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C-130 Airshow and Other News
Airshows
Duxford Airshow (2nd and 3rd September) - Beauvechain, Belgian 60th Anniversary Airshow (2nd and 3rd September) - RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain Airshow (9th September) - Lydd Airday (10th September)
The team very much regret that they were unable to attend any airshows in September, which made the Sunday seafront show at Eastbourne the last of the season. Despite some truly Herculean efforts by the planners at RAF Lyneham to squeeze an aircraft out of the tasking program for a couple of hours a day for any of the subsequent venues, there were just no aircraft available for us to use. Trev, Dave and Spud were disappointed not to be able to fly the display at publicised venues to the end of the season – but if it’s a choice of supporting our troops overseas or going to an airshow in the UK I hope you agree that there is no contest in where the aircraft has to be sent. We hope no-one was too disappointed by our absence and for better aircraft availability next year.
That’s it for this year! Thank you to all at RAF Lyneham for their support, to Land Rover and Lockheed Martin for their kind sponsorship and to everyone who has watched this year’s new C 130J Display and enjoyed it.
Best wishes,
The 2006 C-130J Hercules Display Team
The Yorkshire Airshow – Elvington (Sat and Sun 19th and 20th August)
The team used the aircraft well over the weekend of the 19th/20th, picking up a movements team and vehicles from RAF Lyneham after displaying at Eastbourne on Saturday before travelling up to Elvington to complete a full display for the Yorkshire Airshow. The weather was challenging, with heavy thunderstorms hitting the airfield bringing strong winds and torrential rain but with gaps in between them when flying was possible. The team managed to fit a show in just after a storm for their slot on Saturday and Trev, Dave, Spud and the movements team were surprised at just how many people had braved the weather. Sunday was much brighter and Trev flew a full display before the team departed back to Lyneham to drop off the movers and vehicles and continue down to Eastbourne to complete a display there. Although we didn’t know it at the time, this was the last weekend this season the team were to get an aircraft for a display as tasking was to take all the aircraft to support operations overseas. Thanks to the organisers for their support and assistance, especially on Sunday as Sherburn-in-Elmet was having its own event a few miles down the extended display line.
Eastbourne International AirShow (Thu – Sun 17th to 20th August)
What an event! The organisers should give themselves a well earned pat on the back. Despite variable weather and aircraft launching from a wide range of airfields a full event was run on each of the 4 days. The C-130J team were fortunate enough to get an aircraft for all of them – although it was a case on Thursday and Friday of grabbing an aircraft for a couple of hours from the tasking at RAF Lyneham and returning it there immediately afterwards for further tasking. This was to give us a taste of what was to come, with aircraft becoming scarcer and scarcer as operational demands increased in support of deployed troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s a pity we weren’t able to stop at Eastbourne for longer to meet some spectators and enjoy the post-flying entertainment which had been organised, but the team were lucky enough to fly a full sequence on each day despite some heavy showers and a strong on-crowd wind. Trev, Dave and Spud were very grateful for the flexibility and dedication shown by the organisers of the event, the engineers at RAF Lyneham and also the friendly handling staff at Lydd Airport. We look forward to returning next year!
Farnborough International Air Show (Sat and Sun 22nd and 23rd July)
It was a disappointing weekend at Farnborough for the team, who had been booked to fly on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Trev, Dave and Spud along with a movements team led by Flt Lt Ollie Bailey managed only the first half of their display on Friday before being instructed to finish early and land as the Red Arrows were due inbound; our sympathy to the Spitfire pilot who got airborne behind us to display next and was told to land without accomplishing anything at all! After leaving Farnborough on Saturday morning for a mandatory engineering check back at RAF Lyneham we were informed that there would be no display slot for us that day as thunderstorms had caused their program to slip. The team then planned to return to the show to fulfil our slot on Sunday, but regrettably Farnborough decided that there wasn't room on Sunday either for all their booked attractions so we reluctantly took the decision to remain at home base and release the airframe to be used for other tasking.
All in all Farnborough 2006 was an interesting experience into a way to organise a flying display that we are glad is unique.
