Part One - RIAT On Form

This years Royal International Air Tattoo marked one of the shows most successful years in recent history. The weather was perfect throughout the entire show week and the aircraft attending the event included some somewhat rare types to keep the enthusiasts happy whilst the public had plenty to keep them entertained. Air Tattoo director and co founder Tim Prince "“Everyone I have spoken to has said what a wonderful time they have had and how much they have enjoyed the day. Not only do we try and pull out all the stops during our flying display but we have tried to provide a wide range of entertainment on the ground for people to enjoy. “The team has risen to the challenge of improving on last year’s Air Tattoo and this has been reflected in the increased attendance for this year.”

Early figures suggest that the total number of people attending the show over the weekend at a very healthy 167,000 which pointed at a 4% increase from last years event. Despite this however traffic problems over the weekend were minimal. Peter Williams, co-ordinator,  stated “On Saturday morning, visitors travelling on our ‘blue’Turkish delight... route from the M4 experienced delays simply due to the increased volume of traffic. The other routes were fine. “On Saturday evening there was some delay with cars exiting the Green route heading north and west and this was primarily caused by people leaving earlier-than-expected because of the heat. However, on Sunday evening, departures along all of the routes were much more measured. “I think people do expect a certain amount of queuing with an event the size of ours but it is our job to minimize this. I think this was, in most cases, achieved.”

2005 was the first year that the show had been held in support of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust. This year RIAT repeated this to a great success as Tim Prince stated 

“The Trust was set up last year to support a wide range of RAF charities and to promote the RAF itself and encourage airmindedness in young people. It had enjoyed a very successful first year and now looks as though it will be enjoying a very good second year thanks to the support we received at the weekend by so many wonderful people.”

This year saw RIAT attract it's 50th nation to attend the show. This came in the shape of C130B Hercules from the Pakistan Air Force of 6 Squadron. In total around 300 aircraft participated in this year’s airshow from around 24 countries. The crew of the Royal Australian Air Force 707 flew the  furthest to be at the show, coming from Richmond, New South Wales.

Of course, with such hot weather it was inevitable there would be some injuries, many relating to sun burn. However the RIAT team did their best to advise the public as Mrs Susan Cox, 57, from Greatworth near Banbury said: "We had a great day except it was a bit warm. But RIAT warned us to drink plenty of water." Over the weekend, 25 children became separated from their parents but all were reunited. During the airshow, 232 people attended the medical centre or first aid points in the showground suffering from conditions ranging from heat exhaustion to cuts. The medical team received 45 requests for an ambulance and three people were subsequently transferred to hospital – one a child with suspected meningitis.

Among the guests to attend over the weekend were Sir David Jason, Jeremy Clarkson and legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Other guests included HRH the Duke of Kent, HRH Lieutenant General Prince Feisal bin Hussein and his son Prince Omar, the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy and Secretary of the US Air Force Mr Michael Wynne.

Part Two - The Flying Display