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RNAS Yeovilton Air Day 2014


Seamus

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Evening all,

Seeing as my RIAT retrospective proved quite popular, I thought I'd share another bunch of shots from my second busiest show of the year. Yeovilton is essentially my local airfield, and I try to spend as much time as I can up there, especially during the show week, and with no clash with Flying Legends, I was able to spend a full four days up there from the Friday to the Monday to see pretty much everything arrive, display and depart the show.

So then, Friday, which was spent outside the airfield, largely on the fence at the 09 end of the runway, which is a superb location for the Commando Assault practices in particular, although sadly the only cloud we saw all day covered the sun halfway through the evening practice, killing the otherwise stunning light. For the afternoon display rehearsals, I gambled on a new location under the 04 approach, which turned out to be pretty decent, being right underneath the displays, although the jets were a little distant at times.

14742068699_d50a1516c7_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_011 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14905743846_737fa9ffe2_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_012 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14742067519_0dcf638a80_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_015 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14742803039_7b26df6167_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_006 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14721515256_b362d90779_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_001 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14742803550_4618ff2a81_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_038 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14932931572_a8cf96d5d5_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_046 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14933294545_ea1e40ced3_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_048 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14910296646_9670c48857_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_050 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14760172490_b6094ec105_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_060 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14943749561_93f6c16083_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_068 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14760295837_c34931249b_o.jpgVL2014_Arrivals_061 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

The show day itself was a touch disappointing, with a whole host of cancellations plaguing the flying programme, as well as indifferent weather conditions- being either dark and overcast, or bright sun right in your face- making photography different. The latter is something I can deal with, as essentially I'm only after good shots of the Commando assault, where the light comes good towards the end of the day. Sadly though, even the pyros for the final wall of fire went tech! Nevertheless, it was still a decent day's flying,

14749123414_4bc1d37abd_o.jpgVL2014_Showday_001 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14945642851_0f00c4efbf_o.jpgVL2014_Showday_002 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762122808_3f003287fe_o.jpgVL2014_Showday_005 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762051459_4705b7ce7c_o.jpgVL2014_Showday_039 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14948730235_a9439ae3cc_o.jpgVL2014_Showday_058 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762060160_a4d95231b8_o.jpgVL2014_Showday_069 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14948386402_1cd38bdea3_o.jpgVL2014_Showday_070 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

Yeovilton's departures tends to be drawn out across two days, with the bulk of the foreign military leaving on the Monday. The French Navy however tend to depart on the Sunday, so we headed up once again on another overcast day to catch the Rafales depart, with anything else being a bonus. I've been after a shot of a head on Rafale ever since a friend of mine nailed one at the 2012 show, and fortunately, my luck was in as the pair backtracked the runway for launching. As such, I make no apologies for the amount of them!

14762615977_0f1fc0ce08_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_013 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762549728_ef00bcf9ca_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_012 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14755630004_d7b40aa46e_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_001 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14946064981_446cc95a02_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_015 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762929979_4f6a83344b_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_018 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762942770_abcc3195d1_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_008 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

The Monday was a much brighter affair weather wise, and gave a grand opportunity to catch the remaining foreign aircraft leave. Highlight of the day goes to the German Navy Orion, which requested an additional flyby after take off, which thankfully was granted, as the crew preceded to fly through at full chat and silly low level, 50 feet maximum. It was a fantastic moment, and rounded up the fine show weekend in superb style.

14946516121_03810c988c_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_025 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762940060_3abdf6ce73_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_028 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14926614996_95a7d1cfbc_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_036 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762940060_3abdf6ce73_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_028 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14763062627_1df8fa38ce_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_034 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14946064091_f5f1d2e3c7_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_035 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762993058_33f71f49dd_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_039 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14762547188_3d9d15692a_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_041 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

14745180956_b7282fe60f_o.jpgVL2014_Departures_002 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr

As before, there's more to see on Flickr. Hope they were again enjoyable to view.