RAF Fairford (Sat and Sun 15th and 16th July)
It was another scorcher of a weekend for one of the biggest shows of the calendar – the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. With Trev, Dave and Spud flying, the C-130 Team managed to do a practice at Fairford on Thursday and flew in each day from their base at RAF Lyneham to complete the display. They also completed a validation flight at Farnborough on Saturday before arriving at Fairford – thanks to the organisers at both events for being flexible on slot times. Also, by the time Sunday came around the movements team who offload the vehicles from the aircraft as part of the display had been put on standby to go to Cyprus to assist with the evacuation of British nationals as part of the latest Middle East crisis. To a man, they volunteered to continue with the Sunday show despite being on notice to move, arranging their pre-deployment preparation around the display in order not to let down RIAT or disappoint the audience.
The weather was superb for flying, with a light wind and plenty of
sunshine and Trev made the most of it with the display flown to the
limits of
the aircraft. All in all it was a busy weekend but very enjoyable and
the team looks forward to their next outing at Farnborough. We hope
to see you there!
RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day (Sat 8th July)
The annual air show at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset is alway an interesting and unusual event, and this year was no different. The finale of the display was a huge massed battle demonstration by large numbers of fixed wing and rotary winged aircraft from the three services. However, the weather managed to mar the day unfortunately, although there was plenty of sunshine for the majority of the day, the wind steadily increased in strength until it was gusting to 30 knots, and of course, straight across the runway. Ben, Phil and Daz began their display with the normal steep take-off and circuit to land back on to deliver the Land-Rovers from the rear ramp, but during the landing approach it became obvious that all was not well. The aircraft landed extremely hard, with a sudden wind-shear contributing to the problems posed by the cross-wind. Although there was no damage, under these circumstances Ben was sadly left with no choice but to cancel the rest of the display, the cross-wind was simply too strong for safety. The Team are now looking forward to RIAT at Fairford with fingers firmly crossed for the weather!
RAF Waddington (Sat and Sun 1st and 2nd July)
The historic airfield of RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire baked in the heat of the weekend while it hosted the annual international air display. Ben, Phil and Daz flew the display both days, while Trev did an excellent job as commentator! The C-130 Team had a long weekend due to an incident during the display on Saturday. A generator failed on the number four engine, halfway through the display, which was shut down as a precaution and the aircraft immediately landed. The engineers and the air show support team at Waddington worked hard and long into the night to get the static display aricraft ready to fly on the Sunday, swapping it for the original display aircraft. The Team would like to thank everyone at Waddington for their help in making the Sunday display possible, and the webmaster would like to thank Trev for filling in full time on the mike as commentator so he could get some of the photographs below! The Sunday display was superb, the vehicles the J delivered providing a thick smokescreen in a dramatic tactical demonstration, before the crew showed what the J was capable of when unencumbered in no uncertain terms! The pictures below are just a few of the highlights from the display.
Kemble (Sun 18th June)
After a slightly more social start on the Sunday morning we departed Leeuwarden behind several fast jets and flew the transit back to Lyneham. It was then a quick rapid jump in the Range Rover and drive up to Kemble in time for the Herc to arrive for the display straight from Lyneham. Afterwards we passed out the usual stickers and leaflets and it was nice to hear some satisfied comments from the spectators. Another busy but fun weekend.
RNAF Leeuwarden (Fri 16th & Sat 17th June)
After a very early start (5am!) on the Friday morning we arrived at RNAF Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. After a brief spell on the ground it was straight into the first show with a good display by the crew. It was all rather different than at the UK airshows we have done so far as I had to clip the commentary to allow my Dutch counterpart to translate! Fortunately he was a Hercules pilot himself so he filled in well in Dutch! We then did a repeat show on the Saturday which also went well before retiring back to our hotel.
RAF Cosford (Sun 11th June)
The RAF Cosford Air Display is only a one day show, but due to the outstanding weather this year, the event attracted a crowd estimated at over 50,000 people! Ben Brandon, Phil O'Brien and Daz Addison flew a superb display, including unloading two Land Rovers on the main runway and a wide variety of tactical manoeuvres. The latter surprised many people in the crowd, as few expect the Hercules to be quite that nimble! Team Manager Mark Ashton once again provided expert commentary for the Team. The Hercules also had to depart in the morning to collect the RAF Falcons from RAF Brize Norton after their aircraft was taken from them on an Operation tasking. They dropped shortly after midday to open the flying display in style. Below are a selection of images from the display flown later in the afternoon.
