(29th July 1998)
WOW! RIAT'96 was superb, but '97 was unbelievably even better. I could sum it up in one word - Stealth - but that would be a gross simplification. Oh sure, the undoubted star of the weekend was the appearance and unexpected landing of the B-2A Spirit, backed up by the static and flying F-117's. But though the stealth contingent was the cherry, there was an awful lot of cake as well :-)
One roll of film down, and the flying display is starting, so attention turns to the flightline... Highlights of the first half - the F-104, MiG-21, F-4, MiG-23 and Su-30. It's been a while since I last saw a Phantom in the flying half of a show, and the Germans put on quite a show with their F model. The sight of that familiar bulky shape, those very distinctive wings, and of course the sound, is something to savour. Not to be outdone, the Italian Starfighter managed to give an equally smart display, although it's relative lack of maneouverability was clear to see. Interesting to see not only the familiar Su-27, but also the Su-30, even though telling them apart isn't always easy...
With the slight rearrangement of the morning flight programme to fill in the gap left by
Team Aguila not displaying, there was plenty time to grab a bit of lunch before returning
to the display. The Lyneham Hercules put on another smart show of short field operations,
including the attention-getting Khe Sanh approach - I'd love to see that from the flight
deck!. The Magisters of the Irish Silver Swallows showed that you don't need a modern
aircraft with full-time display pilots to put on a precise display of formation flying.
And then it was that time again - the mad Italians and their G222 :-) The display this
year seemed just a bit toned down compared to last year, but still a great example of what
can be done with a cumbersome looking trash hauler (and a nice taster for the C-17
display later on!).
What's next? Only the Frecce Tricolori, that's what. As a fairly patriotic Brit, I still
think the Red Arrows have the edge when it comes to sheer quality, but whereas thay may be
the Rolls-Royce of aerobatic teams, there are times when you want a bit more oomph even if
it's a little rough around the edges, and the Jaguar of the teams has to be the Italians.
Plus, having seen the Reds every year since just before their Gnat-Hawk changeover makes me
more enthusiastic about teams I haven't seen quite so often...
Moving through the early afternoon with the usual roundup of Jaguar, Harrier, Tornado etc. we arrive at the Ukranian Falcons with six Fulcrums - now this is something I haven't seen before! And it was definitely worth watching, right from the takeoff to the slightly dodgy landing... Nice close formation flying at just the right angle for photos, the "synchro pair" pulling off a near perfect formation tailslide (perhaps a fraction of a second out, but that's just being picky!) and more than enough engine smoke to make up for the lack of smoke generators :-)
Not long before we hand over the show to the Americans, so let's give the RAF one last chance to shine with a demonstration of AWACS-CAP cooperation. One E-3D, four Tornado ADVs and a couple of evil looking black Hawks playing the bad guys. Quite a show, with the ADVs pairing off and flying low level racetracks, with the Sentry circling off to the west, before the arrival of the Hawks. Then it's every man for himself, with the Hawks leading the ADV pairs off for a few quite gentle turns round the field before gracefully admitting defeat and skulking off into the blue beyond...
And so, to the grand finale. And this year, it's definitely NOT an exaggeration to call it that. You can be sure that whenever the Americans get involved in something, it'll be big. So when it's the official UK celebration of the USAF 50th Anniversary, expect the USAF to throw everything into the performance. Starting with the somewhat one-sided duel between the P-51 and MiG-15 (poor Mustang, never did get the help it expected from the F-86!), we moved along a few years with the immaculate looking F-100 Super Sabre from Tracor Flight Systems. This is the first and quite possibly last time I'll ever see a Super Sabre in flight, and it was a real pleasure to see it in action.
Into the Vietnam era with the B-52, a most ungainly looking aircraft which always seems to me as if it's trying very very hard to drop out of the sky. And after giving all the car alarms a chance to reset themselves after their take-off, the two B-1Bs returned for their flypasts - beep beep beep...
A-10s and F-16s came and went, leading to the first of the Stealth set, the F-117. Flown on
the Saturday by its USAF pilot, the display seemed just a bit restrained, but as this was
the first time I'd seen the Nighthawk flying for real, I wasn't complaining. Perhaps it's
just the amount of exposure the thing has had in the past few years, but looking at it
now, I don't think to myself "that is one WIERD looking aircraft". Oh sure, it still
looks odd, but it's an acceptable oddness, rather than an "it'll never fly" oddness.
After the earlier G222 performance, along comes the C-17 Globemaster III. Oh my, this thing
is like a Hercules on steroids - it's big, it's bulky, and yet it's being flung around the
sky like something half its size. Their example of a short field landing was very impressive,
especially the nimble maneouvering on the runway at the end of the landing run - we go
forwards, we go backwards, we turn on a dime, and if we juggle the throttle settings
hard enough, I'm sure we could make this baby go sideways as well... (hmm, maybe not :-)
OK, enough of the lightweight stuff, it's time for the big one. Enter stage right, one B-2 Spirit, with F-15 bodyguards in close attendance. Cue several thousand camera shutters, a lot of dropped jaws and gasps, and a temporarily speechless commentator (rare indeed for the IAT!). You could just feel the understated deadliness of the Spirit as it flew past, making hardly a sound (nothing discernable above the two F-15s) and looking entirely capable of delivering its payload where and whenever it damn well likes. We know what the F-117 can do, this baby is bigger and meaner - quite the deterrent...
Red Arrows arrive - time to depart for the car. Getting off the airfield wasn't too bad, in all it took just over an hour to get back to Cirencester. Freshen up, go for dinner and a few beers, then off to beddie-byes ready for another early start the next day...
Notable changes to the display:
Team Aguila overcame whatever problems they'd had on the Saturday, and did a typically
decent display - though nothing terribly special IMO
No repeat display from the G222 :-(
F-117 handed over to its RAF pilot, and given a slightly more energetic workout as a result :-)
C-17 appearing to kill its starboard inner engine during the reversing demonstration - a loud
bang and a big cloud of black smoke didn't seem at all healthy, and the rest of the ground
maneouvering was cut out, with the C-17 heading straight off to the hangar area...
Aside from that, there was the added spectacle of the ongoing battle of wits between the
USAF crews and the RAF police. Listening to some of the USAF guys talking, you got the feeling
they thought the "keep the public well back" approach was just a bit stuffy, and before too long
they were strategically re-arranging the barriers so that whilst they could honestly claim that
the barriers were still in place, they just weren't quite in the same place as they started out...
So everyone starts milling around the B-1 and B-52, with the crews chatting to everyone, pointing
out things of interest and generally having a perfectly good time. And then the RAF police arrive,
consider that having members of the public wandering around the B-52 isn't a good idea, and so
take up position under each wing where they can politely tell us all to keep back. Not sure why they
thought the B-52 needed their protection when they weren't the slightest bit concerned about the B-1,
but obviously they had their orders from someone...
Although getting to and from the car is a pain when it's way out there in carpark Z, getting away from the airfield at the end of the day is made much easier from there. Unbelievably, it took just a shade over half an hour to get out and back to Cirencester, which is by far the quickest I've ever been out of any airshow, let alone one as big as the IAT.
So, I think it should be clear that RIAT'97 was THE airshow to be at this year - it's the finest show I've ever been to, and I can't see any way they can better this one (unless they rustle up a SR-71...)
