What a terrible shame that for the second consecutive year the weather played a huge part in spoiling the Navy’s main event of the season. With the ‘Fly Navy 100’ celebrations to the fore you might have thought that the weather gods would have smiled on Yeovilton this time round but alas it was not to be.
The low cloud base blighted what was undoubtedly one of the best line-ups of any show this season and, had conditions been better, a serious candidate for display of the year.
Still, there was plenty to see and do for the thousands who turned up and the event organisers should be commended for assembling a static line-up that included Rafale, four Harriers (two from Spain), four F-16s, a French E-2C and a superb German Atlantic, resplendent with Zeppelin tail markings.
Fleet Air Arm helicopters were displayed in abundance with numerous examples of Sea King and Lynx on show while an AH-64 Apache was open to any members of the public who fancied a rare close-look at this particular piece of hardware.
Alongside the static aircraft were the usual array of ground displays and attractions with the naval field gun race making a welcome return to the show along with the likes of the Royal Marine Commando display team who were warming-up very enthusiastically as we wandered around the static at 8.30am - far too energetic!
And so on to the flying. It might actually be quicker to start with what the weather deprived us of seeing, for it’s a lengthy and depressing list – Dutch F-16, RAF Typhoon, Frecce Tricolori, Red Arrows (just three passes in the cloud), Harriers and Hunters in the flypast and set-piece, Vampire and also the Chinook, which arrived on Saturday morning but then departed and never returned.
Then of course we come to the Vulcan..........
Having managed to resolve the Permit to Fly issues which had grounded her at Waddington the previous weekend it was an awful twist of fate that saw her go u/s when the weather might have just about been good enough to display. Having been fixed and declared ready to go the weather was so poor that being towed to the static display was as good as it got for those who had come to see the jet in action.
Stealing the Vulcan’s thunder, and not for the first time this season, was the De Havilland Sea Vixen. Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield put on a stunning display bearing in mind the poor conditions and this very special aircraft really must be displayed at more venues this season or we may not be able to enjoy seeing her in the air for too much longer.
Huge credit as well to both the Belgian Air Component F-16 Demo Pilot and his counterpart in the French Air Force Rafale, as both flew in pretty appalling conditions, the Rafale ostensibly for a “weather check”. If that’s what all weather checks are like then I think we need more of them at airshows to be honest. Organisers take note!
Both the Fly Navy 100 flypast and Yeovilton regular the Commando Assault were slightly disjointed without the inclusion of fast jets but it must be said that both were entertaining and a credit to the service. The Commando Assault was particularly dramatic in the murk with pyrotechnics lighting the skies, commandoes abseiling to the runway and, for the first time, an Apache included to simulate close-air-support. A note here that both set pieces included both the 40th anniversary-marked Sea King and also that currently adorned in arctic camouflage – a nice touch.
Overall the show was as well-organised as ever, although I have read of some pretty horrific traffic issues arising in some of the car parks, not something I experienced so I can’t comment directly. This may have been caused by the rush to the exits once it was apparent that the Vulcan would not be displaying but poor stewarding has also been mentioned by many who found themselves affected. This is one area that organisers really should concentrate on doing well as there is nothing more frustrating than finding yourself stuck in traffic unnecessarily.
So, all in all another great day out with some interesting and relatively 'rare' aircraft both on static-display and lined-up for the flying programme. For me this was the first weather affected event of this airshow season (unless you count various incidents of sunburn) so I’ll not be complaining too much, despite the truncated flying display.
I have a sneaky feeling that Yeovilton Air Day 2009 will go down as the “What Might Have Been” show this season, so let’s hope that the organisers attract a similarly exciting line-up next season – and some nice weather. Yeovilton is certainly due that.
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