RNAS Yeovilton Air Day 2011

[glasfryn]

We often see threads on here that quite heated sometimes regarding people who stand on the fences and have a free airshow etc etc.....
I was one of the people who paid for a photcall ticket and to be honest, it was a total waste of money .
We paid to go in for what??? No practice displays apart from the King Air and the Apache and a repeat of the mornings practice assault by the helo( which we did really enjoy) also the frenchies were quality.... But nothing that could not be seen from outside.
We were told we could not enter the static until everything had landed....then we were told the migs and Apache were going up!! only the Apache did. We did eventually get to the static at 2000.....and were told we got 45 minutes!!!!
Just wish I had stayed with Blackcat the other side of the fence and saved my cash( I paid for 3!!).I know things can not go to plan but why the frig did they wait until 1930 to try and get the Mig up when the weather was crap!!! . There were lenghty spells during the day in fine weather when Naff all happened.What happened to Team viper practice??? what happened to the Belgian F16 practice !!
Sorry about the little rant but I am sure i will join the guy's outside next year and save my cash!! As rich says I think I should try to get a refund!!

[Rotörhead]

We arrived to the sound of the Mig-29 practice, very cool!

It was an amazing show and I thoroughly enjoyed it all!

[RichC]

Sounds like it was a really good Air show on the day though....

[stealth1234]

Did anyone get the chance to get to talk to a MiG-29 pilot to ask if they would be attending RIAT.?

[Hurn]

Cracking show today. Loads of nice noisy fast jets and lovely to see the Sea Vixen and Vulcan together for a couple of flypasts.

[glasfryn]

Cracking show today. Loads of nice noisy fast jets and lovely to see the Sea Vixen and Vulcan together for a couple of flypasts.

Rub it in matey As for the migs at RiAT...we were told that this was their only UK appearance

[headset 57]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14095321" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

well for those that di whinge and pay, here is the FREE hi lites...

[RichC]

Been discussing all day on what causes the bang at the end of each display the Rafale did (Yesterday and Today) when over the 27 field.
It is apparent that those underneath and just infront hear a very loud abrupt bang (I was directly below yesterday along with quite a few others) and those who are further away, several hundred meters to the left or right of it do not hear it as loud. (Going by speaking to others).

Yesterday when the Rafale was overtaking the Super E at the end of the practice a nice shock cone appeared around the Rafale nose and mid fuselage and engulfing the fuel tank followed by a very loud (to us underneath) bang before he let off the burners and slowed down to approach.
Everyone in the immediate vicinity was "Wow, what the F*** was that?" as it was much louder than the two jets put together screaming overhead.

According to those under it today it was slightly louder but i cannot confirm as i wasn't there today.

The person i was with caught it on video although the wind (25kts gusting 30kts) drowns out much of it however you can clearly hear it. Another person also did a video, on youtube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_nyQKIUmgQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It is not half as loud as it was to hear by ear underneath but you can make out the bang on this audio....

Perhaps it wasn't a sonic boom but it must have been "very" close. The shock cone did appear and there was a very loud bang straight away, if not a sonic boom, or should i say, nudging the barrier, what is it that the Rafale pilot does to do it on both days in the exact location. Is it the "nudging" of the barrier?
The video half way through slows down and you can clearly hear a noise like a shotgun going off and nearer the end, slows down a lot to reveal the shock cone although not half as visible as we saw it from our position (and Mictheslik reveals in his picture further down this thread).

It seems the Rafale at other shows pushes the "barrier" into submission again with a more lovely shock cone but no bang as it was 0.95
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfYwXhTT ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Granted, a proper sonic boom is "much" louder than what we heard at Yeovilton and more destructive and shock cones don't necessarily mean its close or going supersonic but an explanation from anyone that knows would be nice instead of calling it nonsense. As there clearly was a loud bang.

[garyscott]

It is a sonic boom, but not a complete airframe boom. Ill explain.

The boom that can be heard on the video has been caused by LOCALISED airflow exceeding M1 on the upper surfaces of the wing. In straight and level flight the airflow of an aircraft at lets say M0.99 is generally at the same speed as the aircraft is recording (M0.99), but for certain areas of the wing, the airflow will "burble" and can increase its velocity a small amount, if the airframe is very close to M1, the wing airflow can be pushed just past it.....BANG!
Now.....if we introduce a turn of sufficient strength, the wings chord line has an increased angle of attack to the relative airflow. Air doesnt like to be seperated so it will always try to "meet up" with the molecules it was with before big 'ole Rafale came along, and if the wing has a high AoA, as in the turns seen, the airflow on top of the wing has to move a lot faster to catch up to the air flowing below the wing, and if Rafale is close to M1...bingo! (or rather - BANG!)
So you guys at Yeovilton did hear a sonic boom - just not a complete one. But i bet it was still cool as hell!

[RichC]

Thanks Gary,
It was cool as hell..........
If you go to the first video in my post above and at min 0.21 the slow down of the boom.... it is bang on (pun) with the shock vapour around the rear of the aircraft.
Pause it and you'll see it clearly.... the bang and vapour are together. Clearly not nonsense afterall.

[somerset]

my brother also recorded this on the friday in field 27 but he recorded it on a mobile phone so i dont know how good the sound will be . Rich you must have been stood quite close to us if the aircraft turned over above you , i was to scared to find out if anyone was local to this forum

[Rotörhead]

From the crowdline, we heard nothing - But this was when on the first video it made a bang. You can see what appears to be the shock cone so it must've been going pretty fast!

[RichC]

Somerset,
We were near the trees just down from the bridge under a big green fishing umbrella next to the stream.

Olicat, as i said, it was apparent if you was infront , underneath or just beside where there was less noise from the burners (i.e behind).
The Rafale wasn't even pulling much 'g' either.

I can't get over the French displays, every year i see them i am always stunned by the dynamic and thrilling show they put on.

[Rotörhead]

Sure was a good show! I can't remember taking this shot so I don't really remember what I heard but I didn't hear a definate bang, what you said is probably true.

[Hurn]

Normally for me there's one display that is the highlight, but I really couldn't say which act was my favourite on Saturday, it was that good.
It was one of those shows where there was really little time to go off for a wander round without missing something different and has to be the standout airshow of 2011.

[razor23uk]

I was also on the edge of the river.....just up from you I think Rich,I had the blue and red beach shelter and rocked up on my pushy about 8.15ish.... Lots of quiet moments but lots of noise at times. I remember the Rafy from a couple of years ago and was impressed then with its turning ability,and this year was just as amazing!
That bang was absolutely stunning........never witnessed anything like it before and it made my mrs scream on the Saturday as she was watching the super e and completely lost track of the rafy.
A most definate bang even above the sound of 2 jet engines directly above us.........

[tim_raper]

I was standing directly under the rafale on saturday on the fence at the end of 27 next to the fire crews, and also didn't see it coming.
In 40 years of airshows it was the biggest shockwave i've witnessed/felt. So while it wasn't full blown(I suspect the display director would have had a word after the rehearsal) it was very close.