Cyclops Online Home Gallery Professional GM7FIE What's New Contact Me
Ian's Latest Blip
Ian Stevenson's Facebook profile Ian Stevenson's Twitter View Ian Stevenson's profile on LinkedIn

RAF Leuchars Airshow 2009

Another year, another RAF Leuchars Airshow. At least the weather was a lot better than last year!

2009-09-12_Leuchars_0000.jpg Tornado tail.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0002.jpg Nobody home.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0003.jpg The RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0005.jpg ... the first display of the day...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0007.jpg ...come down in front of a huge crowd.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0009.jpg The Chinook dropped the parachute team, but then was unable to display itself due to a technical fault.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0011.jpg The YAK 52s of Max Alpha Air Displays
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0012.jpg A Belgian F16 at low level...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0014.jpg ...then showing off with smoke.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0016.jpg The Blades in their Extra 300 aircraft are really spectacular...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0019.jpg ...and you would expect nothing less of former Red Arrows display pilots.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0018.jpg Each man is trying to fly down the smoke trail he made on the way up!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0021.jpg A rare moment of being right way up...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0022.jpg ...before the silliness starts again.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0025.jpg The Eurofighter Typhoon - first time I've seen it display properly as the weather was too bad last year.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0029.jpg Team Guinot Wing Walkers...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0030.jpg ...why would you do that?
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0031.jpg Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0036.jpg The Vulcan preparing. After it didn't get airborne last year due to weather, everyone has their fingers crossed.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0037.jpg The TV crew is ready...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0039.jpg ...and she's up!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0045.jpg A sight you really didn't want to see during the cold war. A Vulcan departing with an empty bomb bay...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0051.jpg The Red Arrows get airborne ready to display...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0053.jpg ...but everyone is still watching this HUGE delta bomber....
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0054.jpg ...as she comes in to land.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0058.jpg Even as she taxis in, everyone is still watching the Vulcan...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0060.jpg ...in spite of the Red Arrows and a Typhoon doing a fly by together!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0061.jpg Then the Red Arrows start their display properly.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0062.jpg Head on you can see how perfectly they are aligned...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0063.jpg ...as they make a pass in Diamond 9 formation.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0065.jpg Switching to Concorde formation.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0067.jpg Red 1's radio is routed to the PA so you can hear him shouting "break" as the formation does just that...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0068.jpg ...splitting temporarily into two separate flights.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0071.jpg Apparently this smoke causes no environmental damage. We'll just ignore all the jet fuel being burned in the name of fun!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0075.jpg Line astern, their smoke trails indistinguishable.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0076.jpg Red, White and Blue.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0079.jpg The synchro pair wrap their coloured smoke trails around the white ones.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0080.jpg Hawks everywhere!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0081.jpg That they don't hit each other continues to amaze me.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0083.jpg When you're tracking one aircraft and the other has a closing speed of 600mph, it goes blurry!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0084.jpg The Red Arrows draw a heart in the sky for the RAF Foundation.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0086.jpg Red 1 breaks off to come in to land.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0088.jpg They even taxi together in formation!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0090.jpg I hope they are congratulating themselves on a job well done - another spectacular display!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0091.jpg Ooooh. BIG lens.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0093.jpg Spitfire
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0094.jpg Lancaster Bomber
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0095.jpg Another spitfire.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0097.jpg Perhaps the excitement of the Red Arrows and the Vulcan was too much...
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0099.jpg Lancaster
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0104.jpg The Royal Navy Black Cats display team with their Lynx helicopters.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0106.jpg They really do get up to some ridiculous antics. Must be tricky knowing where your rotors are at all times!
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0108.jpg Rotor in the sun.
2009-09-12_Leuchars_0109.jpg Nitrogen. The enemy of divers, but presumably useful in aviation!
©2000-2026 Ian Stevenson, all rights reserved