Royal International Air Tattoo 2015
Discussion
It always amazes me how people don't quibble about paying £50 for 90 minutes of football, or £50+ to see a sub-2 hour pop concert, yet when you have a six hour flying display of aircraft it is overpriced, I really don't get that.
It must cost ridiculous amounts when you have to factor in Policing, emergency services, local authority road systems, Insurance, employees to organise the event, aircrew accommodation, toilets, bins, pa systems, commentators, crew vehicles, ATC staff and aircraft and so on, and still have money left for the charity at the end of it.
To counter the spotter argument, RIAT send out invites to every country, many a time this involves liaising with the relevant embassies for participation.
It is then up to the country whether they want to attend, and what aircraft they want to attend with. I think RIAT might try to drop hints to sway them if there is a particular aircraft they would like, but really they are at the total mercy of what the country wants to send.
Everyone would love to see a Greek or Turkish F4, but really if they do not have spare crew or aircraft it isn't going to happen.
Also every country will have specific display pilots and routines, it is up to them whether they want to attend the static or whether they wish to send their display aircraft and pilots.
NATO Aircraft are provided free of charge, I believe the RAF actually charge RIAT to attend.
Civilian aircraft have to be paid for, the Vulcan at around £10k per display is a chunk of that budget gone already. As they are not subsidised in any way, RIAT tend to fill as much with free or low cost military items first.
That is why when you get an offer from Spain of a pair or rarely seen F-5s, you won't turn them down. They are a rare item, for very little cost, that would not be filled on the acres of tarmac by anything else.
As said before declining military budgets are reducing the aircraft types and countries attendance. The USAF used to throw everything at RIAT, now with their tight budgets, it is a shadow of what they used to send. The Dutch used to have the F-16 demo and at least a further 3x F-16s either on static/display spares, but now they are not able to even send one. The RAF turn out is good, Voyager, A400M, and Hercules all on static.
So the reality is, RIAT can send the invites, but it is ultimately up to the countries what they decide to send.
I haven't been since 2012, but this year I have booked to go again.
It must cost ridiculous amounts when you have to factor in Policing, emergency services, local authority road systems, Insurance, employees to organise the event, aircrew accommodation, toilets, bins, pa systems, commentators, crew vehicles, ATC staff and aircraft and so on, and still have money left for the charity at the end of it.
To counter the spotter argument, RIAT send out invites to every country, many a time this involves liaising with the relevant embassies for participation.
It is then up to the country whether they want to attend, and what aircraft they want to attend with. I think RIAT might try to drop hints to sway them if there is a particular aircraft they would like, but really they are at the total mercy of what the country wants to send.
Everyone would love to see a Greek or Turkish F4, but really if they do not have spare crew or aircraft it isn't going to happen.
Also every country will have specific display pilots and routines, it is up to them whether they want to attend the static or whether they wish to send their display aircraft and pilots.
NATO Aircraft are provided free of charge, I believe the RAF actually charge RIAT to attend.
Civilian aircraft have to be paid for, the Vulcan at around £10k per display is a chunk of that budget gone already. As they are not subsidised in any way, RIAT tend to fill as much with free or low cost military items first.
That is why when you get an offer from Spain of a pair or rarely seen F-5s, you won't turn them down. They are a rare item, for very little cost, that would not be filled on the acres of tarmac by anything else.
As said before declining military budgets are reducing the aircraft types and countries attendance. The USAF used to throw everything at RIAT, now with their tight budgets, it is a shadow of what they used to send. The Dutch used to have the F-16 demo and at least a further 3x F-16s either on static/display spares, but now they are not able to even send one. The RAF turn out is good, Voyager, A400M, and Hercules all on static.
So the reality is, RIAT can send the invites, but it is ultimately up to the countries what they decide to send.
I haven't been since 2012, but this year I have booked to go again.
I haven't been in for years, I watch the show from Totterdown Farm (Google it, the view is exponentially better than from inside, you just miss the static display). This year however, I will be going in on the Friday to get some photos of the static and will then go to Totterdown on sat and sun.
pablo said:
Friday display looks better than expected:
Mass BoB flypast
RAFAT
Typhoon/Spitfire
Hawk T2 role demo
Typhoon solo
A440M
French aerobatic team
MiL24 Hind
Polish Mig 29
Tri-National Tornado flypast
Belgian F16
Greek(!) F16 pair
USAF Osprey
Dutch Apache
That's one hell of a warm-up act for the ChinnyMass BoB flypast
RAFAT
Typhoon/Spitfire
Hawk T2 role demo
Typhoon solo
A440M
French aerobatic team
MiL24 Hind
Polish Mig 29
Tri-National Tornado flypast
Belgian F16
Greek(!) F16 pair
USAF Osprey
Dutch Apache
pablo said:
Friday display looks better than expected:
Mass BoB flypast
RAFAT
Typhoon/Spitfire
Hawk T2 role demo
Typhoon solo
A440M
French aerobatic team
Red MiL24 Hind
Polish Mig 29
Tri-National Tornado flypast
Belgian F16
Greek(!) F16 pair
USAF Osprey
Dutch Apache
Make sure you see the Belgian F-16. I saw him at Cosford a few weeks ago and the display was jaw-dropping. One of the best I've seen in years. Mass BoB flypast
RAFAT
Typhoon/Spitfire
Hawk T2 role demo
Typhoon solo
A440M
French aerobatic team
Red MiL24 Hind
Polish Mig 29
Tri-National Tornado flypast
Belgian F16
Greek(!) F16 pair
USAF Osprey
Dutch Apache
Looks like there will be a couple of Japanese Kawasaki P1s flying in for RIAT - one static, one to display.
Someone let the MoD procurement team know so they can go and have a look at something other than the P8 to fill the yawning MPA void! I can't help but think that 4 engines would be better than 2 when you're doing long duration over-water flying.....
Someone let the MoD procurement team know so they can go and have a look at something other than the P8 to fill the yawning MPA void! I can't help but think that 4 engines would be better than 2 when you're doing long duration over-water flying.....
bluey1905 said:
Hope the Greeks manage to get here with all that's going on at the moment.
I've got mixed feelings on that. Yes, it would be nice to see them attend, but equally... a country that cannot afford to pay it's debts / workers etc, can spend money on sending the aircraft to airshows.onyx39 said:
bluey1905 said:
Hope the Greeks manage to get here with all that's going on at the moment.
I've got mixed feelings on that. Yes, it would be nice to see them attend, but equally... a country that cannot afford to pay it's debts / workers etc, can spend money on sending the aircraft to airshows.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff