Page 19 - World Airnews September 2020 Edition

AIRSHOWS AIRSHOWS

HELICOPTERS, HARRIERS

AND ALL THINGS THAT HOVER

By Steve Crompton

ne way to sum up the spectacle that was the Yeov-
Oilton Internati onal Air Day 2019 could be helicop-
ters, harriers and all things that hover.
Held at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, in Somerset,

England recently the flying display featured a large number of

rotary-wing aircraft old and new. Shorts Tucano

The only airworthy Westland Wessex HU5 and a pair of
Westland Wasps were joined by Royal Navy Wildcats and a
Merlin to provide the opening flypast, before the immacu-

lately presented Wessex, making its airshow debut, peeled
away and entertained with a solo display.
Merlins and Wildcats would return later in the display and
again for the explosive show finale; the Army Air Corps brought

the pyrotechnics for their AH-64 Apache display and the Historic

Aircraft Army Flight contributed the Westland Scout and Bell

Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning 11 Sioux AH1 alongside the fixed wing Auster and Beaver aircraft.

The ability to hover is not the sole preserve of the helicop-
ter. Lockheed Martin’s F-35B Lightning II is also a member of

this exclusive group of machines; its VSTOL capabilities ably

demonstrated at the show now the type is beginning to enter
service with the RAF and Royal Navy.

The Harrier, always popular with the audience and much Beechcraft T-6A Texan 11
missed at UK airshows in recent years, made a welcome ap-
pearance later in the show in the hands of the Spanish Navy;
the sleek lines of the Harrier in the hover contrasting with

those of the Lightning II in similar configuration.

Like something out of a science fiction or superhero film, Gravity

Industries’ JetMan certainly proved popular and was possibly the
most unusual act seen at a UK airshow for some time. Watching

someone fly up and down the crowd line at speed and hovering,

with jet engines strapped to their back and arms, was certainly not
something that many of the audience had seen before.
Fast jet displays courtesy of the RAF Typhoon and Belgian

F-16 and aerobatics provided by the Red Arrows, Blades and

Rich Goodwin’s Pitts Special provided further excitement and

historic items like the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and
C-130J Hercules Canada Hawker Sea Fury all helped entertain the large crowds.

The traditional and much anticipated show finale at Yeovilton,
the commando assault, featured numerous helicopters in a sim-

ulated attack and culminated in a very impressive wall of fire. Leonardo Wildcat

International participation at the show came from many

European countries along with representation from Canada, USA

and Qatar. In the static park, C-17 Globemasters from both the

USA and Qatar proved particularly popular, with large queues

forming to look inside these leviathans of the air.

A number of aircraft from the adjoining Fleet Air Arm Muse-

um were wheeled out to take part in the static park, along-
side those of the Fly Navy Heritage Trust, providing a glimpse

into the heritage of British Naval aviation whilst numerous

other aircraft could be found representing modern naval

aviation both in the UK and abroad.

With numerous ground activities taking place including

field gun demonstrations, marching bands and various hangar
displays along with the varied, dynamic and explosive flying

display, the International Air Day at RNAS Yeovilton delivered

a fantastic day of aviation-related entertainment; one to add

AV-8B Harrier to the calendar of any aviation enthusiast. Q C-17 Globemaster 111

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