RIAT 2019

I’d been watching the weather forecast for about 2 weeks before we were due to go to RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo) 2019 with a mixture of trepidation and annoyance. The weekend before and after were predicted fine and dry. The weekend of the event itself? THUNDERSTORMS! But as the day got closer and the forecasts got more accurate (and less random/changeable to be honest) things started looking up. Not great weather but (mostly) OK. Confidence was high that they’d be flying so – about two days out – I gave it the green light. The group went in two separate cars this time so we made good time to the venue at RAF Fairford. We also got lucky with the parking and made it onto the hardstanding rather than the rather muddy grassed area which was still soft underfoot after Friday’s rain. It was still pretty cloudy when they sent up some props to see what the ‘ceiling’ was like. Things were good – and predicted to get better – so a full flying programme was announced. As usual (after meeting up with friends) the windbreak was pitched – much needed as the airfield was very open and essentially at the top of a hill – seat unfolded, trolley parked we headed off to the nearest coffee place and to check out the static exhibits.

Fairford is HUGE so we quickly got separated between exhibits. I treated myself to an ice crème (as it was starting to get quite warm) and watched the world go by for a while. Once finished I cruised the stalls looking for my usual purchases at such events: T-shirts and books. This year the numbers were reversed and I ended up buying no T-shirts at all and 6 hard backed books at bargain prices including two high on my buy soon list on seaplanes. Still recovering from a bad cold (weirdly in the middle of July) I dragged my haul back to our ‘slot’ and spent the rest of the afternoon watching the display.

This year a whole host of anniversaries hit at the same time: The 50th of Concorde, The 50th of the Harrier in service, The 70th of the foundation of NATO, The 75th of D-Day and the 100th of the first commercial passenger service (to say nothing of The 50th of the Moon Landings). No Concorde flight I’m afraid but we did have 2 Harriers from the Spanish Navy (pictured), various NATO fighters, a Jumbo 747 in the livery of BOAC (one of British Airways’ predecessors), the standard Spitfire/Hurricane fly-by and much else besides including the ever popular Osprey ‘tilt-rotor’, the Apache attack helicopter (in a simulated attack on an enemy radar system) and a lovely flight of an aged Mig-21 which I was entranced with last year as a static display. There were, naturally, lots of acrobatic flying with the Italians always putting on a good show as well as a very nice Red Arrows plus French team co-op display. All in all it was well worth the effort getting there and the decision to go with the weather so changeable – it actually rained for about 90 seconds but I ended up coming home with a bit of a tan. Already looking forward to 2020.