The RAF Waddington International Air Show is the official air show of the RAF. Whilst not as big as RIAT it has become a popular air show with a strong following. This peaked last year with the return to the sky of the Vulcan bringing out the public in record numbers.

This year has been a tough year for the air show. The budget tightening of air forces around the world has made it harder to get the foreign fast jet air displays.  The RAF's own budget problems meant the......

Read the full article: RAF Waddington Airshow 2009

It was looking to be a quiet day. It was almost lunch time and I was yet to see an aircraft. Then the peace and quiet of the countryside was quickly blown away by Jazz 31 and Jazz 32. A pair of USAF F-15E Strike Eagles that dropped into low level after practicing air combat manoeuvring (ACM).

Quite a site at low level! Especially with the trailing vortices off the wing tips. This effect is caused by the pressure change on the wing pulling the moisture out of the air.

Read the full article: F-15E Strike Eagles in the Mach Loop

With some of the best weather in years I headed off to Wales for the Mach Loop. My hope that the weather would bring out the jets. My hope was met and then some!

It seems the RAF decided to make the most of the good weather and were out in force.

Five Harriers put the end to my low level Harrier jinx (at one point I went 505 days without catching one!).

Read the full article: Harriers in the Loop

With contradicting weather reports it was always going to be a risk heading to LFA 7 but since I hadn't made a trip so far in 2009 it had to be done.

Sadly the gamble didn't pay off.

Whilst the rest of the UK basked in 20 degree temperatures and blue skies LFA 7 was covered in low cloud and lingering fog. I waited 45 minutes for the weather to....

Read the full article: T2 Hawk in the Loop

Each year the display teams of the RAF have to perform a Public Display Authorisation (PDA) before they are allowed to perform for the public (as the name suggests!). The process is the end of a lot of practice by the pilots and is performed in front of a high ranking member of the RAF.

RAF Coningsby being the home of both the Typhoon and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) was naturally the place for the PDA to be carried out for the display....

Read the full article: RAF Air Show Display PDA

Whilst many people still refer to RAF Cosford its correct name is DCAE Cosford. The DCAE standing for Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering.

The Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering is responsible for phase 2 and phase 3 training of all the aeronautical engineers of the UK Armed Forces.

 The training is delivered across five sites with DCAE Cosford as the Headquarters.

Read the full article: Photography from DCAE Cosford

An afternoon spent at RAF Waddington produced a mix of both civilian and military aircraft. I'll start with the locally based RAF Sentinel R1.

The RAF Sentinel R1 ASTOR (Airborne Stand-Off Radar) is the newest addition to the RAF fleet. The Sentinel uses the Bombardier Global Express as an air platform modified by Raytheon Systems Limited with a ASARS-2 derivative of the airborne radar system used in the U-2 spy plane. The ASARS-2 is made up of a Synthetic Aperture....

Read the full article: Photography from RAF Waddington

My last trip of the year to LFA 7 gave me a rare a visitor in the shape of G-VIVM, a Jet Provost T Mk 5P of Swords Aviation. G-VIVM is a former RAF aircraft (serial XS230) originally built as the penultimate Mk 4 aircraft in 1964 but rather than being delivered to the RAF it was upgraded to Mk 5P standard, the P denoting a prototype.

It was assigned to the Empire Test Pilots School and then to the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment at MOD Boscombe Down for trials of the Mk 5 standard.

Read the full article: 31 Sqn Goldstars in the Loop

Another slow day in LFA7 started with dense fog that didn't lift until late morning. The afternoon brought hazy sunshine and Hawks; nothing but Hawks!

I'm sure it was the low level gods just compensating for my previous trip to LFA7 earlier this month where I didn't see a single Hawk but I was rather hoping for a Tornado.

Plenty of waves from the aircrew today, thanks guys!

Read the full article: Hawks in the Mach Loop

Wattisham Airfield is the home to the British Army's Apache helicopter gunship fleet in the form of 3 Regiment and 4 Regiment Army Air Corp (AAC). Both these regiments have been taking turns in deploying to Afghanistan as part of Op HERRICK in support of the ISFA ground forces.

The British Apache is build under license by Westland in the UK and has a number of differences from the US version. All of the fleet are the Longbow version feature the prominent fire control radar on top of the rotor....

