The images in this post were taken by The Aviationist’s contributor Alessandro Fucito.
The Italian Air Force Tornado A-200A CSX7041/RS-01 of the air arm’s Reparto Sperimentale Volo (flight test centre) was awarded the prize for best livery.
The Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress G-BEDF (124485/DF-A) of the B-17 Preservation Trust.
Straight from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, the B-2 Spirit from Air Force Global Strike Command flew over RAF Fairford flanked by two F-15C Eagle jets.
A Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker of the 100th ARW from RAF Mildenhall flying with the extended “boom”.
The C-130J-30 Hercules 08-8602/RS from the 37th Airlift Squadron, 86th Airlift Wing, United States Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
A three-ship formation of 2x F-15Cs and 1x F-15E from RAF Lakenhath 48th FW.
Taking part in the 70th Anniversary flypast there were also these F-16CJs belonging to the 480th FS from Spangdahlem, Germany, temporarily deployed to RAF Lakenheath.
The F-22 flying alongside the P-51B Mustang. Maj Dan ‘Rock’ Dickinson of the US Air Force’s 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, was awarded the Paul Bowen Trophy, presented in memory of Royal International Air Tattoo co-founder Paul Bowen, for the best jet demonstration.
The Ukrainian Air Force brought a pair of Su-27 Flankers, supported by an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft. The single seater performed a stunning aerial display.
The Lockheed U-2 “Dragon Lady” took also part in RIAT 2017. Interestingly, the chase car used by the ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) aircraft was Tesla chase car instead of the Chevrolet Camaro typically used for this task.
The Thunderbirds performed a flyby along with the RAF Red Arrows. This year the USAF demo team, escorted by two F-22s, also took part in the Bastille Day flypast over Paris, France.
A U.S. Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon. The aircraft will soon serve in the UK as next MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft).
Couteau Delta, made by two Mirage 2000Ds of the French Air Force was one of the highlights of this year’s RIAT. The team included a Mirage painted in a desert scheme presented at the Base Aérienne 133 Nancy-Ochey, home of the EC3/3 Ardennes, on Mar. 1, 2017, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the air raid against a Libyan air defense radar at Ouadi Doum, Chad.
The Thunderbirds over the skies of RAF Fairford. The team suffered an incident when a two-seater flipped over after landing at Dayton International Airport in Ohio on Jun. 23.
Here’s How The RIAT Display of the Polish Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum Looked Like “From the Office.”
In this video, you can watch, from the inside, the display routine performed by the Polish Air Force pilot Adrian Rojek during the RIAT 2015 at RAF Fairford in the UK.
The clip includes the high-performance take-off and other maneuvers that are peculiar to the Fulcrum, such as the famous tailslide.
The video was filmed by Star SAFIRE 380-HDc a compact, high performance, stabilized, HD imaging systems specifically engineered for helicopter.
According to FLIR, the manufacturer of the Star SAFIRE 380-HDc and a leader in such systems, the camera “provides an unmatched SWaP-C advantage for airborne applications that demand high performance ISR [Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance] in a light-weight, compact package. Specifically tailored to excel at long range performance under extreme rotary aircraft conditions.”
Needless to say, the IR signature of the F-35B during hovering is impressive.
The heat signature of a LO (Low Observability) aircraft is also what IRST (Infra Red Search and Track) sensors of a “legacy” unstealthy aircraft will seek during an aerial engagement against a stealth plane.
As the aircraft performs its British debut at the RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo) at RAF Fairford here’s an interesting video filmed in 4K that was released by the British MoD.
The participation of the controversial 5th Gen. stealth aircraft to an airshow in the UK was planned to take place in 2014 but it was cancelled shortly before the four USMC F-35Bs started their transatlantic trip after a runway fire incident involving an F-35A at Eglin Air Force Base, on Jun. 23, 2014, caused a temporary fleet-wide grounding.
Two years later the F-35B is the highlight of the RIAT.
The image below, taken by Tony Lovelock, shows the USMC F-35B 168727/VM-19 VFMAT-501, seen here going into Hover mode during a short display at RAF Marham ahead of the display at RAF Fairford.
The F-35B aircraft refueled 15 times (in total) during their trip across the Pond. And here’s some cool footage that shows the difference between the A and B variants.
During the journey, the F-35Bs were assisted by two U.S. Air Force KC-10 tankers that refueled the Lightining II 5th Generation aircraft 15 times over the Atlantic (note: this *should* be the total aerial refueling operations, meaning that each stealth plane plugged the In-Flight Refueling probe 5 times into the tanker’s hose).
The following B-roll shows the aircraft during the AAR (Air-to-Air Refueling) ops.
The three STOVL variants were followed by three F-35A of the U.S. Air Force Heritage flight on the following day: this was the first time USAF F-35s crossed the Pond.
Interestingly, AW&ST’s James Drew was aboard one of the KC-10s and filmed the refueling operations of the F-35As. You will notice that the A model is refueled by means of the USAF’s standard flying boom system, as opposed to the F-35B that instead of the fuel receptacle use the on-board IFR probe required by the hose and drogue system, the Navy/Marines standard. Noteworthy, according to Drew, the F-35As required 4 aerial refueling operations each: the F-35A has a max range of 1,200 miles, while the F-35B has a max range of 900 miles (thus the need for an additional AAR).
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