The flying displays
RIAT 2015 was packed with flying action, over eight hours worth! I have put up the flying videos of the air forces mentioned previously. Some of the participating forces didn’t bring static aircraft with them, so therefore had no stand to visit, and that’s why they have not been mentioned in previous paragraphs. Some I will talk about, some I will just list the videos, as it is unprofessional to say a display was “bad”, and I have huge respect for all the pilots who displayed. It should also be remembered these people are very busy, and nearly all of them are combat operational units.
Again my videos just show a pass or take off, as I had limited memory on my Iphone 6 and to be honest what’s the point in taping the whole thing when others will do it and it also spoils my personal viewing pleasure. I have put the corresponding videos from YouTube showing the full display.
The French
@Gabriel92 @Taygibay
The French this year bought their Mirage 2000’s not the great Rafale, but this did not matter as it had been some years we had not seen the Mirage aircraft display. The two aircraft took off and then disaster. Just after takeoff one of the Mirage was hit with a bird strike. The pilot had to land. Many people in the crowd sighed and thought that’s the end of the display, after all they were supposed to put on a duel show. The commentators at the Tattoo then said the pilot would like to speak to the crowd, they switched to the cockpit of the flying Mirage and true to typical French bravado he promised he will carry on and performed an amazing solo display.
Thank you to the Armee de l’air for making our day!
Mirage 2000 my video, sorry for it being sideways
This is from the dual display a day earlier.
Airbus A400 transport my video
Czech Hind my videos
Polish MIG 29 My videos.
Finish F18C Hornet my video
I didn’t make videos of the Belgium F16 , the Tornados displaying or the Battle of Britain flypast. Here they are from YouTube.
Belgium F16, nice display.
Tornados training flypast
Battle of Britain flypast
More on the Tattoo
I took some more pictures and
Polish SU-22M
RAF Tornado.
F35 mockup
There was plenty of talk from military and non-military alike about this plane and how its absence does not look good. It was meant to perform last year but technical issues prevented this from happening, and this year there was not so much as a peep from Lockheed, BAE or anyone. They need to make amends next year, or people will start to lose interest and with buyers on the line, it makes it all the more more crucial.
Carrying on with the tattoo
As the weather reports stated the sun came out and burnt away the cloud and it was clear blue skies from then on. The temperature shot up to around 24 Celsius and it was lovely. The facilities at the Tattoo were fantastic, for example toilets were plentiful, both single and communal, meaning you never have to queue. There was a wide choice in terms of food and drink with many places to eat at; alcohol is not sold, which is a very good thing for obvious reasons.
The atmosphere was phenomenal and people would literally strike up conversations with you constantly about the weather, aircraft, family, what you have seen and so on. Mannerisms again were impeccable with people never passing in front of anyone taking a picture and just everyone saying please and thank you. There was so much else on offer as well with many of the world’s leading defense contractors such as Thales, BAE, Lockheed Martin etc. all having their designated areas. There was BMX rides, fun rides for the kids, vintage villages, singers and so on. Oh I have to tell you my story with the ice-cream van.
So I came out of the toilet and felt the need for a slushy drink. I phoned my friend and asked him if he wanted an ice cream. He said no but I thought I’d surprise him anyway. So I bought the two and started walking. Now the runway is around two and half miles in length and we were sat near the middle and the van was at the beginning so that’s a mile walk, so I thought I could do it before the ice cream/ drink melts so I started walking. As I walked the sun came out stronger and the temperature rose, and my friend’s ice cream started to melt, as did my drink. So I started to quicken my pace, but this did not help, the ice cream began to drip all over my lovely blue jeans, so I stopped and thought right forget it, I’m not letting this just melt, ill eat it. So I took the first bite, forgetting I had the slush strawberry in my other hand and poured the drink down my lovely white linin shirt. I nearly started crying. My first reaction was to see if anyone was watching, thankfully the Belgium F-16 solo display was on so everyone was distracted. I then started to take bites out of the ice cream and sip my slushy drink, which gave me a massive sugar overload. After I finished, my fingers were covered by ice cream, my shirt ruined and my jeans had noticeable spots of ice cream all over them. I just sighed, and walked back to my friend and told him what happened. He laughed and said to me look behind you, there it was an ice cream van no more than eight feet away! He gave me water and I cleaned myself up. The day was finally drawing to an end and we decided to pack and go, I told my friend I felt burning all over my face, neck and arms, and he looked at me and said you are sunburnt, I looked at him and he was in a worse state! No matter how many times I tell myself that my Pakistani genes will run to my rescue, even though I am fair, it never happens. It felt far worse when I got into the shower later and I peeled for more than a week.
Finally it was time to find the car, we walked and we walked and got lost. We simply couldn’t find the entrance we came from. In the end we followed the crowd and got out. Now it was time to find the car amongst thousands, searching and searching and nothing. Couldn’t see it anywhere. It was time to retrace our steps, which we did and then managed to find it. This exercise took us a total of fifty minutes. The drive home was relaxing and we just talked about the day and how long it would take to recover. In total that day we walked eighteen kilometers, but we didn’t regret a thing.
Thank you to all the volunteers who made the tattoo very memorable, the RAF, the police, the British army and all the participating air forces. Bring on RAIT 2016!
Well folks I hope you enjoyed my report, I don't like just being an arm chair enthusiast, and I hope it raises the quality bar on this forum.
On a side note I hope Pakistan, India and China make an appearance soon. They have always been invited, as part of the cultural links they have with the UK but have not attended so far. If you guys are reading this, and I know you are, please do come.
and how about the Jordanian air force bagpipe guy lolwtf 