Read the full article: Army Air Corp Apaches

With a break in the recent spell of bad weather I made a long overdue visit to LFA7. The day started slowly with nothing seen until 11:32 when a C-130K C3 Hercules (XV299) turned up but stayed high and didn't decent into the valley. Three minutes later a Dominie T1 (XS730) appeared but he also stayed high. The day wasn't going to plan!

Another four minutes passes and the same Hercules appears again after completing it's first lap of the loop but once again stays high.

Read the full article: RAF Dominie and QinetiQ Alphaje

RAF Waddington's 2008 Air Show was the first public display of TVOC's Avro Vulcan B2 (XH558). Receiving it's Display Authorisation and Permit to Fly from the CAA only days before the event it was a close call but the TVOC team once again rose to the challenge!

Whilst this was the highlight of the event there was also a number of other noteworthy aircraft and displays. I especially enjoyed the display by the....

Read the full article: RAF Waddington Air Show 2008

Tuesday brought a visit to RAF Waddington. The plan was to visit the Squadrons and aircraft based there but the day turned out to be a very different one than I was expecting.

I knew the photography chances would be limited due to the sensitive nature of the aircrafts and the role they carry out so didn't expect to return with many photos and the day was going that way. Access to 51 Squadron was allowed but due to the Nimrod R1 being in deep service and too....

Read the full article: RAF Waddington - Sarang Display Team

Many people consider RAF Cottesmore a quiet base but today's activity proves that it can be very active. The three hour period I spend at the base saw 18 movements and the morning was a similar pace. This is even more impressive when you consider there are only two active squadrons (4(AC) Sqn and the Naval Strike Wing (NSW) at present with 1 Sqn currently deployed to Afghanistan).

The JUMP upgrade program that is responsible for upgrading the Harriers for GR7 standard to GR9....

Read the full article: Harrier at RAF Cottesmore

The day held a lot of promise with lots of sun, blue skies and no cloud cover but it turned out to be a quiet day with only two French Air Force Alphajets, two Hawks and a Typhoon T1 to be seen.

The sun also caused a lot of problems in the morning with lots of haze and harsh light (which can be seen in the Alphajet photos) but much improved conditions in the afternoon in time for the Typhoon.

Read the full article: Typhoon in the Mach Loop

Before the RAF Role Demo team can perform a public display they have to achieve their Public Display Authorisation (PDA). This is required of all display teams, both military and civvy. The military teams are approved by high ranking officers after the team has successfully demonstrated their display routine.

For the RAF Role Demo team this happened on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th May at RAF Waddington. The primary crews performed the display on the 6th....

Read the full article: RAF Waddington PDA 2008

Four Harriers of the Naval Strike Wing (NSW) returned to RAF Cottesmore after being deployed to HMS Illustrious as part of Operation ORION 08.

Operation ORION 08 was a multi-national maritime Task Group led by the Royal Navy and deployed to the Indian Ocean. The Harriers flew ground attack support training missions as there part of the operation.

The returning Harriers were....

Read the full article: NSW Harriers return to Cottesmore

With TVOC (The Vulcan Operating Company) Vulcan at RAF Cottesmore for calibration of it's navigation kit I made the trip over to catch it leaving; along with a lot of other people! I've never seen Cottesmore so busy but it was especially good to see people who aren't aviation enthusiasts, photographers or spotters turn up; many with their families.

The weather was better than forecast but still far from ideal. Cloud cover was the order of the day and made it had not to underexpose the images.

Read the full article: Vulcan XH558 Test Flight 3

I made the trip to RAF Coningsby to catch the practice Typhoon display but the display didn't happen at 08:00 to 08:30 or 12:30 to 13:00 as it had previously in the week.

17(R) Sqn are currently away in China Lake but 29(R) Sqn, 3(F) Sqn, 11 Sqn and 41(R) Sqn were all active. Unusually not many visitors to the airfield with only a single Grob Tutor noted whilst I was there.

The weather was a mixed bag with strong sunlight in....

Read the full article: Photography From RAF Coningsby

With unseasonably warm weather and good visibility forecast I made my first visit to Wales for 2008. The forecast also included light winds coming in from the sea; I expected this would bring low level fog for the first part of the morning burning away by mid-morning. I was absolutely stunned to arrive to crystal clear blue skies, a light breeze and a relatively warm temperature!

The light was almost perfect; It provided almost ideal conditions for shooting the Hawks on a knife-edge....

Read the full article: Herc, Harriers & Hawks in LFA 7