Short sleeves all day. A sun tan. Sunglasses and cold drinks. Hang on a minute, this can’t be the Yeovilton Air Day report surely? That’s more umbrellas, waterproofs and wellies isn’t it? Not this year it wasn’t, as Yeovilton finally saw the summer weather that the show’s organisers and the Royal Navy deserve, to say nothing of the many visitors who flock to the iconic station for the Air Day each year.
After last year’s Fly Navy 100 commemoration suffered so badly from inclement weather, the show’s organisers might have been tempted not to go for a big celebration this time round, but with 2010 marking Yeovilton’s 70th birthday the option to quietly stage the event without alerting the weather gods was sadly unavailable! Fortunately they smiled on the show this year and, despite some early murk in the morning, the cloud did finally break, allowing Yeovilton’s 70th birthday party to go ahead in style with some 30,000 in attendance.
The static was a little down in numbers this year but still included some real gems such as a remarkably clean looking GAF F-4F Phantom – an old jet with a very young looking crew it must be said! The Marine Rafale which arrived early on Sunday morning looked like it could have done with a good scrub but was still a very welcome visitor, and those of us lucky enough to still be loitering on-base at around 19.00 saw “Doris” make a very noisy departure before returning low and fast, wings rocking to say farewell, before departing vertically in to the Somerset ether – very nice! The German Navy Lynx 88 was another highlight for me – complete with Pirates of the Caribbean artwork on both sides of the nose and a Transformers logo on the front!
Yeovilton-based helicopters had naturally been rolled out for the day with various marks of Lynx and Junglie Sea King (along with two of its SAR brethren and a beautiful old Junglie Wessex) on show as were the Sea Vixen and Sea Venom from the FAA Museum which were lovely to see. The Harrier T.10 was a relatively rare addition to the static display and was brought to Yeovilton by two Royal Marine pilots from RAF Cottesmore, while positioned nearby was the beautifully restored Sea Harrier FA.2 from the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection. Numerous civilian and historic aircraft completed the line-up with the queue to take a look inside Cobham’s Falcon 20 already impressively lengthy at 9.30am!
Yeovilton’s hangars were also used inventively with numerous other displays and plenty to see and do for all the family, with each one sponsored by an aerospace business. Indeed, the day before the show had seen the base host an event with those businesses showcasing their technology for invited media – a nice idea and another string to the event’s bow.
Tucked away at the very end of the display line, at the very opposite end to the static display, we almost stumbled across the brand new Agusta Westland Wildcat prototype. Its appearance did get a brief mention in the commentary but I’m not sure too many people would have actually been aware of its existence on site and it was almost impossible to photograph, being very tightly surrounded by barriers. Fortunately, at the end of the show the Wildcat departed for the very short journey home to Westland’s home airfield just down the road in Yeovil and anyone lingering with camera at the ready will have been able to catch it then.
The flying display commenced at 11.00 in grey and overcast conditions but, despite low cloud reminiscent of last year, the promise of much better to come. One of the first performers to take to the air was the first of not one or two but three F-16 Fighting Falcon solo displays; a unique chance to compare three routines at a UK show this season. Belgian Air Force pilot Michel 'Mitch' Beulen of 349 (F) Squadron based at Kleine Brogel got the ball rolling, followed later in the day by Captain Tobias "Hitec" Schutte from 323 Squadron, Royal Netherlands Air Force and finally Captain Peter Vejling Kristiansen from the Royal Danish Air Force's Esk 727 – all three flying their specially painted display aircraft.
For me, Captain Kristiansen edged it. Perhaps his display wasn’t quite as polished or complex as the others, which are both fine routines, I hasten to add, and made more sense with the liberal use of flares which was allowed at Yeovilton. But the RDAF demo was a little shorter and therefore punchier for me, and his climb to 20,000 ft (according to the commentary team) popping flares all the way was a stunning sight in the clear blue skies we were blessed with at the time.
Further foreign participation in the flying programme came from Spain’s Patrulla Águila ( which translates to Eagle Patrol) and I think the team deserves great credit for a very polished display of aerobatics, befitting a team celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It was a fairly sedate demonstration and it was difficult to get away from the fact that the team’s CASA C-101 Aviojets do sound remarkably similar to hairdryers, but their formation work was spot on and the solo was fascinating. Flown by Águila 5, Capitán Antonio Jesús Gutiérrez Santiago, this included both a tailslide and a complete outside loop; Águila being the only jet team to include such a manoeuvre in its routine.