Cheers,

Shaun

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Thank you for posting. I just love that Phantom. Really excellent photography. Thanks again for taking the time to post.

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Great photos, at least the Fleet Air Arm still had a few helicopters and a gate guard to show off!

I used to love the Yeovilton show and thought that it was the best organised that I`ve ever been too, year in and year out,.....that is until Auderey Hulin or whaever they are called took over! What a shame that the FAA is now a pale imitation of what it once was,.....very sad indeed.

Cheers

Tony

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Thanks for the kind comments chaps, much appreciated B)

Great photos, at least the Fleet Air Arm still had a few helicopters and a gate guard to show off!

I used to love the Yeovilton show and thought that it was the best organised that I`ve ever been too, year in and year out,.....that is until Auderey Hulin or whaever they are called took over! What a shame that the FAA is now a pale imitation of what it once was,.....very sad indeed.

Cheers

Tony

Tony, I can't agree with the organisation bit, VL is still one of the best organised shows I go to each year. The large number of RN personnel around the showground certainly see to that. Try Farnborough if you want to see how bad organisation can really be!

As for the dwindling FAA, I agree, it is a sad reflection of the times, but the Navy never fail to put on a show with what they have at their disposal. Yeovilton is unrivalled when it comes to set pieces, with both the maritime and commando assault demos miles ahead of anything else we see in the UK for excitement and spectacle. Last year's assault was understandably down on numbers as the Sea King fleet is reduced (only four compared to eight in 2013) but with the Merlins moving over to the Navy there's potential for a healthy mix at this year's show.

Great Pic's loved your RIAT selection and these are top drawer :goodjob:

We are seriously thinking of going to Yeovilton this year

I can fully recommend you do go, it's a great day out ;)

Thanks again,

Shaun

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at VL all the military bods work for the air day and the set up takes up the preceeding week , for TONYOT the buzz is that this year audry and AHA are not involved though for me they seem to run it well( have been involved in working with AHA on the w/end for 4 yrs as a driver lent by mob)

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Great photography, and some awesome "action" shots. Thanks for posting these.

Dumb question here I know - but it looks like air forces from all over Europe sent in aircraft to perform and amaze?

Cheers,

Mike

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Gorgeous pictures, must be very exciting to see all those fast jets. And I really like your black and whites.

I can see why you wanted the Rafale shots - I hadn't appreciated how good it looks from that angle.

Thanks for sharing!

Will

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Thanks again all :)

Dumb question here I know - but it looks like air forces from all over Europe sent in aircraft to perform and amaze?

Yes indeed. Yeovilton is very much an international Air Day as works very hard to attract some exotica from foreign lands. Last year's show featured displays from the Swiss F/A-18C, Belgain F-16 and Red Devils display team and (not pictured) the Danish Baby Blue display team, the latter making their UK debut, whilst on static display were the French Navy Rafales and a Falcon 10, the Polish M28, German Navy Orion and Do228 and an Italian AW101 Caesar. Quite a healthy mix of types and nations on show.

I can see why you wanted the Rafale shots - I hadn't appreciated how good it looks from that angle.

The Rafale looks good from just about every angle, but especially head on, and even more so the naval variant, with it's beefed up nosegear B)

Thanks again,

Shaun

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Excellent photographing Shaun! Makes me want to visit the show once.

Wonderful machines those Commando's and in nice late afternoon sunny conditions.

Do you happen to know when this helo's are to be withdrawn from active duty?

Would you mind answering a few practical questions in PM? I'm seriously planning to visit Yeovilton this summer.

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Thank you both.

Johan, the Junglies are due to retire later this year. The switchover has begun, with 846 NAS returning to VL last week with six of their new Merlins, whilst there are no more than 10 Junglies left in service. This year's show will be the last chance to see them publicly. Also, you have mail ;)

Cheers,

Shaun

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