FighterControl’s Resident Photographer
/Reporter, Rick Sleight, reports from the 10th Annual Waddington Airshow.

IT’S PARTY TIME:
Held over the weekend of 26th and 27th June 2004, the RAF Premier Aviation Spectacular Airshow at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire celebrated not just one Anniversary or Birthday but no less than four!
Since taking over from the annual Finningley Battle of Britain Open Day, as the RAF’s premier event in 1995, this event was the 10th Airshow to be held at Waddington, which was therefore an Anniversary celebration in itself! The event also celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Red Arrows Display team, who were also celebrating 25 years of using the Hawk aircraft, which in turn was celebrating it’s 30th Birthday!

PARTY INVITES & PARTY POOPERS:
To help the Red Arrows celebrate their 40th Season, the organisers sent invitations to several International air display teams, with two of the major players, accepting the invite to attend. These were the ‘Frecce Tricolori’ from Italy, flying their Aermacchi MB.339s and the ‘Team Aguila’ from Spain, flying their Casa 101 Aviojets. Having seen many International display teams attend the Red’s 25th birthday bash at Scampton in late 1989, with teams from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, it was hoped something similar might be achieved. However, some 15 years later, the Airshow scene is somewhat different and budget constraints etc. can hinder such ideas, with current ‘rumours’ even stating that the Reds themselves, may soon be facing the axe? There should have been another overseas team attending but sadly the idea of this was thwarted for various reasons. The Polish display team had also originally confirmed attendance with their ‘Team Iskry’, flying Iskras and then changed the decision to send the ‘Team Orlik’, flying the Turbo Orlik. Unfortunately the team had to cancel their attendance at the last minute, which was somewhat disappointing, considering they had been at the Avord Open Day in France only the week before!

BIRTHDAY BOYS:
However, although the Reds could not be joined by many of the International teams, two more British based display teams did attend, to lend their support. The Army Air Corps sent the ‘Blue Eagles’, with four Gazelles and a Lynx, plus the Royal Navy sent the ‘Black Cats’, with their two Lynx helicopters, which gave a spirited display as usual! The Reds were also celebrating 25 years of flying their routine with the Hawk aircraft, which in turn was celebrating it’s 30 birthday, having made it’s first flight on 21st August 1974. To mark this event, Waddington managed to secure the attendance of the first Hawk off the production line, serial number XX154, which currently operates with QinetiQ at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. This aircraft arrived on Friday 25th June and was placed in the Static Display, alongside the Hawk AJT [a full size replica] from BAe Systems, which is to be the Advanced Jet Trainer and is the latest version of the Hawk. It was pity that none of the export versions of the Hawk were present (wouldn’t a Canadian, Finnish or even Swiss example have been nice?) but the RAF sent no less than four examples, with one from number 208 [Reserve] Squadron at Valley being in the flying display. Number 4 FTS at Valley also provided a nicely painted Hawk, which not only had 30th Anniversary titles on the fuselage but also a Union Jack on the tail fin.

