Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2017

Discussion relating to 2017 airshows/fly-ins/exercises/other events. Post news before the event and post your photos afterwards! Please create only one thread per event.
JA Boomer
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Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 12:25 am

Post by JA Boomer » Wed Aug 16, 2017 2:55 pm

A bit late to the party but I'll post my thoughts. My wife and I completed our honeymoon trip of Europe and the first stop was RIAT 2017. RIAT was not something I ever really imagined I would attend, and getting the chance to cross it off my bucket list was amazing. We got the Mach 3 FRIAT package and stayed at the Colesbourne Inn near Cheltenham. The experience met all of my expectations!

The Good:

-Everything about the FRIAT experience! They made it very easy to attend with little experience of the airfield and the local area. Answered all the questions I had, and were delightful to deal with in-person at the show. My wife especially appreciated the clean portable washrooms throughout the weekend.

-The aircraft. Two of my biggest interests are the military and aviation. Naturally I am a big fan of military aviation. RIAT did not disappoint, both in the air and the static ramp. There were a number of firsts for me, mostly European equipment (I liked the mini-gun on the Finnish NH90) but also the U-2S. The A400M, C-27J, and Apache flying displays stood out for my wife and I.

-The two seats on either side of my wife and I in the FRIAT grandstand were never occupied at any point from Thursday to Monday which was great. Everyone was pleasant and the man to my right was easy to talk to. Funny enough the two Aussies on my wife's left were staying in the room next door to us at the Colesbourne Inn - what are the odds?

-The traffic/parking/admission lines were as expected for an event of that size. Not good, but not unacceptable.

-The static ramp ropes, makes for great pictures without people.

The Bad:

Please don't take this the wrong way, we both thoroughly enjoyed the RIAT experience.

-The weather. Obviously not as good as it could be. The fact that every act got to perform over the course of the week and I got my pictures made it a non-issue. I was pretty well airshow'd out after 5 days.

-Wings FM. First off, it seemed to have an extremely short range. I could only turn-in basically at the airfield. Second, the music and programming was awful. Need more airshow related content and "airshow" music.

-Airshow music. Clearly this is not as big of a thing in the UK. I noticed some of the European aircrews had their routines done to music. This is normal in North America, and I think it adds to the display. I was surprised that the Red Arrows etc. lacked a performance soundtrack.

-The speakers above the FRIAT grandstand are bad. They need to upgrade to stereo speakers so I doesn't sound like AM radio.

-The commentary at the air show is dry and repetitive. Literally the same comments on each day. Thought this could be improved.

-I was surprised at the rigidness of most of the air displays. I seems every demo team had 8 minutes to go up and put their aircraft through it's paces. It reminded me of the Boeing Super Hornet demo here in Canada vs the military display teams who seem to have more relax and fun performances. Maybe this is the reality of so many aircraft in the flying display, but it felt rushed at times.

-I tried several times to go and visit with the Canadian aircrews at the Chinook and Globemaster but they were not present. Granted this was first and last thing each day as I watched all the flying displays at the FRIAT grandstand, but it was disappointing. Did anyone notice if there were present during the day, and did anyone have a chance to chat with them?

Airshow. A Year in the Life of the World's Largest Military Air Show by Graham Hurley

Appropriately I read this novel over the course of my vacation and thoroughly enjoyed it and it definitely added to the RIAT experience.
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RFDGuy
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Post by RFDGuy » Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:55 pm

I'm with ya Boomer. Need to make it over there. But I'd definitely attend for the entire week, because you're bound to get rained on at least one or two days.
What is this FRIAT experience? This something I can google and find easy?
Last edited by RFDGuy on Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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JA Boomer
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Post by JA Boomer » Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:46 pm

RFDGuy wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:55 pm I'm with ya Boomer. Need to make it over there. But I'd definitely attend for the entire week, because you're bound to get rained on at least one or two days.
What is this FRIAT experience? This something I can google and find easy?
Check it out on their website: http://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/people ... s/packages

It's basically the Cadillac ticket option. You get show entry from Wed-Mon including access to the park-and-views, a seat on the grandstand, and access to the FRIAT enclosure which has members only food trucks, an enclosure with table and chairs, helpful airshow staff, and souvenirs. There's also private (and clean) bathrooms which my wife greatly appreciated.

You also get a program, daily flying schedules, and some gifts with your ticket.

We spent 2 hours Thurs, 6 hours Fri, 8 hours each on Sat and Sun, and 4 hours on Mon in our grandstand seats. You can't beat the view!

I would recommend going to RIAT, and if it's perhaps a once in a lifetime thing, do yourself a favour and book MACH 3 tickets.
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Dan Gagnon
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Location: Milton, ON

Post by Dan Gagnon » Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:10 pm

JA Boomer wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:46 pm
RFDGuy wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:55 pm I'm with ya Boomer. Need to make it over there. But I'd definitely attend for the entire week, because you're bound to get rained on at least one or two days.
What is this FRIAT experience? This something I can google and find easy?
Check it out on their website: http://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/people ... s/packages

It's basically the Cadillac ticket option. You get show entry from Wed-Mon including access to the park-and-views, a seat on the grandstand, and access to the FRIAT enclosure which has members only food trucks, an enclosure with table and chairs, helpful airshow staff, and souvenirs. There's also private (and clean) bathrooms which my wife greatly appreciated.

You also get a program, daily flying schedules, and some gifts with your ticket.

We spent 2 hours Thurs, 6 hours Fri, 8 hours each on Sat and Sun, and 4 hours on Mon in our grandstand seats. You can't beat the view!

I would recommend going to RIAT, and if it's perhaps a once in a lifetime thing, do yourself a favour and book MACH 3 tickets.
I will echo Dave's comment and say RIAT is a must once in our lifetimes. I converted the cost of the Mach 3 package $380 CAD and $296 USD. While the cost is high, you get 6 days of airshow with seating, food and bathrooms. It really is also a once in a lifetime experience.

I would definately love to go, especially with my group of friends that I attend Oshkosh with.
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