Show reports
Royal International Air Tattoo 2019

Airshow

Apart from the two starts of the show, the airshow was a little disappointing on Sunday. It differed a lot from Saturday, with two main attractions (BA 747 and 70 years NATO flypast) missing from the program. On the positive side the weather was best compared to the other show days, with Friday being cut short by rain.

For the third year in a row, Ukraine showed the ever impressive Su-27. A first for RIAT was the Greek Air Force T-6, painted in the special Daedalus color scheme.


HN-405, F-18

HN-405, F-18

ZA708, Chinook

MM7343 / RS-21, F-2000

-, MB-339

-, MB-339

-, MB-339

-, MB-339

-, MB-339

-, MB-339

-, MB-339

-, MB-339

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

39 blue, Su-27

ZJ920 / 920, Typhoon

ZJ920 / 920, Typhoon

ZJ920 / 920, Typhoon

ZJ920 / 920, Typhoon

ZJ920 / 920, Typhoon

ZJ920 / 920, Typhoon

ZJ920 / 920, Typhoon

036, T-6

036, T-6

036, T-6

036, T-6

ZF264 / 264, Tucano

ZF264 / 264, Tucano

ZF264 / 264, Tucano

EC-0400, A400

EC-0400, A400

EC-0400, A400

PA474, Lancaster

PA474, Lancaster

PA474, Lancaster

PZ865, Hurricane

MK356, Spitfire

PA474, Lancaster

PA474, Lancaster

MK356, Spitfire

PA474, Lancaster

Romanian Lancer

Last year the Romanian MiG-21s were also planned but cancelled two weeks before the show as the full fleet was grounded due to a crash of a MiG-21 at an airshow. This time two Lancers 861 Esc. made it and 6824 flew an impressive demo. Great to see this aging fighter still has a lot of power in the back.


6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

6824, MiG-21

Swiss Fliegerstaffel 11 brought their beautiful tiger F/A-18. The US cancelled the CV-22 demo due to technical problems, but was later during the day to get it in the air again and fly the demo.


EC-0400, A400

EC-0400, A400

EC-0400, A400

EC-0400, A400

EC-0400, A400

-, Hawk

-, Hawk

-, Hawk

-, Hawk

XX323, Hawk

XX245, Hawk

ZJ181, Apache

ZJ181, Apache

ZJ181, Apache

J-5011, F/A-18

J-5011, F/A-18

J-5011, F/A-18

J-5011, F/A-18

J-5011, F/A-18

J-5011, F/A-18

ES-YLN, L-39

ES-TLF, L-39

-, L-39

ES-TLF, L-39

08-0051, CV-22

08-0051, CV-22

08-0051, CV-22

08-0051, CV-22

08-0051, CV-22

G-BYGC, B747

The real disappointment on Sundays show was the difference compared to Saturday. On Saturday British Airways showed one of three celebration 747s, in former BOAC colors, in formation with the Red Arrows. A really impressive sight. It would have been nice to see something similar on Sunday.

Armada Jump Jets

The other highlight was the participation of Spanish Armada Escuadrilla 9, which brought two EAV-8s to the show. Great thing was, that both aircraft performed the demo together. Next to Italy, Spain is the only Navy operator left with a fleet of active AV-8, so its becoming very rare to see these birds. For the occasion both Harrier had special RIAT tails applied.


VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

-, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

VA.1B-37 / 01-925, EAV-8

VA.1B-24 / 01-914, EAV-8

As Sunday’s demo marked the last flight of Captain Moro, a traditional water salute was given while taxiing back after the demo.

Traditionally most of the participant’s head home on Monday after the show. See our departure report in part 3.

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