Farnborough International 2008 (part 1)

Normally I wouldn't be too interested in Farnborough's biannual show, but this year it was my only chance to see the newly restored Vulcan, with RIAT being cancelled the week before. The aircraft was due to perform a validation display on the 10th July, in preparation for the show the following week, so I went to catch my first glimpse since I saw it last in 1992. Unfortunately the weather was typically 'British Summer', consisting of overcast conditions with rain. Annoyingly it cleared to sunshine after the display! Here's the first view out of the mist:

It was barely visible in the awful conditions, yet the flight continued:

It flew right overhead, then disappeared into the low cloudbase:

With a better weather forecast the next week, I decided to go and watch the only display by the F-22 Raptor on Monday 14th July. Before this though, the Airbus A380 (world's biggest airliner) performed its impressive display:

The EADS A300 tanker also did some flypasts:

Then the Raptor arrived, with a wall of noise. An incredible machine with a huge amount of power and thrust-vectored engines:

The Vulcan returned to the sky with a full display this time too. The weather was better, but bright rather than sunny:

On Sunday 20th July, I went to the show itself. Part 2 shows the first of the images from the airshow.