the King Air looked great and was handled expertly, the Nimrod and Tristar- great to have a pass or 2, lovin' the new tiffie display for this year, great to see the harriers from the pool, the BBMF did what they do best, and the Reds?

They did the UK proud. Nuff said.

All in all, RIAT 2009 was one of the good ones. Something in there for everyone, and following my experiences at Biggin Hill, Fairford restored my faith in Airshows again!