GST From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2008, 190 posts, RR: 0 Posted (3 months 1 week 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 1895 times:
Well, its that time of year again, and so I must ask, any other A.nutters going?
I'll be there with a friend who is coming all the way from Donegal for the event. I'm sorely hoping that this year will be the year of the Vulcan. The lineup looks fantastic, and even though the met office is giving me a gloomy impression of the weekend, hopefully everything will pan out okay.
Sorry if this is the wrong board, I assumed this would be the correct one as it is a predominantly military show.
Gliding is to power flying as seduction is to rape.
Doofus From United States, joined Mar 2006, 15 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (3 months 1 week 5 days ago) and read 1839 times:
Yeah, I'm not sure if this was the right forum to post of not, but I searched them all to see if anyone had started a thread on the Waddington airshow.
I'll be there on Saturday. My wife and I will probably get there around 10:00 and to have gander at everything. Then I'll be working the Northrop Grumman AWACS table in 3 Hangar from 15:00-19:00. In fact I guess I'm there every weekday with nice window view of the runway since I work there. It's been real nice lately since many of the participants have been practicing their routines. The Typhoon was here just a bit ago making quite a bit of racket!
Anyways, hope to see you there and if you can, spare a £ for the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance appeal!
Josh
(also hoping the weather cooperates as well)
.
GST From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2008, 190 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 1822 times:
Yes indeed, as of today, the Vulcan To The Sky website is saying that is now certified, and so is pretty much guranteed to make an apperance.
I'll be there borrowing my dad's fantastic SLR, hope I can get a good shot of XH558's first touchdown at her home base since 1993. And good shots of the other stuff for that matter. I'll hopefully be getting there as early as possible, i think the train gets to Lincoln just after 8am. My friend and I are both aero engineering students so not a moment will be wasted touring the static displays...
Gliding is to power flying as seduction is to rape.
Trekster From , joined today!, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 1777 times:
I knew something would get posted sooner or later.
I heading up from London to Grantham tomorrow, and will 100% be there to see the most magnificent piece of history taking to the Lincolnshire skies once again. Im a local, having been born while my parents were at RAF Scampton (Now home to the Red Arrows) so cant wait
PM me if any one wants to catch up during the day.
Chachu201 From New Zealand, joined Apr 2006, 773 posts, RR: 7 Reply 11, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 1758 times:
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Hi guys,
I was at Waddington today on behalf of A.net, and have a lot of info and pictures for you all. It was a great day, and I'll try and prepare something by the end of tonight for everyone. If you have any particular questions, I can try and answer them myself (I have a huge briefing pack given to me by the Media team) or if this isnt possible, then I can contact the Media team tomorrow and try and get an answer for you.
Well, it was raining last year...it will be raining this year...so next year will be perfect, but will be on a day with an astronomical pollen count so there will be people sneezing louder than the planes roaring
Gliding is to power flying as seduction is to rape.
Chachu201 From New Zealand, joined Apr 2006, 773 posts, RR: 7 Reply 14, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1716 times:
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Waddington Airshow 2008 - Airliners.net Brief
This years RAF Waddington International Airshow promises to be one of the biggest and best so far, with extensive international participation from Asia, South America, the US, and throughout Europe.
Themes
The show this year will focus on four main themes, these are:
- 90th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force
- The Royal Air Force today
- Vulcan "coming home"
- Youth in the community (probably not relevant to A.netters, but interesting nonetheless)
Weather
As we all know, last years airshow was a fairly rounded failure, with the Sunday cancelled at short notice, mainly due to massive amounts of rain in the preceding weeks. A look at the weather forecast indicates that on the Saturday we will have rain in the morning and light showers in the afternoon, and on Sunday we'll see showers throughout the day.
Highlights
We expect to see not only many stunning aircraft in the skies and on the ground, but also a huge amount of other activities going on at the base. The 7 hour flying display is undoubtedly the major attraction for the public, and as I mentioned before, there are several international display teams in attendance. One of the most impressive of these is the Patrulla Aguila of the Spanish Air Force, flying CASA C-101 Aviojets. Within the SAF this aircraft is used for basic and advanced jet training, perhaps in a role similar to the RAF's Hawk's. Commanding the team over the weekend will be Major Diez, with 6 other pilots displaying the aircraft with him.
Also, the Indian Air Force's Sarang (meaning peacock) helicopter display team will be in attendance, operating four HAL Dhruvs, and led by Wing Commander Shashank Misra. The team will display for approximately 15 minutes, during which time they will demonstrate the extensive capabilities of the aircraft, including the team's unique manoeuvres such as the stall turn, the cross over break, and the level mesh and arrow. Deviating from facts, I saw the rehearsal of the display this afternoon, and whilst impressive, it is perhaps not to the same standard as the RN Display team, the Black Cats.
The other international team that will be performing at the airshow this weekend is the Chilean Air Force's Los Halcones. I can't actually tell you much about the team, because whoever wrote the information sheet I have on them needs to brush up on their English, but I can tell you that they provide an excellent display with their fleet of six Extra 300 L aircraft. They are a well respected team, having performed throughout the world and won many awards, and worth a look.
