Article from BTNews 18 JULY 2022
Top Gun at RIAT
With Prime Minister Boris Johnson visiting RAF Coningsby at Lincolnshire at the same time the real Top Gun was a VVIP guest at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) yesterday – meeting top brass, chatting with RAF air cadets and meeting the Red Arrows.
Alison Chambers reports.
With Prime Minister Boris Johnson visiting RAF Coningsby at Lincolnshire at the same time the real Top Gun was a VVIP guest at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) yesterday – meeting top brass, chatting with RAF air cadets and meeting the Red Arrows.
Tom Cruise piloted himself in his Airbus helicopter, but for most of the 170,000 visitors the journey was by road. It was terrific to see families young and old out enjoying nearly nine hours of flying and 300 aircraft in the static display.
Highlights included a flypast of the Airbus Voyager and RAF Red Arrows who went on to deliver an iconic display; Pavarotti’s opera and commentary in Italian accompanying Italy’s Frecce Tricolori Aerobatic team (the whole air show commentary was first class); the Bell Boeing Osprey Tilt Rotor giving the best bow after its show and the roaring F16 – a nod to Maverick.
With its comfortable hospitality chalets offering frontline view and air-conditioned dining the show is good for business.
With 60 international delegations attending it was the largest RIAT ever. BAE Systems, Airbus and Boeing chose to run their military press briefings on the Friday of the show, inviting media to Fairford.
Business aircraft manufacturer Gulfstream was there ahead of showing at Farnborough. Pilatus debuted at RIAT with its PC-9 and PC-21s trainers in the air display and showed a Pilatus PC-24 jet on the flight line, ahead of its delivery to a private customer in California.
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