Air Show Report : RAF Waddington Air Show 2005
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Report by Andrew Philpott,
all photos by author
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Royal Air Force Waddington in Lincolnshire
hosts the second largest Airshow event in
the United Kingdom. Mostly dominated by
RAF aircraft in the displays, Waddington
still makes the effort to invite other Forces
to come and enjoy our English weather!
Traditionally the weather is overcast and raining for arrivals and practice displays making photography difficult but being professional we got the job done. One of the static aircraft highlights included three Romanian Mig-21 Lancer aircraft which are currently on deployment and working with 617 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. Landing in two pairs with the second pair delaying in the circuit for traffic reasons. Once landed an RAF Tornado ran in and broke. One has to imagine the radio chatter between the Tornado and the tower ... “Are we under attack?!, God Dam! There’s Migs everywhere!” |
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The Greeks acknowledged their invite
by providing an F-16D, interesting to see
it was a Block 52 two seat version with
the upper fuselage section being square.
This increases the Falcons fuel carrying
capability.
The French also showed their support for Waddington’s airshow event by providing a Mirage 2000D aircraft for the static. Also to appear in the static was a French Alpha Jet from the same unit as the one in the flying programme. American F-15E Eagles took time out of their busy flying schedule and made the short hop (in flying terms) from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, home to three United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) Units. |
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A German Tornado IDS from JaboG 31
and a pair of Turkish F-4 Phantoms all
did there part to fill out the static line
up and add some much needed variation.
RAF Aircraft participation is always strong with Jaguars, Hawks, Harriers Tornado F.3 and GR.4 variants. Also a RAF Sentry Airborne Early Warning aircraft and a Tucano trainer attended the event. The flying display included a Hawk T.1A which has been nicely decorated with 'flames' for the 2005 display season. Making a nice change for the season of 2005 the Jaguar GR.3 display will be flown in a 41 Squadron machine. The responsibility of airshow event flying has been taken over by 41, after the disbandment of 16 (R) earlier in the year. |
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Being in close proximity to Fighter bases,
Waddington had Tornado F.3 examples from
the Squadrons of 11 and 25 both from RAF
Leeming in Yorkshire.
12 Squadron showed off their anniversary scheme for ninety years of the Squadron! And another GR.4 of interest was a specially painted example from 14 Squadron displayed in a striking blue scheme. Both Tornado display routines weren’t very inspiring to watch. I didn’t feel I had to run to the recruiting stand and sign up! Although the F.3 and GR.4 variants have different roles one would have found it difficult to determine which is which judging from the displays. |
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Piloted by 29 (R) Squadron, the Typhoon
was thrown around the skies of Waddington
with a high degree of confidence. Being the
first event in the United Kingdom where the
Eurofighter Typhoon was fully displayed by
a Royal Air Force Squadron Pilot, giving a
good insight into its capabilities. A single seat
example was in the static offering an office
tour for the public. “ELSIE” from the
Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) of 17
(R) Squadron informed me, the Squadron
currently has three single seat machines and
he proudly stated the static example was only
three weeks old!
This years show had a large rotary wing presence with Dutch Apaches, Army Air Corps Apaches and Merlins, and Royal Navy Sea Kings and Lynx helicopters. Possibly the rarest helicopter ever seen at Waddington was a S-70B-2 Seahawk from the Australian Navy. Off the frigate HMAS Anzac which is anchored at Portsmouth taking part in the Trafalgar celebrations. The Belgians were also in the flying schedule displaying their F-16 AM Fighting Falcon. Unfortunately for show watchers on Saturday John Vandebosch the display pilot from 31 Tiger Squadron had a technical problem and disappointedly had to end his routine short. |
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The winner by far for afterburner aerobatics
has to be the Hungarian Mig-29 Fulcrum.
The Pilot from the 59th Tactical Fighter Wing
based at Szentgyorgyi Dezso Air Base, spoiled
the reheat fans. High G turns, fast passes, a
cobra and of course being a Russian Built
Fighter we got, not one but two Tail Slides!
It’s hard to believe the Mig-29 Fulcrum is not
a “Fly by Wire” platform. A truly excellent
aircraft superbly displayed.
Final Word : Waddington seems to suffer from decreasing numbers of foreign participants but the Royal Air Force always turns up in force. Special thanks to : The Community Relations Office and all the personnel from 51 squadron at Royal Air Force Waddington. |
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Report and photos by Andrew Philpott ( view portfolio )
First Published: 16 July 2005
Last Modified: 30 July 2011
Update log:
07/30/11 Upgraded layout
01/21/08 Fixed layout
Last Modified: 30 July 2011
Update log:
07/30/11 Upgraded layout
01/21/08 Fixed layout
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