Military Jets Photography: 2009 07 09 Yeovilton Airday

The Royal Navy was created in 1909 and so in 2009 they celebrated their 100 years. For this occasion they introduced some "Fly Navy 100" celebrations at several locations in the United Kingdom. One of these locations was at RNAS Yeovilton.
Unfortunately the weather messed up the plans for the show with low clouds and rain. This resulted in some flying display that needed to be cancelled. There was further disappointment for many in the afternoon as the Vulcan first went tech before finally being beaten by the weather.
Despite all the disappointment that the weather brought, in many ways it was still the best line up seen at Yeovilton for many years. The static was much larger than previous years with much more involvement from overseas air arms wishing to participate in the Fly Navy 100 celebrations. Star items amongst the static were the pair of EAV-8B Harrier II+ from the Spanish Navy, a Rafale M, an E-2D Hawkeye and a Lynx HAS4 from the French Navy, a Lynx Mk95 from the Portuguese Navy and a Atlantic from the German Navy.
As ever with Yeovilton's static displays, there is always a theme to part of the line up. This year, the show celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Sea King entering UK service. Yeovilton had examples of the Sea King HAS2, HC4, HAS6, HAR3 and 3A on display from current service as well as historic collections. Star of the line up however was the solo 2009 airshow appearance of QinetiQ's Sea King Mk4X from Boscombe Down.
The Royal Navy had a very impressive line up including examples of the Harrier GR9, Tutor, ,Sea King, Merlin and Lynx on static display.
Many of the planned displays looked back at the Fleet Air Arms history. Sadly, the Royal Navy Historic Flight was unable to take part with their fleet all grounded awaiting various bit of work but nevertheless, there was a good selection. These included the Hawker Nimrod II, Supermarine Seafire XVII, Douglas Skyraider and the Wasp HAS1 helicopter.
However, star of the historic displays was the mighty Sea Vixen flown by Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield. The low cloud and somewhat damp conditions gave an extra edge to the Vixen's display with all manner of flash condensation appearing over the aircraft during the high speed passes.
Current Royal Navy air power was also displayed in strength. As ever the home team, the Black Cats put on an impressive displays. Just an impressive was the solo display by the Merlin HM1 which flew a very tight display for such a large helicopter.
The finale to the day was the traditional "Martime Display" and the "Commando Assault."The Martime display saw Yeovilton based Lynx helicopters showing off a number of their maritime roles including anti-shipping and boarding. The Commando Assault is itself a highlight of the airshow calendar. Sadly the fixed wing participants (Harrier GR9 and Hunter F58s) could not take part due to low cloud but the "Junglies" still put on a stunning show supported by the Royal Marines as well as some ground based assets!
There were also some display teams present like The Royal Jordanian Falcons who flew a flat show and Frecce Tricolori who didn't flew becuase of the low clouds. The Red Arrows also only managed a fex straight passes before cancelling their show.
Other cancelled display were from the Typhoon, Chinook, Dutch F-16 and as already stated the Vulcan Display that could go ahead did their low show or even an adapted version of that one. The Blue Eagles managed to fit a solo display by the WAH-64D Apache AH1. Further there wasa Belgian F-16 and making it's UK debut was the French Rafale.
It was a frustrating day for all involved but nevertheless, the Royal Navy did take center stage and presented some exciting displays alongside some quality acts from the UK, Europe and beyond.