98 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE SEPTEMBER 20178
JULYEvents
I
nitial impressions of Yeovilton’s 2017
Air Day were of a varied and
interesting static park. Notable were an
RAF-camoufl aged Czech Air Force Aero
L-159 marked as AD572/DU-C to
represent a wartime Spitfi re Vb of No 312
Squadron, Royal Danish Navy Lynx S-191
of Eskadrille 723 in a superb pre-
retirement ‘1980-2017’ colour scheme,
and both Martin-Baker Meteors, WA638
and WL419, lined up together in what
was surely an airshow ‘fi rst’. WA638 has
been involved in testing the Mk16E
ejection seat for the F-35, as evinced by a
badge on its nose; a good case of the old
meeting the new.W
hat aircraft now qualify as
historic? Given that this year’s
RIAT line-up of current
operational types included a US Air Force
B-52H built in 1960, and two Andravida-
based Hellenic Air Force F-4E Phantom IIs
that entered service in 1974, the
defi nition can be somewhat elastic. The
RAF’s ‘desert pink’-painted Tornado GR4
reminded us that this type has fl own
operationally non-stop for the past25-plus years, whereas the Austrian Air
Force has had its venerable Saab 105OEs
since 1970, and they still look the same
now as they did then. The Sukhoi Su-27 is
defi nitely redolent of the Cold War,
though the ‘pixelated’ liveries applied to
the two Ukrainian Air Force examples
present, one giving very welcome fl ying
displays — the fi rst by a ‘Flanker’ in the
UK since the great Anatoly Kvotchur
performed at Jersey in 2001 — indicated
that they were upgraded single-seat
Su-27P1M and two-seat UB1M variants.
The French Air Force had already
marked the centenary of the arrival of
American forces in France in 1917 by
sending the Patrouille de France on a
six-week tour of the USA this spring. To
salute that critical event, and the
centenary of the squadron SPA 85 ‘La
Folie’, one of the two Alpha Jet Es from
Tours had various fi gures painted on its
tail, including that of Eugene J. Bullard,who from May 1917 was the fi rst and only
African-American pilot to fl y operationally
in World War One. A most elegant
reminder of an earlier French classic
trainer, the Fouga CM170 Magister, was
parked next to them, Habib
Boukharouba’s immaculate F-AZXV
showing off its lines admirably in
Monday’s departure ‘wing wave’.
Meanwhile, the 30th anniversary of the
Armée de l’Air’s second major attack on
Wadi Doum in Libyan-occupied northern
Chad in January 1987 was
commemorated in markings on the
desert-camoufl aged Mirage 2000D of the
Couteau Delta pair, one of the show’s
stand-out display teams.
The BAE Systems exhibit always
includes a range of historic aircraft
harking back to its ‘ancestor’ companies.
This year’s selection included Hurricane
Heritage’s Hurricane I, Shuttleworth’s
Provost T1 and Mark Petrie’s StrikemasterThe ‘home team’ of Navy Wings and
the RN Historic Flight was well
represented, statically speaking, with
Swordfi sh W5856 and Sea Fury FB11
VR930 alongside Sea Vixen XP924, which
looked deceptively intact after its
wheels-up landing of 27 May, and the
Fleet Air Arm Museum’s Sea Venom.
Sadly, the paperwork for Sea Fury T20
VX281 had not yet been signed off after
its restoration, while Swordfi sh W5856
awaits engine parts and was also unable
to fl y. The RNHF was thus represented in
the air only by Chipmunk WK608, piloted
by Chris Götke in an impressively tight
display of aerobatics.RNAS Yeovilton Air Day
The weather was kind for the fl ying, in
which several aircraft (Patrouille Suisse,
RN Wildcats, Czech L-159 and Gripen,
Belgian F-16) made use of fl ares to light
up the sky — not that the sky needed
lighting up. The BBMF Lancaster made a
welcome return, appearing alongside
Spitfi re XIX PS915 but without giving its
customary solo display. The crowd’s
favourite was surely the two-ship of
Aéronavale Rafale Ms from Flottille 11F at
Landivisiau fl ying a noisy, all-action
routine.
With good organisation, friendly
security and bag-checking, a fi ve-hour
fl ying programme, an airfi eld full of thingsRoyal International Air Tattoo
14-16
JULYRIAT’s Heritage Flight duo: Frenesi and
F-22A. DAVID HALFORDThe BBMF’s ‘Thompson
Formation’ really is
quite superb.
BEN DUNNELLHabib Boukharouba joined in the
spirited Air Tattoo departure day
action with his gleaming Magister.
BEN DUNNELL96-99_AM_Events_Sept17_cc C.indd 98 31/07/2017 11:17