PARTY POPPERS AND SHOW STOPPERS:
Waddington is billed as an International Airshow; therefore one can usually expect to see various Air Arms attending in great numbers. Although there were not as many foreign nations participating, as in previous years, there were aircraft on display from several countries in both static and flying displays. Austria provided two Saab 105s, one for the flying display and one for static display. Belgium sent two F-16AMs, with one for the flying display and one as an air-spare. France sent only one aircraft, an EMB.121AA Xingu for static display, which was a little disappointing, considering the close links Waddington has with the French AF, who utilise the resident BAe ACMI facility regularly. Perhaps the fact Dijon were holding their Open Day (presumably why the Patrouille de France were not able to attend the Red’s party?), made some difference? Italy sent two AMX for static display, with one of them being painted in a special camouflage colour scheme (from another yet anniversary event but in 2003!) and a G-222 was also on static display. Unfortunately the C-130J which supported the Frecce Tricolori on the Thursday and Monday could not stay, as this would have been a welcome addition to the event, for those only able to be present for the Airshow days. However, one support aircraft did attend on the Sunday, with a Spanish AF Casa 295 arriving to support the Team Aguila, which was possibly the first appearance of one of these aircraft at a UK air event? Another ‘first’ came from Lithuania, who made its inaugural visit to a Waddington event, by sending a Let 410 for static display. The Netherlands provided an F-16BM for static and should have sent two AH-64 Apaches, one for flying and one for static but they cancelled due to their current detachment in Iraq. The Dutch display pilot was unfortunately part of the detachment and therefore the rare opportunity to see this impressive helicopter was missed. NATO provided an E-3A for static display, as one had arrived for a short detachment at Waddington, on the arrivals day. The country travelling the furthest distance to participate was New Zealand, sending a P-3K for the flying display, although, in truth, it actually didn’t have too far to travel, as it was detached for the JMC exercise at Kinloss in Scotland, thus making the short journey down! It returned to Kinloss after performing an impressive display on the Sunday. Poland provided a Navy An-28 for static, which is now becoming the ‘norm’ for Waddington, with one attending the last three shows! Perhaps for many, the star items came from Turkey, who sent two F-4E Phantoms for static display, although for the ‘number crunchers’ and ‘photographers’, these were ‘bad’ aircraft and were not parked well for photographs. Incredibly they had both attended the IAT display at Boscombe Down in 1992 and on speaking to the pilot, he was completely shocked that this had happened! For those lucky enough to experience it, their departure on the Tuesday, included a ‘promised’ flyby, which partly made up for these facts, however ATC only allowed them a flyby at 500 feet, which was a pity! Thankfully the German Armed Forces also attended in force, which helped fill out the foreign contingent. The Air Force contributed with a C-160D Transall, F-4F Phantom and Tornado, all on static display. The Army sent several rotary wing aircraft, with a giant CH-53G Jolly Green Giant helicopter and no less than three Bo.105s for static display. Not to be outdone, the Navy sent an Atlantic, Sea Lynx for static display and two beautifully painted Tornados for the flying display, which, unfortunately for the photographers, were parked on the active side of the airfield. There should have been a German Air Force F-4 in the flying display but approximately a month before the show it was unfortunately cancelled. However, considering that the German Government announced a week before the show that they were cancelling all fast jet displays at air events, it was especially good to see one of the Navy Tornados making a superb display each day. Disappointingly and perhaps for the first time ever, the United States were not able to commit any aircraft to the display, not even an F-15 from Lakenheath, making the short journey to Waddington? It was suggested that the United States commitments elsewhere, have forced them to a position where RIAT is the only event that they can support, however, the USAF were in attendance at Leuchars airshow in September!

HOME ENTERTAINMENT:
The British Forces sent their usual array of aircraft from the UK based units, with one or two notable exceptions. Due to operational commitments, the host station at Waddington could not provide a resident 51 Squadron Nimrod R.1 for either static or flying display, although XW664 was parked in their hangar all weekend! There was also a distinct lack of transport aircraft on display, with all the usual suspects such as C-17A, Hercules, Tristar and VC10 being absent, presumably again due to operational commitments elsewhere, although the latter three had all been billed to take part. There were however, one or two examples of British Forces aircraft, whose presence was welcomed. The first public airing of the BAe Typhoon at Waddington gave the taxpayer the opportunity to view the RAF new fighter at close quarters on static display and also via a short flying display. The flying was actually a demonstration, rather than a display, as it was performed by one of the recently trained RAF aircrews, rather than a BAe test pilot. Also, the RAF has yet to clear either the aircraft, or aircrew for display flying, therefore only a short demonstration was flown, however it was good to see at last. Although the aircraft was one of 17 [Reserve] Squadrons, the demonstration was flown by a 29 [Reserve] Squadron (the Typhoon OCU) pilot. Another crowd favourite came from the Royal Navy, who sent their specially painted royal blue Sea Harrier F/A.2, ZH809 for the flying display, along with a spare Harrier T.8, painted in the gloss black colour scheme. Again this was another aircraft, which was parked out of public view - how often is that typically the case! Number 9 Squadron also sent their specially painted Tornado GR.4 for static display, which was painted to celebrate the unit’s 90th Anniversary. Two flying participants also carried special tail colours, with number 16 [Reserve] and 20 [Reserve] Squadrons sending their specially painted jets, the Jaguar tail scheme representing yet another Anniversary event! Perhaps the most unusual aircraft to participate from the British Forces was the Army Air Corps BN-2 Islander, which was a welcome addition to the static display, as these are rarely seen at UK Airshows.

