Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2018

Discussion relating to 2018 airshows/fly-ins/exercises/other events. Post news before the event and post your photos afterwards! Please create only one thread per event.
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Adam
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Post by Adam » Tue Apr 10, 2018 7:41 pm

RFDGuy wrote: Tue Apr 10, 2018 7:22 pm Ahh nice! Hope they make the switch!
Well it's not going down well here. The 339 can do tailslides and lomcevaks, plus the straight wings make the formations look very big and structured. The 345 is small, cheap, low-power and pig ugly. I know most of us RIATers are willing them to hang on to the 339s as long as possible!
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Post by Adam » Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:03 am

Well after an early start, things are really struggling to pick up pace for RIAT this year. Today's update sees the SoloTurk F-16 confirmed flying, and on static an Australian Wedgetail, Omani Hercules and Slovak Spartan.
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Post by Go4Long » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:23 pm

Adam wrote: Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:03 am Well after an early start, things are really struggling to pick up pace for RIAT this year. Today's update sees the SoloTurk F-16 confirmed flying, and on static an Australian Wedgetail, Omani Hercules and Slovak Spartan.
There are 50 aircraft confirmed this year already vs 37 at this point last year.
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Post by Adam » Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:46 pm

Go4Long wrote: Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:23 pm
Adam wrote: Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:03 am Well after an early start, things are really struggling to pick up pace for RIAT this year. Today's update sees the SoloTurk F-16 confirmed flying, and on static an Australian Wedgetail, Omani Hercules and Slovak Spartan.
There are 50 aircraft confirmed this year already vs 37 at this point last year.
Indeed, but that's not really the point.

Don't get me wrong, it'll be a good RIAT. But CF-18 aside, it's also looking to be a very predictable one, with nothing we haven't already seen in the last three years or so anyway. It's certainly not looking like the one-off international spectacular we were all promised. The RAF only have one centenary and there's no indication it's going to be at all memorable!

Perhaps I've been spoiled by my time in Asia, where every show had an extraordinary, remarkable star item that nobody had ever seen before. But so far, despite all the hype, RIAT 2018 is failing to excite me. It's just not looking special in any way, shape or form. Look to the Swiss equivialent in Payerne four years ago, or the Polish centenial show in Radom this August. RIAT pales into insignificence beside either. In the same week RIAT confirms a Swedish Gripen and a few static Gulfstreams, Radom confirms two aircraft from Pakistan, a pair of Su-22s, MiG-29 and others - all from the flying display! AIR14 in Payerne got over an hour of one-off set pieces and heritage flights per day, while we just get an off-the-shelf display by half of the Great War Display Team. What is there to make this RIAT stand out, to make it be one we look back on in decades to come? As far as I can see, very little, and with every update, the chances of a miraculous turnaround grow smaller. Especially now the time for big non-European teams to confirm their appearence has pretty much expired. I suppose that's the point I'm trying to make...
Last edited by Adam on Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Adam » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:24 pm

French Navy Rafale M pair confirmed for the flying display! This is great news - a truly fantastic display that's got rave reviews and I absolutely cannot wait to see it myself for the first time.

Such a shame the announcement came out this way though - once again the need for certain individuals to be the first with the news has trumped common sense. A post by one of the DBH staff on another forum shows they are NOT pleased and this could well be the last time private announcements are made to FRIAT members. What's more, we've been told to expect a light update on Thursday as a result. Doesn't detract from the quality of this announcement though!
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Post by Adam » Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:36 am

The RAF displays (Red Arrows, BBMF, Typhoon, Tutor) have been confirmed today. But the most interesting news is in the static park – an Embraer KC-390, among others! That's a RIAT debut and I am looking forward to seeing it arrive!
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Post by Paul » Tue May 01, 2018 1:06 pm

In a surprise Tuesday update a Romanian Mig-21 has been added to the flying display plus a C-27 support aircraft for the static. Since the last post on this thread the French air force added the solo Rafale and Couteux Delta M2000D pairs display.

Looking great now!
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Post by Adam » Wed May 02, 2018 1:23 pm

One week without internet and these announcements turn the show around completely! We definitely have a star item in the MiG-21. Feeling much more positive now - let's keep the good updates coming!

Also of note: the BBMF will be Lanc, Dak, Hurri x2 and Spit x4 on Friday, and Lanc, Dak, Spit and Hurri x2 on the following two days. Friday's BBMF display should be quite a spectacle!

