On Sunday 19 th July 2009 , 19 cadets from 487 Sqn, Kingstanding and Perry Barr ATC, accompanied Fg Off Jennings to the world's largest air show, the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford.

It was an extremely early start for all involved, and it turned out to be a long and very wet day.

Due to traffic conditions around RAF Fairford, we missed the first display, however, we did manage to see, and hear, the F16 whilst we were stuck in the traffic queue.

The weather didn't know what to do during the day, we had lots of very heavy showers, followed by periods of strong sun, and then more rain! The pilots have to be commended though because most of the flying programme went ahead. One of the highlights of the day was the fly Navy 100 flypast which was celebrating 100 years of naval aviation. Over 40 aircraft were in the air at the same time, this was a great site. The various static aircraft were also a great site, and the aircrew seemed only too happy to let air cadets have a look around, this including the imposing B1B Lancer, pictured attached.

The aircraft that stole the show was of course the Vulcan. At 15:30 she rolled on to the runway, and overhead flew a B52 bomber, a great site for the crowds! The display given by the Vulcan was excellent, and very noisy. It was a great moment for Fg Off Jennings, apart from the brief glimpse at the Wing Field Training day, the last time he had seen the aircraft flying was at his passing out parade in 1985 at RAF Swinderby. There then followed another show stopping moment has the organisers arranged for the Vulcan to taxi back down the main runway, closely followed by the B52. Of course the B52 is still in service and is expected to be so until at least 2040, it will be celebrating its 90 th birthday by then.

The Red Arrows finished the show with a very polished and fine display. All had had a great, if rather soggy day.