Another major highlight of the weekend will be the RAF Role demonstration, lasting 45 minutes, and performed on the airfield. I've lost one of my sheets on this, but I'll tell you what I can remember. Whilst the purpose of the airshow is to show what the aircraft can do, the role demonstration shows what is actually done. Live radio calls broadcasted on the PA system, and extensive special effects will bring the demo to life, and will be an excellent show. And when I say special effects, I mean pyrotechnics, and lots of them.
This demonstration is known as Operation Summer Lightning, and the scenario involved is that two British service personnel have been captured by enemy forces and are being held at Waddington airfield (an enemy base, for the time being). A rescue mission has been planned after which the airfield will be attacked. Involved in the display are the following:
- 2x Tornado F3 - Callsign SCORPION, this is a fighter/interceptor aircraft
- 2x Tornado GR4 - Callsign SPARTAN, this is an all weather attack/reconnaissance aircraft
- 2x Hawks - I suspect these are enemy aircraft, so no callsign
- 1x E3-D - Callsign MAGIC, this is a surveillance, command and control, weapons control, and communications aircraft.
- 1x Chinook - Callsign VORTEX, this is a troop and heavy load carrying helicopter
- 1x Apache - Callsign WARRIOR, this provides direct fire support for ground troops
Another highlight of the show will be the Eurofighter Typhoon performing alongside the Spitfire, both the top aircraft in their times. This provides a stunning contrast between the aircraft of today and the aircraft of 60 years ago, and is, naturally, well worth a look.
Also, this year will see the US Air Force display the B52 Stratofortress bomber, of the Air Combat Command. This is a long range, heavy bomber, capably of flying at up to 50,000 feet with its 8 engines. Costing $53.4 million USD each, these aren't cheap, but with a payload of approximately 70,000 pounds worth of mixed ordnance and five crew, you get your moneys worth.
Also, this year everyone is exceptionally excited to see the return of Vulcan XH558 to RAF Waddington, after more than 15 years of restoration costing more than £7 million. Having been in service since 1960, she is nearly 50 years old, and is destined to put on an excellent show. After hours of tension on Thursday, whilst the CAA performed final checks on the aircraft, she was eventually given permit to fly, upon which she was immediately flown from Bruntingsthorpe to Waddington. Just a few hours later, the final authorisation came through from the CAA which would allow the aircraft to perform a flying display at Waddington and other planned airshows.
Apart from the flying displays, there will also be some very interesting activities on the ground. As a part of the "RAF Today" theme, there will be a mock up Deployed Operating Base on the airfield, where the RAF will demonstrate the equipment they use in operational theatres such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Also, there will be a 90th Anniversary static park, featuring an aircraft from RAF service from each of the 9 decades of its history.
I have lots of pictures from the media preview day, photos of the display teams in action, and of the pilots on the ground, and will get these up as soon as possible. I hope you've found this quick brief an interesting insight into what's in store this weekend, and as I said, I'll supplement this with some pictures of the aircraft practising as soon as I can get them up.
I'll try and get some details as to the timetable on the day, and also some more info on the displaying aircraft.
Once again, if there's any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, and I'll try my best to help. I'll be at the airshow on the Saturday, and if anyone wants maps, earplugs, brochures, leaflets, etc, for that day, I can also arrange this for you. Have an enjoyable weekend everyone.
Chachu201 From New Zealand, joined Apr 2006, 773 posts, RR: 7 Reply 16, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 1693 times:
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Apologies for not making this clear. Yes, the RAF display team, the Red Arrows will definitely be present.
As it stands, this is the list of flying aircraft participating:
Military
Patrulla Aguila - Spanish Air Force Display Team
The Sarangs - Indian Air Force Helicopter Display Team
Los Halcones - Chilean Air Force Display Team
Red Arrows - Royal Air Force Display Team
The RAF Falcons - Free Fall Parachute Team
Black Cats - Royal Navy Helicopter Display Team
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight - Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane
Blue Eagles - Army Air Corps Helicopter Display Team
B-52 - USAF
Mirage 2000 - French Air Force
Hawk T Mk1 - 208 Sqn RAF Valley
Typhoon - 29 (R) Sqn RAF Coningsby
Tucano T Mk1 - CFS (T) Sqn RAF Linton-on-Ouse
Tutor-Grob G 115E - 1 Sqn 1EFTS RAFC Cranwell
Chinook - RAF Odiham
Beechcraft King Air B200 - 45 (R) Sqn RAFC Cranwell
Apache - Army Air Corps Middle Wallop
Chinook - Role Demo
Tornado F-3 - Role Demo
Tornado GR-4 - Role Demo
Hawk T Mk1 - Role Demo
E-3D Sentry - Role Demo
Apache - Role Demo
Spitfire/Typhoon - Synchronised Display
Merlin - 814 RNAS Culdrose
Civilian
Avro Vulcan XH 558 - Vulcan to the Sky Trust
The Blades - Extra 300 2 Excel
Dassault Falcon - FR Aviation
Douglas DC-6 - Air Atlantique
GST From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2008, 190 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 1687 times:
Do you know if the E-3 will be ZH104? I figure there is a 1 in 6 chance...
If it is i'm under orders to get many photos of it, and specifically the patch underneath and to the left of the front passenger door, a patch that was put there due to an accident involving one of my friends when he was in the RAF.
thanks for the rundown, I'll have a good read though later when I have the time it deserves.
Gliding is to power flying as seduction is to rape.
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