Royal International Air Tattoo 2006, Fairford, UK
RIAT 2006 was probably one of the best I have attended so far. The variety of aircraft displaying was amazing. From the unconventional Osprey to the MIG 29 OVT (which is vectored thrust in Russian), this airshow had it all. The weather was good, almost clear skies, warm weather - which is not usual at Fairford. I remember standing with the late Frans Dely and him saying he wished we had some clouds in the sky! We enjoyed the different aircraft, taking thousands of photographs between us. The most stunning display for me was the MIG 29. From an impressive take off, to the Cobra maneuver and then flipping right over and carrying on as if nothing had happened to the flat spin from a few hundred feet - I remember Frans just shaking his head in amazement. Neither of us had seen anything quite like that before - or since in fact! These photographs were taken with a Canon 30D and Canon 500mm F4,5 lens - which was an "old" techonlogy lens. Unfortunately, the 500mm was getting old and was a mission to carry so it had to go, but I miss it......
