RNAS Yeovilton Air Day

Friday 22 and Saturday 23 June 2012









Air Show Magic is here !!!! Score one for the boys. Mark left Cal at home to play with her pussy cat, and went off to Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton for a couple of days of big boys toys. Yeovilton is about 45 miles from home, an an easy drive for a couple of days of kerosene filled action.
 
RNAS Yeovilton – also known as HMS Heron – is one of the Royal Navy’s main air bases, and one of the busiest military airfields in the UK. The Fleet Air Arm have their operational and training Lynx helicopter squadrons and the Commando Helicopter Force are based there, along with (and most importantly for Mark) the RN Historic Flight, including their vintage aircraft such as Fairy Swordfish, de Havilland Sea Fury and the de Havilland Sea Venom.

Day one was really for the aircraft enthusiast nerds - it wasn’t part of the air show per se, rather a day when aircraft arrived from near and far, and for events. In that regard it was great. Instead of contending with about 40,000 people (give or take 10,000) there were only about 100 (give or take about 20)! We had great views of the practice events, the take offs and landings of the aircraft. All in all it was pretty good. There weren't many things that were lacking, but still, some very important ones.

First, and most importantly, none of the vintage jets were in the air, other than the arrival of the Jet Provost. (see right) This is actually the main reason for me going. Dare I say it? No I can’t quite bring myself to say it, but to be honest a modern fast jet cutting through the sky at 600 kts is just another fast jet (OK, so I did say it). On the other hand, the classic jets are very special. They cost a bomb to keep flying, and there are only a handful flying around the globe - sometimes only one of a kind! So I don’t mind spending money at the website www.vulcantothesky.org/

Gotta get me some cuff-links, but they’re currently out of stock.

Second, the Battle of Britain flight only turned up on the air show day. I’ve seen this a few times now, and it is always a special flight. Cal and I watched a doco called the “Who Betrayed the Bomber Boys” - a fascinating story about how the RAF Bomber Command was treated towards, and after the end of the second world war. Whilst there will always be some degree of controversy regarding massed bombing raids, there is no doubt as to the courage of the aircrew . . . knowing that your chances of surviving a tour of 30 missions were only 17% - not good odds whichever way you look at it. The Queen unveiled the first memorial to Bomber Command yesterday (Thursday 28th June http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18633791) in Green Park, London, honouring the 55,573 men who died in bombers during WWII. Anyway, whilst I mention this, I didn’t actually stay to watch the BoB flight. I was pretty tired at the end of the day and decided to beat the traffic and have an easy drive home (maybe I’m not such a die hard after all).

Third - there were no imitation (and real) explosions during the “command assault” demonstration. The RN did use real explosives (you could feel that in the chest) but also the Hollywood petrol explosions. OK - so the pic on the left was lifted from the web, but it is what happened on the day :-)






Here are the Helo's that I saw:

AH-64 Apache Longbow

Sea Kings - big honking helicopters!!

OK, so what was there to see? Lots :-) I was like a pig in mud!! Maybe I’ll just post some of the pics I took . . . BTW I REALLY NEED a better camera :-). Nonetheless, after culling out the really crap photos, I still have well over 600 pictures . . . so I just gotta get ruthless!! The main themes were:


Static aircraft - I’ll just add a few :-)

This is the French Rafale - the French really do know how to design sleek aircraft - have no idea about how good they'll be in combat tho'

Sea Fury - this is one mother of a piston engine aircraft - developed right at the end of  WWII

From left to right: Hawker Hunter - classic jet of the 60's, SOKO P-2, Sea Venom, P-40 KittyHawk

de Havilland Sea Venom - much like the Vampire

Fairy Swordfish

Gloster Meteor taxiing to runway

Flying displays - coordinated flights. That would be a few pics each from the Red Arrows, and a few from the Royal Saudi Air Force display team. It might be worth noting that the motto painted on the side of all their aircraft os “God Bless You” . . . conjures up all sorts of images in my head . . . “here, have a load of bombs . . . by the way . . . God Bless You!!”



Flying displays - single aircraft. Lots of these (I’ll limit the photos in the interest of not putting everyone to sleep).

This is the aircraft that Price Charles learned to fly on (Chipmunk - name of aircraft, not the Prince)

Saudi Hawks - they have a Red Arrows mentor on their team and it shows. I wish I'd photographed one of the pilots - a very resplendid Arab beard (no racism here!!) just the classic Arab beard. The thing that I don't understand is how the heck he gets his oxygen mask to seal . . . I have a short beard and still had to shave it off prior to my flight in an F/A-18 Hornet!!

Love this pic!!! pretty cool to imitate the wingtip vortices like this - well done Red Arrows

Classic aircraft in the air - the cream had to be the Fairy Swordfish (such a big aircraft (relatively)), the de Havilland Sea Fury, the de Havilland Sea Venom, the de Havilland Vampire, the Gloster Meteor . . . oh, I think that was nearly all of the classics that took to the air :-)

Sea Venom and Meteor - these guys have a lovely high pitch whistle of the gas turbine as they fly past

Sea Venom

Vampire

Fairy Swordfish (BTW - who, other than the Poms, would name a warplane manufacturer "Fairy"??)