The International Air Tattoo at Cheltenham

In my previous post I talked about the air show I went to at Cheltenham called the 'International Air Tattoo'.

I took SO many photos, and wanted to write all about it, but the sheer number of pictures would have been long and boring. Instead, here are two of my highlights: the Red Arrows and the vintage stalls!

The Red Arrows' full name is the "Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team", and they are largely the public face of the Air Force here in the UK. The first team was formed in 1964, and this year was their 50th display season.

The 'Red Arrows' are a whole team, and the staff including engineers and ground crew number a grand total of 120. Although most countries have aerobatic teams, the Red Arrows are known for being one of the best teams in the world; something that I saw confirmed at this air show! Each of the 9 pilots in the Red Arrows has usually served in the Royal Air Force beforehand, and specialises in a particular part of the formation. 

On with the air show. We had only just sat down before we noticed a plume of smoke at the end of the runway:

Ummm....is that normal?

Suddenly, the Red Arrows took off, flew around a bit, then disappeared. It's fair to say I was a bit gutted! However, about 5 minutes later, they reappeared roaring over our heads in a flurry of red, white and blue. It was a struggle to get my camera out in time:

Then, they began to show us their different formations:

The Palm

Concorde

The Diamond

Another Palm

The Snake (sorry about the wire in the way!)

A Fly-past! In action below:

Now THAT was a show! After all that action, we fancied a walkabout the show, and stumbled across the 'Vintage tent':

There was a little tea corner too, where all the servers had 'victory rolls' in their hair:

In the midst of our snooping, there was an outburst of 'Ave another cup of tea' by the victory roll ladies! I tried to take an action shot:

And if you were really inspired, you could even buy fifties-style dresses:

It was such a great day! I would really recommend not just the International Air Tattoo, but any air show. These show us how amazing our Air Force is. You can watch from afar, but if you buy a ticket there is lots more to see - as I hope I've shown you!

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