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Royal International Air Tattoo 2022

By Frank Grealish / Sonya Cooley | 15th - 18th July 2022 | RAF Fairford (FFD / EGVA), UK - England

Royal International Air Tattoo 2022
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After a three-year absence, the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) returned to the air show circuit in 2022.

Some highlights of the show included one of the four Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP) operated by the US Air Force. The E-4 serves as a survivable mobile command post for the National Command Authority, namely the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and successors.

Other welcome visitors, whether they were on static display or in the flying display, were the Republic of Korea Air Force's Black Eagles display team, a McDonnell Douglas A-4N Skyhawk from Top Aces, a factory fresh example of a Kuwaiti Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon, the final appearance of an Italian Air Force AMX A-11 Ghibli, a special painted USAF Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, and a Royal Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II which performed some flypasts as well as hovering in front of the crowd for a few deafening minutes.

Irish Air Corps Pilatus PC-12 Spectre with the Concours d'Elegance award
Irish Air Corps Pilatus PC-12 Spectre with the Concours d'Elegance award
2022 is the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Irish Air Corps, and to mark the occasion a series of commemorative events were held over the course of the year, most aircraft received special 100th anniversary markings, a Pilatus PC-12 Spectre received a special colour scheme harking back to the camouflage schemes worn by Air Corps aircraft during the WW2 era (known as "The Emergency" in Ireland), and the Silver Swallows aerobatic display team was reformed.

With that in mind, the Silver Swallows returned to the flying display at RIAT after a 25-year absence, the team having last displayed at RIAT with the Fouga CM170 Magister way back in 1997. Also present in the static display at RIAT was the special colour scheme PC-12 Spectre, "280", which won the coveted Concours d'Elegance award for having the best-prepared and presented aircraft on static display.

The air show weekend was hot, hot, hot, both in terms of the flying display and also the temperatures, RIAT was held in the midst of a hear wave, temperatures reached close to 39 Celsius on Monday (departures day), it was certainly a relief to return to the air conditioned comfort of the hire car and hotel room at the end of every day.

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