RIAT returned to RAF Fairford in 2024, with better weather than the previous year.
This year was a great year for quality, with some rare and unusual participants, including a display by a Lockheed U-2 before being placed on static display, as well as the sight of a second U-2 returning from a 10-hour mission.
Also not seen at a UK airshow for a very long time was a pair of Northrop SF-5M Freedom Fighters from the Spanish Air Force.
A type soon to disappear from the skies is the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The remaining operators in Europe, Turkey and Greece each sent a pair to RIAT, much to the joy of those present. Apart from Iran (and nobody is sure about them!), this was probably one of the last chances to see F-4s flying or on static display.
This year the special commemorations honoured the 50th year of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, the 50th anniversary of the BAe Hawk, the 75th Anniversary of NATO and the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The organising committee managed to put together an excellent lineup of F-16s, including rarely seen Moroccan and Jordanian examples, along with Romanian, Greek, Danish, Turkish, US, Belgian and Dutch airframes, all gathered together in a nice lineup, with a nice touch of a raised viewing platform at one end of the line. They even went to the length of secretly transporting a non-airworthy aircraft from Holland and applying a special 50th Anniversary tail colour scheme as a surprise, unannounced participant.
Sadly, due to a fatal accident the previous week, the Polish contingent was unable to attend RIAT – sympathies go out to the family and friends of the pilot, Major Robert ‘Killer’ Jel, who died.
The Hawk celebrations were a little more muted, with RAF, Saudi, Finnish and Qatar Emiri examples – with it also being the 60th Anniversary of the forming of the Red Arrows, their aircraft were suitably marked up.
NATO’s 75th Anniversary was represented by various aircraft from most of the member countries, although events between Ukraine and Russia did have some effect on participation. Friday saw a special NATO flypast, including General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons from the USAF, Turkey, Belgium, Greece and Romania, followed by an RAF Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, in formation with a Czech AF Saab Jas-39 Gripen, an Armee de l’Air Dassault Mirage 2000-5 and an Italian Air Force Panavia A-200A Tornado, and finally a NATO Boeing E-3A Sentry flanked by an German AF Eurofighter EF2000, a Finnish AF BAe Hawk and a Spanish AF Northrop SF-5M Freedom Fighter.
The Canadian participation extended to each aircraft having a ‘100’ logo but special mention must go to the McDonnell Douglass CF-18 Hornet special paint scheme, the appearance of a bright yellow rescue Airbus CC-295 Kingfisher, which made a stop on its way through to planned maintenance at the manufacturer and a Bell CH-146 Griffon, which was transported over in the hold of the Boeing CC-177 Globemaster.
Boeing took the opportunity to display two Boeing F-15QA Ababil (Eagle) airframes which were on their way through to Farnborough and subsequent delivery to the Qatar Emiri Air Force. This was the first visit and display in Europe by the next-generation F-15EX Eagle and the displays were performed by Boeing test pilots. The aircraft were in two different configurations – one heavily armed and one lightly loaded. Thursday saw both aircraft performing flying display validation routines.
Qatar Emiri provided good support to RIAT again this year, with the presence of 3 x BAe Hawk Mk167, a Eurofighter Typhoon, a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III and an NH90 NFH helicopter which had been transported in the hold of another C-17A to RAF Brize Norton before making the short hop to Fairford.
There were a couple of notable other aircraft in commemorative paint schemes – particularly a Panavia A-200A Tornado from Italy and another Tornado from Germany. Also in special schemes were a German AF EF-2000 and a Czech AF JAS-39.
A special mention also for a couple of ex-military types on static display – a Breguet 1050 Alize and a Conaor Turbo Firecat.
This is just a short list of my personal favourites – there was a multitude of other interesting aircraft at the show – too numerous to mention individually.
All in all, this was one of the better RIAT shows in recent years – certainly, as I said earlier, in terms of the quality/rarity of participants. Whether or not the organisers can create a similar result in 2025 remains to be seen – but going by this year’s achievements, there’s every reason to believe they will do so.
Arrivals Days
Display Solos
Display Teams
Static
Departures