Some good static additions too. We now have both quality and quantity. Here's the lineup so far, with self-confirmed acts shown as "TBC":

Royal Air Force:

Red Arrows x9 Hawk T.1 (F)
RAF100 Royal Review aircraft TBC (FP)
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight x4 Spitfire, x2 Hurricane, Lancaster, Dakota (F)
RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team (F) TBC
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 (F)
F-35B Lightning II JSF (F) TBC
Grob Tutor (F)

C-17A Globemaster III (S)
SA330 Puma HC.2 (S)

Swiss Air Force:

PC-7 Team x9 PC-7 (F)
F-18C Hornet (F)


French Air Force:

Couteau Delta x2 Mirage 2000D (F)
Dassault Rafale C (F)

Alpha Jet E x2 (S)

Italian Air Force (AM):

Frecce Tricolori x10 MB-339PAN (F) TBC

Spanish Air Force (EdA):

Patrulla Águila x7 C-101 Aviojet (F)

United States Air Force:

USAF Heritage Flight F-35A Lightning II & P-51D Mustang (F)
C-17 Globemaster III (S)
KC-10 Extender (S)

Czech Air Force:

JAS-39C Gripen (F)
L-159 ALCA (F)


Royal Canadian Air Force:

CF-188A Hornet (F)
CC-177 Globemaster (S)
CC-130 Hercules (S)
CH-146 Griffon (S)
CP-140 Aurora (S)

Romanian Air Force:

MiG-21 LanceR-C (F)
C-27J Spartan (S)

Polish Air Force:

F-16C "Tiger" (F)
Su-22 Fitter (S)

Royal Danish Air Force:

F-16C Fighting Falcon (F) TBC
C-130J Hercules (S) TBC

French Navy:

Dassault Rafale M x2 (F)

Swedish Air Force:

JAS-39C Gripen (F/S)

Turkish Air Force:

F-16C "SoloTurk" (F)

Finnish Air Force:

F-18C Hornet (F)

Hellenic Air Force:

F-16C Block 52 "Zeus" (F)

Finnish Army Aviation:

NH90 TTH (F/S)

Belgian Air Force:

Agusta A109 (F) TBC

Royal Navy

Hawk T.1 (S)
Merlin HC.3 (S)
Merlin HM.2 (S)
Sea King ASaC.7 (S)
Wildcat HMA.2 (S)
Avenger T.1 (S)

Royal Australian Air Force:

E-7A Wedgetail (S)

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation:

C-17 Globemaster III (S)

Royal Air Force of Oman:

C-130J Hercules (S)

Lithuanian Air Force:

C-27J Spartan (S)

Slovak Air Force:

C-27J Spartan (S)

French Army:

SA330 Puma x2

Army Air Corps:

Wildcat AH.1 (S)

Civilian:

Great War Display Team x5 WWI aircraft (F)
Royal Jordanian Falcons x4 Extra 300 LX (F)
Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron Vampire T.55 & Vampire FB.52 (F)

Embraer KC-390 (S)
Hunter Mk.58 (S)
Gloster Meteor (S)
Jet Provost T.3 (S)
Jet Provost T.3A (S)
Jet Provost Mk.5 (S)
Bulldog T.1 (S)
Westland Whirlwind (S)
Bristol Sycamore (S)
Bo.105 (S)
x3 de Havilland Chipmunk (S)
x2 Tecnam P2008 (S)
Tecnam Sierra (S)
Cessna 152 (S)
Miles Magister (S)
Auster Mk.5 (S)
Gulfstream G450 (S)
Gulfstream G550 (S)
Gulfstream G650 (S)
EV-97 Eurostar (S)
Last edited by Adam on Wed May 02, 2018 1:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Adam » Tue May 15, 2018 5:42 pm

An expected addition, but the Belgian F-16 Demo Team has self-confirmed today.

Several announcements in the past few weeks have left me feeling much more positive about the show. It's become clear that a good number of air arms are still expected to announce participation, the RAF are expecting to provide one-off demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday (phew - I was getting worried they wouldn't) and we now have a couple of true star items in the flying and static displays. Whether it's the once-in-a-lifetime spectacular we'd all hoped for stills remains to be seen, but at the very least it's still going to be a damn good airshow.
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Post by Adam » Thu May 17, 2018 11:07 am

Great support from Italy added today: Frecce Tricolori, F-2000 Typhoon, T-346 Master and C-27J Spartan all flying. Can't get too excited about the Master, but the rest are class acts. Tornado, Typhoon, HH-101, HH-346 and Spartan added to the static.
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