GATECRASHERS:
The remainder of the static display consisted of many civilian aircraft, some of which were ex military aircraft. Many of the ‘hard core’ enthusiasts complained of ‘too many’ of these aircraft and comments such as “Is this a Jet Provost meeting?” were heard during the weekend but that is just a sign of the times, as modern military hardware is ‘busy in theatre’. Considering the commitment to operations elsewhere, we are fortunate to have an event at all and it is thanks to the owners of the civilian aircraft, that the participant numbers remain high enough to have an event. Two of the most eagerly awaited civilian items in the display however cancelled, with the Dutch ‘Aviodome’ Constellation and the Gannet T.5 both being omitted from the line up. The ‘Connie’ had not undergone all flight testing prior to the show and had to cancel at a late stage and unfortunately the privately owned Gannet had not even arrived in the UK from the United States, so obviously could not attend. An unusual civilian aircraft was one of three civilian registered T-67Ms present in the static display, which carried the markings and colours of its previous ‘military’ operator, the Hong Kong Defence Force.

MAGIC & FIREWORK DISPLAYS:
The flying display filled approximately seven hours each day and was widely varied, from a wing-walking pensioner on a Stearman biplane, to the latest RAF fighter, the Typhoon. There were displays from most of the RAF front line types, including an excellent flying display from a Chinook HC.2 from number 18 Squadron, enjoying a welcome return to the Airshow scene this year, after a long period of absence. Some of Saturday’s display was slightly marred by the cloudy and windy conditions, the latter ensuring that the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight couldn’t depart from their home base at Coningsby. They did manage to make it on Sunday and also unusually landed at Waddington, allowing the public a closer look. Sunday also allowed the opportunity for Plane Sailing’s Catalina from Duxford to perform a flying display. This aircraft has recently arrived in the UK from Canada and arrived at Waddington on Friday 25th, parking in the static display, where it was on show on Saturday, until being moved to the active side for Sunday. The Red Arrows performed their excellent routines on both days, together with a Gnat T.1 (the Red’s former mount), owned by Chris Hudson. This aircraft is painted in its original Red Arrows colours and flew in formation with the Reds themselves to help celebrate their 40 years of presence on the air display circuit. However, what was most strange and unexplained was the fact that the Reds neither opened, nor closed the event, which celebrated their 40th Anniversary? The closure of the show, was left to number 15 [Reserve] Squadron, whose Tornado GR.4 performed an excellent display, against an angry looking sky on the Sunday evening.

BIRTHDAY SURPRISE:
The weather for the weekend was a changeable affair of sunshine, cloud, showers and a sudden ‘surprise’ rainstorm on Sunday that caught ‘just a few’ of the crowd out completely! If you missed it, you should be grateful, as the heavens opened up and drowned the airfield in a deluge of rain that completely halted the Nimrod display! Thankfully no displays were cancelled and a slight alteration to the programme was made to ensure everything could display. The forecast for Sunday was much better than Saturday and the crowd numbers certainly reflected this, with a larger gathering on the second day. For those who visited the viewing enclosure on the arrivals and departures day, the weather was much kinder, with sunshine for most of both days, which provided ample picture taking opportunities, for those who prefer photographs of the aircraft, without barriers, people and bouncy castles in their pictures! Waddington is infamous for the fact that the static display is not particularly well laid out, with the exception of the aircraft displayed in Alpha (E-3) dispersal, which are slightly better.

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER:
In summary, it was not a vintage event but one that we have to be pleased with and grateful for, as Waddington is only one of two Airshows hosted by RAF stations this year, the other being at Leuchars in September and for that we must be thankful! So, ‘congratulations’ must be extended to the team at Waddington for an excellent party!
Next year’s event at Waddington is planned for the weekend of 2nd and 3rd July 2005, breaking the tradition of the event taking place in the last weekend of June. Bearing in mind there is likely to be ‘Air Power 2005’ taking place at Zeltweg at the end of June 2005, this is perhaps why the organisers have chosen this alternative date? In 2003, this Austrian event was supported by many foreign nations, meaning Waddington struggled to get many overseas participants. Hopefully this will make a difference and Waddington 2005 will be an event not to miss!

Acknowledgements - With great thanks to Mrs. Jacqui Wheeler/CCO and Air Traffic Control for their assistance.

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