RIAT number 6 for me is in the can. Made it back home to YYT late Wednesday evening (Really missing the LHR-YYT direct flight which has been axed pending the return to service 737 Max 8).
I have mixed feelings on this year's event but most of that is on me, not RIAT. I am still shaking my head at the vitriol I am reading in other forums.
As is usual, we did the full 6 days (Arrivals, Show days and Departures), For both arrivals days we did Park and View East, getting to the parking lot a little after 7. This put us at the end of a very long queue both days but I treat arrivals as more relaxed than the routine show days, getting up at 'zero dark stupid' to race for the fence line is not in the cards. Instead we strolled in on opening and headed the back of the eastern end of the step ladder enclosure. I find that standing back against the fence, you are shooting over the heads of those on the crowdline so you get the same shots without half of the mucking about or crowding.
Wednesday was slow (Though more than enough to keep me entertained), with the bulk of the arrivals coming in on Thursday. My first couple of years attending I really enjoyed arrivals days. The mix of never before seen aircraft (for me), multiple approaches and practice demos was awesome. Alas, I am becoming a bit jaded. As will become a theme, I noted that a lot of the once ''new" types had now become the 'same old' and that the aircraft that were still 'new to me' tended to arrive when everything was clouded over (Phantoms etc). This lead to a sense of frustration that built throughout the week, as shots I was chasing too often turned out to be grey on grey low contrast messes. Too often when there was sun there was no aircraft, and when there was aircraft there was no sun (At least you would occasionally get the dark/black cloud background which can make for funky light) To be clear, this is not on RIAT, when one attends an air show in England you 'pays your money and takes your chances' re: weather.
The one growing downside of arrivals which is likely in RIAT's control are the nature of arrivals. Arriving fighters making multiple passes and beating up the field (One of the things that really sells the London Ontario show to me) is essentially a thing of the past (the Vador F-16 being one of the few exceptions with a nice low level pass on arrival). I don't know why this has dried up but a likely culprit suggested on the UKAR board is the Skyvan photoship which a lot of the incoming fighters formate with for air to air photo sessions. This may account for a lot of the fighters coming straight in to land (often without even an overhead break), the fuel they would have burnt of in approaches was eaten up by the Skyvan time. In any event some of the joy or arrivals day has been lost.
So.... Friday... again weather is a risk beyond the control of the show. When I saw the 'final' forecast early Friday morning, I contemplated skipping the day. Nope, the show must go on! We went in and did a lap of the show ground before the planned start of the planned flying display... and we were soaked through by the time we were done - the heavens opened mid walk. I come from a wet climate, grin and bear it was the order of the day.
I was impressed they still managed to get a few acts in the air on the Friday. Once they announced the cancellation of the NATO flypast we packed it in however.... thought not before another full lap of the show ground - there were patches to be bought after all.
Saturday meant up at 5, out the door of the hotel at 6 to get to the blue lot and queue for the FRIAT entrance. Rather than sit in the FRIAT grandstand we prefer to bring our own chairs and sit at the fence line in front of the grandstand. The line up for Saturday was great and with the exception of a number of cancellations of NATO flypast participants it ran well. The weather alas was hit and miss again. Whilst we had no further real precipitation the weekend, the sun was fickle.... I never did get a well lit shot of the Mig 21 demo and I doubt I will get another opportunity.
The end of Saturday brings my one primary criticism of the RIAT organization. As we experienced in several past years. Getting out of the parking lot at the end of the day was a complete nightmare. It took us almost 90 minutes and there were many others who took much longer. It was a complete gong show. There were insufficient parking lot marshals an those who were there did absolutely nothing (Except one guy in the western end of blue lot who was suggesting to people to leave through a fence opening that was supposed to be closed and head out on a closed road...) for roughly an hour until social media upheaval forced RIAT to act. When you are one of those behind the wheel,the mounting rage it really sucks the fun out of the day
Weather wise Sunday was more of the same. Yes the schedule was 'thin' compared to Saturday but it was still 8 ish hours of flying including a bunch of fast mover demos. There was a thin block mid afternoon, but this provided time for another lap of the show ground in the hunt for patches. I am still confused as to the rationale for the A400M and Blades flypast but hey if they want to put that off, carry on... just, please, don't call it epic.
Speaking of epic... my patch haul was indeed epic. It is an addiction I need to cut back on. Most European squadron attendees doing trade were selling patches for £4 - £10. Most US attendees, however, were looking for £10 per patch minimum whilst the Lakenheath crowd, on Friday at least, wanted £20- £40 per patch. That is insane. I set a £10 limit this year except for one or two RIAT specials. Even squadron stickers or zap sheets are escalating, £5 for some!
I have to make special mention of the 405 Squadron Aurora Crew. they were selling a range of patches for £5 and squadron ball hats for £10 (quite reasonable). I remember when 415 squadron were thru RIAT a couple of years a go their prices were extortionate in comparison!
That leaves departures day. If I could do only one day at RIAT, it would be departures day (From the FRIAT enclosure at least). In the space of 4 or 5 hours you have upwards of 200 military aircraft depart in front of you.... some of them even doing it in style. It went quite well this year, the sun even made some strategic appearances. The hard part of course is that you have to cut it off at some point (Highways must be travelled, rental cars must be returned etc etc). When the Phantoms were delayed, we set them as our cut off point. They left after 2pm, I got my shots and we left shortly thereafter, missing the B-52, 100th KC-135 with vintage markings, Qatar C-17 etc... had to be done.
Even a bad RIAT is magnitudes better than any other air show I have ever attended. This was not a bad RIAT, it had a line up which would be earth shattering in North America but, this year, it was merely middle of the road of what RIAT can be (Every year RIAT works hard to attract both quality and quantity and sometimes the stars do not fully align). The Turkish Phantoms, Romanian Migs and Spanish Harriers were stand out items but the rest of the show for me was mainly things I had seen before but now in poor light. Had it been the exact same line up with wall to wall sun I'd be raving about this year. Alas I have become spoiled... and will be back next year!
Mark
You may wish to choose more carefully where you get your 'credible' rumours from. 
Hubby would have liked more stalls because he wanted souvenirs....
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