BAe Filton (Sat 10th June)
Filton was the start of yet another hot weekend. We flew out from Lyneham on Saturday morning before displaying just after lunch. Despite the England football match being on at the same time, there was a decent crowd of Filton employees and I managed to give out some stickers and leaflets on the way to do the commentary. All went well and after a short turn around the crew were off to Cosford with me following behind by road in the Range Rover.
Biggin Hill (Sat 3rd and Sun 4th June)
Saturday dawned bright and clear, with the temperatures rising to nearly 30 degrees C! The crew departed early in the morning to Brize Norton to pick up the RAF Falcons team, after their aircraft went unserviceable. This allowed them to make it to Biggin Hill after all, just in time to open the show! Ben, POB and Daz's first Airshow display to a large crowd went well, although unfortunately without vehicles due to a technical snag, but this was resolved for the Sunday show. The crew then spent time in the 'Meet the pilots' area signing programmes and giving out stickers after the display. The other commentators estimated the attendance at about 30,000.
Sunday was similarly hot, with another good display from the crew. This time we had the Landrovers on board with plenty of smoke grenades to use up. The sight of a green dyed movements crew after the show was most amusing! From my view in the commentary box there seemed to be far more people on the Sunday, probably around 90,000 as the crowd line was over twice as deep! We managed to negotiate a slot to leave during the show and the crowd waved us off as we departed back to Lyneham. Another good weekend.
Southend (Sun 28th May)
The first day of the Southend Airshow, held over the May Bank Holiday, dawned bright and clear. The clouds did roll in, but never enough to threaten the flying display. The aircraft flew two slots in the display, once as a display aircraft and once as the jump aircraft for the famous Royal Air Force Parachute Display Team, the Falcons. Trev Waller, Dave Kirby and Spud Simpson flew the aircraft for the display and Flt Lt 'Dutch' Holland and Dave Kirby dropped the Falcons on both days. Below are a few images from their display.
The second day was looking slightly less promising with forecast Thunderstorms and high winds! Fortunately the the storms passed a few miles to the south and provided a rather spectacular backdrop to the displays and we even had some sun for part of the day. The Falcons dropped first to open the show, followed by the display slightly later in the day and both flights went well. The aircraft then departed to Newcastle to drop the Falcons at the Corbridge County show and the remainder of the crew recovered by road the following day. Overall, a busy but enjoyable two days.
Duxford (Sun 21st May)
A rainy start from Lyneham on Sunday morning meant that things were
not looking promising, however the crew decided to give it a go anyway
and we managed to make it in to Duxford through the murk. Despite the
British weather giving a low cloud base and lots more rain, once the
show began the Hercules crew (along with several other brave souls) managed
to display. A rain shower hit on the first attempt and so the crew departed
back out the holding area where they were joined by the Eurofighter Typhoon.
As soon as the rain stopped the Typhoon performed the majority of his
display (he was getting low on fuel so we let him go first) and then
the Hercules performed almost a full display in the tricky conditions
before departing back to Lyneham on Sunday evening. It was nice to see
so many people braving the weather to see the show and we hope it’s
better when we return for the Spitfire Anniversary Air Show in September!
Other News
During the Pakistani Earthquake relief effort, RAF C-130Js from Lyneham flew 550 flying hours, delivering 454 tonnes of aid. This was 45% of the total International Military airlift from Turkey to Pakistan!
We currently have aircraft deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
For the latest news and to find out more about the Lyneham Squadrons, please click on the following links:
http://www.lyneham.raf.mod.uk/html/news/news_arch.htm
http://www.lyneham.raf.mod.uk/24sqn/index.htm
http://www.lyneham.raf.mod.uk/30sqn/index.html
http://www.lyneham.raf.mod.uk/47Sqn/index.htm
http://www.lyneham.raf.mod.uk/70Sqn/index.html
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