● An 847 NAS Lynx hovers as smoke billows across Yeovilton during
the commando assault fi nale
Pictures: AB(MW) Jay Allen and AB(CS) ‘Del’ Trotter (DSOP)
ORDINARILY the sight of a RIB billowing
– with a Belgian F16 deafening the crowd as crew hauled the weapon over the tarmac. (Watch Red Dragons...”) and Battle of Britain Memorial
orange smoke on the back of a low
it performed some astonishing manoeuvres out, too, for sailors wandering around with huge Flight always stir the right emotions.
loader as it crept along the runway at
which drew a round of applause (or possibly it Scooby Doos on their backs, prizes from the They were all upstaged, however, by the Swiss
was the commentary which gained the crowd’s various stalls at the funfair.) Air Force display team Patrouille Suisse who, in the
Yeovilton would raise a few eyebrows. approbation...). And when the skies are almost empty (roughly words of Rear Admiral Terry Loughran, Chairman
Today, it seemed perfectly normal. After power came grace, courtesy of the sleek half an hour in the middle of the day), cars hurtle of Fly Navy Heritage, “painted a huge heart in the
This was, the commentators of Yeovilton Air lines of a venerable Seafire and Sea Fury, and down the runway in a race with a Lynx. sky and everyone fell in love with them”.
Day proudly proclaimed over the loudspeaker, the chunkier Douglas Skyraider, reminders of the Exactly who won proved debatable; the finishing As the heart dispersed in the Somerset sky,
“the first day of summer in Somerset – we ordered wartime and early post-war days of the Fleet Air line was out of sight from the commentary box, peaceful intentions gave way to conflict.
this weather from the Met Office.” Arm. but the Lynx did a wing over at the end of each run For Air Day, as ever, closed with the traditional
Perhaps they did, and 30,000 people are glad Air Day is an occasion where you need eyes in to celebrate victory over the touring cars. crowdpleaser: the 45-minute Commando
they did, for the Somerset air base was bathed in the back of your head. The Formula 2000 racer of the RN’s Lt John Helicopter Assault – an assault not just on the
sunshine for the annual public showcase of the While aircraft spin, dive and pirouette over Welsh, making its first outing of the year, proved invaders of a friendly nation, but on the senses.
Fleet Air Arm. the airfield or roar low over the runway, on the a stiffer opponent. There is perhaps no better demonstration of
“Look around you,” the commentators urged. standings there’s the throaty sound of a Sea But on two runs down the Yeovilton tarmac the modern symphony of battle than the finale to
“This is the Royal Navy. All the helicopters are Fury warming up while Jet Rangers buzz about honours were even – proving just how fast Lynx air day: Harriers roar overhead unleashing 500lb
grey.” (Not quite all... Endurance’s distinctive red carrying guests and Merlins and Chinooks fly at full pelt is (you only truly grasp the speed of bombs, Royal Marines rapid roping out of Sea
and grey Lynx was also in attendance.) around in holding patterns ready for their chance the helicopter when the car is tearing down the Kings, Lynx pouncing on that RIB (well, you can’t
And not all the aircraft on display are British, to take centre stage. runway a few feet below it). drive a boat through the Somerset soil), smoke
too. On the ground the Royal Marines throw Although this is a day celebrating naval aviation, from a 105mm field gun rolling over the lush grass,
Air Day opened with a bang – or rather a roar themselves around in unarmed combat the RAF do muscle in on the act. BVs and Land Rovers scurrying over the turf
displays and in a nearby The Eurofighter Typhoon is by far the loudest rather like the Magic Roundabout’s Dougal.
arena Heron’s field gun showman at Air Day (so loud that you have to shout And, as is customary at the end of a bravura
to your colleagues a good half-mile away from performance, the principals took their bow, lined
the jet), while the Red Arrows up for the appreciative crowd. As they did a wall of
(or as one youngster flame rolled along the runway behind them.
enthused: “Yay, And so as it had begun, so Air Day ended with
it’s the a bang.
● A Belgian F16 trails smoke during the spectacular
curtain-raiser to air day
AA grand day out grand day out
NNEW 016_NN_Aug.indd 1EW 016_NN_Aug.indd 1 225/7/07 13:23:105/7/07 13:23:10
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