RIAT 2017 (Part 2)
The weather started much better on Sunday compared with the previous day, so I used the opportunity to walk round the static first. First off, the return of a B-52 from the USAF:
The furthest-travelled Air Force; the Australians, with their Boeing E-7A 'Wedgetail' 'battlefield management' aircraft:
A very bright Magister:
A USAF KC-135 Stratotanker:
Another welcome return, even if it was only static; a USAF B-1B bomber:
A very rare visitor was a U-2S spy plane from the USAF; the first time I've seen one at an airshow I think! This was a very 'battleworn' example, with paint peeling off:
The Ukrainian Air Force brought along another Cold War era jet for their SU-27 support; an Illushyin IL-76:
Their static SU-27 really showed how large this fighter jet is compared with most:
The Japanese returned after their debut in 2016 with their Boeing KC-767J, carrying amongst their passengers a group of Japanese drummers, who put on several amazing shows:
Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantoms returned; becoming very rare these days:
The big surprise of the show was the unannounced appearance of the Israeli Air Force with a heavily-guarded C-130 Hercules:
RAF and Luftwaffe Airbus A400Ms lined up at the western end:
The Red Arrows and Patrouille Suisse display teams neatly lined up on the opposite side of the airfield prior to their displays:
The star item on the Sunday was the unannounced addition of a USAF B-2A Spirit in the flying display. It did give itself away about 30 mins before displaying as it held on the distance, but it was worth the wait as the unmistakable shape flew over twice and even gave a sweeping view of its topside, before heading all the way back to where it came from in Missouri, USA:
The USAF put on a flypast of American Airforces in Europe, including this Boeing KC-135 with refuelling probe deployed:
On the Sunday, we finally got a display from the F-22A Raptor of the USAF. I was down at the Eastern end to see the Thunderbirds' regimented pre-flight routine at the time, so got close to the taxiway:
The Thunderbirds' routine was extremely polished!:
And finally, as the sunshine returned after a late shower, a final display from the impressive Ukrainian SU-27:
