Sunday 17 th July saw cadets and staff from 485 (Harborne and Quinton) Sqn travel to the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. As the cadets gathered at the Sqn at 0700 on a Sunday morning, it didn't look promising as dark clouds and rain again looked like it would dampen the Sqn's hopes of actually seeing aircraft fly at an air show!

The start of the Air Show was delayed by 45 minutes due to the low cloud level over Fairford. One of the first aircraft to display was a Spartan transport aircraft and the display that the pilot gave the massed crowds was outstanding! The Spartan is a transport aircraft and to see the pilot actually role the aircraft in front of the flight line was truly outstanding!

The fast Jets were soon roaring into the air with the first of four F16 aircraft giving a fantastic, and noisy, display. A whole host of differing aircraft from across the globe gave fantastic displays and there was also a display of aircraft to celebrate the 70 th anniversary of the ATC.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was again the mighty Vulcan as it took to the skies and gave a great display. Judging by the views of the cadets on the day, two of the best displays were given by the Chinook from RAF Odiham, and the Italian National display team who, dare we say it, actually outshone the Red Arrows!

Fg Off Simon Jennings commented “Following our visit to the rather wet RAF Cosford air show earlier in the year when we didn't see any aircraft fly (we came home because we were so wet), it was great to see an almost full days flying at Fairford. The quality of all the displays was fantastic, particularly as at some points during the day the cloud level was quite low. I have personally never seen a transport aircraft rolled and my particular favourite was the French Dassault Rafale which gave a fantastic and noisy display! I know that all the cadets enjoyed the day and we look forward to next years tattoo”.