RIAT UPDATE: 24/04/14

• Much charisma will be added to the array of combat aircraft on show at RIAT 2014 by two Hellenic Air Force A-7 Corsair IIs in the static park. Two examples of the Corsair II are due to be provided by 336 Mira at Araxos. It will be the first visit by Greek Corsairs to the event since 2007. These veteran strike jets, now the sole A-7s in military use, are reportedly due for retirement later this year.

 

• The latest national aerobatic team to join celebrations at RIAT 2014 of the Red Arrows' 50th display season is the French Air Force's Patrouille de France. Owing to other commitments, the team, with its eight Alpha Jets, will be appearing on the Friday and Saturday of the Air Tattoo only. Last year, the Reds helped mark the French team's own 60th anniversary at Salon de Provence in May 2013.

 

• The Royal Aeronautical Society will exhibit at RIAT 2014 a Rans S6 ES Coyote light aircraft to showcase its Schools Build-a-Plane Challenge, an initiative in which young people in secondary schools have the chance to build from a kit a light aircraft - and, hopefully, fly in the finished product. Several schools around the country are participating, and have flown the completed Rans aircraft.

 

• Continuing a very long run of Air Tattoo appearances, No 3 Squadron of the Royal Jordanian Air Force will be sending a C-130H Hercules to RIAT 2014. Part of the RJAF's Air Lift Wing and stationed at King Abdullah Air Base in the capital city Amman, No 3 Squadron operates the C295 alongside its Hercules fleet, which currently numbers seven aircraft. If previous years are anything to go by, expect the Jordanians to put up an eye-catching display on their country near the Hercules.

 

• Displayed statically in the Air Tattoo's Techno Zone will be a light helicopter not previously seen at RIAT, the attractive Guimbal Cabri G2 operated by Leicester-based Helicentre Aviation. The company uses the French-designed type for helicopter pilot training and flight experiences.

 

• The history of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, will be reflected in the RIAT 2014 static display by the presence of two Gnat T1s owned by the Heritage Aircraft Trust and operated by the Gnat Display Team. The aircraft will be in the colours of the Yellowjacks, the Red Arrows' forerunner, and the Reds themselves. Naturally, the Gnats are set to form part of celebrations marking the Red Arrows' 50th display season, having been the first aircraft type used by the team.

 

• Two beautiful classic aircraft will help form an appropriate aeronautical backdrop to RIAT's popular Vintage Village, the area dedicated to conjuring up memories of yesteryear. The highly polished, Art Deco-style lines of a Spartan 7W Executive, one of two owned by Nigel Pickard, will contrast with the biplane elegance of Nigel Finlayson and David Peters' Waco UPF-7. Both aircraft are based at Little Gransden in Cambridgeshire.

 

• Two aircraft will be provided by the Spanish Air Force for the RIAT 2014 static park. An EF-18M or BM Hornet is coming from Ala 15 at Zaragoza - the first time a Spanish Hornet has attended the show since 2009 - while a C295 transport will hail from Ala 35 at Getafe.

 

• The Austrian Air Force contributed a Sikorsky S-65 helicopter to the very first Air Tattoo in 1971, so it is fitting that Tim Prince's last show as director of the Royal International Air Tattoo should welcome the air arm once again, with a solo display by a Saab 105ÖE jet trainer. This item was last seen at RIAT in 2011. It is provided by the Düsentrainerstaffel (Jet Trainer Squadron) at Linz. The sight of the Austrian Saab display will be nostalgic for those who recall the Karo As display team that appeared at several Air Tattoos in the 1970s and '80s.