(BBAC) has represented British ballooning at - The Air League

This year’s Royal International Air Tattoo
at RAF Fairford marked the celebration
of 40 years of the show, which has
grown to become world famous as the largest
military air show of its kind anywhere. The
editor was involved in the very first Air
ABOVE - new entry to the flying display circuit in the UK was the recently
launched EADS/Elta C-295 AEW&C demonstrator.
ABOVE - No RAF Typhoon was available to fly at RIAT, but BAE Systems
stepped in to provide and fly development aircraft DA5, which performed a lively
sequence for an aircraft carrying a representative load of air-to-air missiles and
four Paveway II precision bombs.
ABOVE - Dassault’s feline Rafale carried a commemorate colour scheme
marking 30,000 hours of operational service and performed an outstanding
aerobatic routine.
RIAT 2011 - Still the No.
An influential champion for aviation in challenging times www.airleague.co.uk
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Tattoo back in 1971 at RAF North Weald,
flying up with a large display of scale model
RAF aircraft in a 33 Squadron Puma from
Odiham – those were the days! The 2011 RIAT
show was noticeably low-key in terms of RAF
participation, reflecting the continuing high
ABOVE - The immaculate Italian
the Frecce Tricolori, in their ten
ABOVE - There was strong support from
an IL-76MD and a powerful-looking