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Page 2 of 7 Thursday, July 12th Getting up it looked bright outside, but only at the first sight – a layer of grey clouds welcomed us on the first day in England. But the weather cannot be changed so we got our things ready and went to Fairford for the arrivals day. Parking and a ticket to get a bit inside the airfield near the touchdown point did cost 16GBP per person, the first of many expenses during a stay at the RIAT. Unfortunately we were already a bit late and the places in front were already occupied, sometimes with people needing space in the first row for two or three, or even some standing with stepladders in the front… Taking photos was therefore not that easy, but still with a grey sky as a background that did not matter that much. Anyway, the start was a bit slow and there were no real highlights arriving in the early morning.
RIAT 2007 arrivals (in no particular order)
The highlight for many was the practice of the USAF Thunderbirds during their first European for many years. Unfortunately the weather in Fairford at that time was still not good at all and they were missing one aircraft. Adding to this their 40 minutes long practice was also kind off slow and not very appealing for the spectator. But for me it was the first time that I saw this display time and therefore I also did not keep from taking some photos.
Thunderbirds Training
After that the cloud layers started to break up a bit and shed the first light on the arriving highlights. What seemed to be a normal Hellenic Air Force C-130 emerged as a freshly painted one decorated with Herakles painted on the tail celebrating 17.000 hours… A real surprise and a very successful special markings.  The C-130 was the vanguard for two A-7 Corsairs, including of course their Tiger scheme. Another Hercules arriving in the afternoon was a Brazilian (FAB – Fuerza Aera Brasiliera) C-130, also a rare sight in Europe. It was accompanied as well, by a early warning modified Embraer 145 – the military designation being R-99A. More Hercules’ came also from the UK and Italy, the later one as the support aircraft for the Frecce Tricolri. Many RIAT veterans did arrive as well, privately owned warbirds that do not fly anymore in active service – Gnat, Hunter, Strikemaster – or aircraft that are rarely in military service anymore and are operated by institutions. Here the last operating British operating Jaguar arose the attention of the enthusiast. It is still operated as a test aircraft by QuinetiQ, as well as the Alpha Jet that was flown into Fairford. I will not forget the Indian participation at this year's RIAT.
As some Indian Su-30MKI Flankers were stationed for an exercise at Waddington at that time they did send two of the Flankers to Fairford together with an Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft. The two Suchois arrived late in the afternoon at Fairford – when the light was unfortunately not that good for photos anymore – accompanied by a third one that pleased everyone with some fly-bys and manoeuvring over the airfield. Even if that was high and not that spectacular, the sight of a flying Su-27 derivate pleased everyone!The Indian Air Force Participation: Il-78MKI & Su-30MKI
These 3 aircraft on the ground were joined by a BAe Hawk that are currently being prepared for delivery to the Indian Air Force and are based at Warton. Mentioning all the aircraft might be a bit too much...
In the early evening we returned to our temporarily home, had something to eat and drink, of course, before going to bed and recovering on order to sustain the next three days of aircraft photography.
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