A second foreign military team also performed in the shape of Yeovilton regulars the Royal Jordanian Falcons, and their show was flamboyant and very well flown - exactly what you expect from such a consistent and dedicated team - and also the French Alpha Jet which impressed me far more here than it had done at Waddington the weekend before.
The Royal Air Force wasn’t forgotten at Yeovilton either and the Red Arrows received a rapturous round of applause as their display concluded (the crowd was notably generous with applause throughout the day I must say) and they were joined in the flying programme by Flt Lt Tom Bould in the Tucano and Flt Lt Steve Kenworthy in the Harrier. This was Tom’s first public display in a ‘normal’ black Tucano with his two commemorative Battle of Britain aircraft on duty for a flypast at York Races and he did well displaying early on in the day as he fought a strong on-crowd wind. Steve’s Harrier demo was also well received and was gloriously noisy, positioned as we were at the 'correct' end of the display line, and we would see far more of the Harrier a little later in the day too.
For many the Vulcan will have been a highlight although, as we said in our Waddington review last week, there was no touch and go in a display which saw her take off and land at Yeovilton, parking up as part of the static display at the conclusion of her routine. There’s no doubt that her appearance generated real interest from the general public but unfortunately, with no opportunity for the two parties to brief face to face, the planned flypast with the Red Arrows didn't take place.
Personally, I’m still not entirely convinced she completely lives up to all the hype and I must confess that my abiding Vulcan memory from this year’s Air Day was the commentator asking display pilot Martin Withers in a pre-show interview whether he had actually flown the Vulcan while he was serving in the RAF. Oops! Other civilian performers included the superb Swift Aerobatic Display Team who were in fine form, as were the Twister Duo and Breitling Wingwalkers, with the Air Atlantique Classic Flight de Havilland Venom also flying a very graceful routine.
It’s time then to focus on the home team, for this was the Royal Navy’s event, and a multitude of solo and massed displays covered Naval aviation across the ages and also a variety of roles. The problems faced by the Royal Navy Historic Flight have been well documented of late and only the Sea Hawk was able to display at Yeovilton, in the capable hands of Lt Cdr Chris Gotke, and it was confirmed that we will not be seeing the Swordfish or Sea Fury display until 2011, a great shame. The Kennet Seafire added to the historic flavour of the event, flying in formation with the Sea Hawk and also Peter Teichman’s Hurri-bomber with the more relevant Sea Hurricane unfortunately unserviceable.
The remainder of the Naval displays concentrated on the Fleet Air Arm’s current aircraft and operational roles with the always impressive solo Merlin HM.1 from RNAS Culdrose, a mini role demo by four Lynx helicopters complete with pyrotechnics and flares and of course the Royal Navy’s official display team, the Black Cats. Lts Becky Frater and Chris Chambers have certainly put their own stamp on the Black Cats routine this year and they took time out to talk to GAR after the show for this exclusive video (which an includes a beginners guide to rotary flying!) courtesy of our partnership with PlanesTV.
The show closed with a Yeovilton tradition, the ‘Commando Assault’, and this trademark role demo is superbly put together and delivered brilliantly by the vast amount of people involved. With no less than seven Junglie Sea Kings, four Lynx, two Hawk T.1s from the Fixed Wing Standards Flight, two Harriers from the Naval Strike Wing and a big crowd of Royal Marines, the scenario included a bit of everything.
Simulated close air support, enemy bombing runs and surface to air missiles all featured, as did ground battles, delivery of ground forces and equipment via fast roping and under-slung loads through to vehicle containment by helicopter.
With massive pyrotechnic explosions throughout, the good guys naturally saved the day and the assault concluded with the choppers lined up along the crowd line with the fast jets flying overhead as a huge wall of fire erupted beneath them – superb stuff and a great way to end the show.
It really goes to show that this kind of demonstration works brilliantly well. We've seen the RAF's Tornado GR.4s return this season with a pyro based pairs role demo and the Chinook too with the inclusion of under-slung loads and ground forces but the loss of the full RAF role demo was never felt more keenly than when seeing what the Royal Navy puts together at Yeovilton. It's seriously entertaining and massively engaging for the public to be able to see a number of different aircraft types and people showing us a little of what they are doing in theatre.
All in all then the Yeovilton Air Day 2010 will go down as a huge success. It was so good to see the weather hold and for the display to go ahead in largely beautiful conditions, albeit tricky ones for photography with the crowd facing the sun for the majority of the day a la Biggin Hill. The display was slick with few gaps and a great variety of performers, both old and new and from both home and abroad.
A big well done to the organisers and a very happy 70th birthday to RNAS Yeovilton.
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