So, I went with my folks to Waddington Air show at the RAF base there yesterday. It's on every year for the whole weekend and I've never been before. Tickets cost £17.00 and I figured, although early, it might be nice as an early birthday gift for lee. :)
It started out ok. Got the car packed with picnicy stuff (IE: Sausage rolls, cobs, crisps, fruit, etc.) and headed out at around 8:30AM. The display started at 10.00AM and the AA routeplanner said that it was 50-something miles away, so it'd be (Roughly) a hour and a half journey from here to there. When we hit the outskirts, however, it was apparent that it was going to take longer. We hit the queue just before 10:00AM and we didn't get out of it until 1:30/2:00PM. We missed the parachute team and a few other displays, but thankfully the show didn't end till 5:00PM, so there was still a lot to go. We managed to watch the Red Arrows from the traffic queue a few miles away and they even came overhead a good many times, rattling the car windows and generally sending us all into super-nerd mode.
We then enjoyed watching the helicopter display. (Lynx or Black Cats, I don;t recall which) It was bloody fantastic watching then to mid-air nose and tail stands and spiralling round and round. Watching them made your heart skip a beat for fear of the stalling.
Got there and was herded into a reserve carpark in some farmers field. The main parking space (The base itself) was full, so we had to make do with over-spill parking instead. It wasn't too bad, although it sent my allergies haywire. Got out the car and enjoyed it as the Blues (Blue Eagles) started whooshing by overhead. We unloaded our food and started the 2 mile-odd walk to the main static displays. We saw two gliders start their display as we were walking.
Before we went any further, Mom, Jen and Lee queued for the toilet. The line was real long ad it took them forever. As they were queueing, a huge silver biplane took off. I'm still unsure what it was, but it looked so heavy and awkward in the air. The pilot was doing some stunts, but it was awkward. It didn't stay up for long. The cutest part though was when it took off. This little girl waved at it. <3
After they had finished at the awful toilet-roll-less portaloo's, the Chinook took off. Whooh, is all I can say. The sound that made vibrated in your chest. We get a lot fly over my village, but seeing it so close was another thing. It was a gorgeous machine. Then we sat down at the side of the runway and ate food as we watched the other goings on.
Blue Eagles again, I think. They were bloody noisy. ;)
After eating we walked around the static displays.
Static Display List
Hawk - 100 Sqn RAF Leeming
Chinook - 27 Sqn RAF Odiham
Griffin - 60 sqn RAF Shawbury
King Air - 45 Sqn RAF Cranwell
AW109E - 32 Sqn RAF Northolt
Grob 115E - Tutor - 7AEF / EMUAS RAF Cranwell
English Electric Lightning - 5 AC Sqn RAF Waddington (P)
F15C/D Strike Eagle - 493rd FS RAF Lakenheath
AN26 - Czech AF- Kebly
BAC 1-11 - Boscombe Down
Sea King Mk4X - Rotary Test Sqn, Boscombe Down
x2 Alpha Jets - Boscombe Down
Tucano - Central Flying School, RAF Cranwell
C130 Hercules - Austrian Air Force
CASA 295 - Polish AF - Team Orlik Support
C160 Transall - French AF- PDF Support
VC10 - 101 Sqn RAF Brize Norton
BAe Hawk T Mk1A - RN Standards Flt- Fly Navy 100 Scheme
Hawk TMk 2 - 19 Sqn RAF Valley
Vigilant TMk1 - 644 VGS RAF Syerston
Tornado F3 - 111 Sqn RAF Leuchars
C130K Hercules - 70 Sqn, RAF Lyneham
TORNADO GR4 - 15 Sqn RAF Lossiemouth
Harrier GR9 - 41(R) Sqn RAF Coningsby
Typhoon - 3 Sqn RAF Coningsby
Nimrod MR2 - RAF Kinloss
Nimrod R1 - 51 Sqn RAF Waddington
E3-D Sentry - 8/23 Sqn RAF Waddington
Sentinel R1 - 5(AC) Sqn RAF Waddington
Merlin - 28 Sqn RAF Benson
Puma - 33 Sqn RAF Benson
Puma - 230 Sqn RAF Aldergrove (Fireball Support)
Merlin - 814 Sqn Culdrose
Squirrel - 705 Sqn Shawbury
Jetstream - 750 Sqn RNAS Culdrose
Apache - AAC Middle Wallop
F-15E - 494th FS RAF Lakenheath
Boeing KC 135 - Mildenhall
C-21 - 86 Airlift Wg USAFE
Marchetti - Belgian Air Force
F4-F - Germany FW 71
F-16 - 322 RF Sqn Royal Netherlands Air Force
Fokker 50 - Netherlands
Dominie - 55 Sqn RAF Cranwell
Lynx - Netherlands
2 x F16 - Royal Norwegian AF
E-3F AWACS - French Air Force
UAV Display
There were some fantastic machines there. You could even walk through an AWACS. <3 Gorgeous. Of course, my favorite was the F15E. I got Ryan to take a photo of me in front of it. I chose the Strike Eagle though.
As soon as Ryan sends me the photos, I'll be posting them up. :)
Mom got her photo taken outside a Hercules. (The plane I was going to pilot before I backed down years ago.)
The air display continued as we walked around the Classic Car section. Mustangs, TVRs, you name it. Even old-timey fire trucks. <3 We made our way to the stalls and things that were there. We found the Raptor section. (Birds of prey) They were displaying their Barn Owl as usual and allowing fols to stroke it. I felt sorry for the Snowy Owl, as it looked tired, dehydrated and generally unimpressed. The Spitfire, Lancaster and Hurricane made their rounds as we got to the tanks section. That Lancaster had such presence. <3
Watched more air-related antics as we continued. A stunt plane took to the skies and did some amazing things. Barrel rolls, nose dives, you name it. Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.
We saw an actual AWACS land that was on active duty, so that was awesome. Nice to know it never stops. ;)
It was getting late, so we headed to the toilets again. As I was waiting in the queue, I noticed an interesting aircraft in the distance taxiing down from the hangar. Let's just say that the instant I saw it, I didn't want to go to the toilet for fear of missing it. I did anyway and thankfully I didn't miss it. It hadn't took off. I was a little disappointed, to be honest. I was hoping for a kick-ass closing display, but oh well. It was 5:00PM you see which was the time for the end of the display. We were expecting to see the Red Arrows do their final performance, but they took off giving us false hope and buggered off. =/ We thought that that was the end of it and started the 2 mile trek down the strip back to the car park. But then, about a quarter of the way down we heard a roaring noise. What was that we heard? Up it went. None other than the jet I'd seen before.
The Typhoon.
It soared high and nose dived, pulling up at the last minute, banking right, then left, then back up again. The roar was deafening. It was fantastic! It must have been up for a good 15 minutes doing all kinds of stunts and blasting us with it's fury. We think the pilot just wanted some fun, as he wasn't actually scheduled for the last performance. Everyone, and I mean everyone, stopped in their tracks when they heard him take off. A huge sea of people stood there staring up into the sky as this amazing machine cartwheeled and dived for their viewing pleasure.
I would so go again. Although, next time I'm setting off at 6:00AM. :P Oh, and I'm taking sunscreen. I look like a reverse panda! I have real bad sunburn. >_O
