Photographs from RIAT 2011, Fairford, England

The 2011 Royal International Air Tattoo took place on the weekend of 16-17th July. This years’ show celebrated 40 years of the Air Tattoo.

Among the participants were the A-10 West Demo Team who put on an excellent display of the A-10 Thunderbolt, including an extremely impressive steep dive around the crowdline. This was followed by an equally steep climb that offered an excellent opportunity for photographers. I managed to get some good photographs of this manoeuvre complete with vapour condensing over the aircraft’s wings.

International display teams this year included the Frecce Tricolori and the Saudi Hawks. The Spanish Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Patrulla Aguila, flew in to the show but unfortunately due to poor weather their display was cancelled on both days. The Breitling Jet Team attended the show, as did the Breitling sponsored AeroSuperBatics wing walkers.

The Air Tattoo included a number of fast jet displays. BAE Systems contributed a fully loaded Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 and the French Air Force contributed a Dassault Rafale (with “thirty thousand hours” paint scheme). There were four F-16 demonstrations, including the “Solo-Turk” display from the Turkish Air Force. This display won the King Hussein Memorial Sword, which is awarded at the end of the Air Tattoo every year for the best overall flying demonstration.

The Air Tattoo’s static line included a Sukhoi-27 and an Ilyushin-76 from the Ukrainian air force. Other interesting aircraft displayed included the Hawker-Beechcraft AT-6 Texan - a new light attack / armed reconnaissance aircraft, a Hawk T2, and the RAFs future tanker aircraft - the A330 MRTT.