Fighters from 9th Squadron have flown to RAF Fairford for RIAT 2023

The applauded exhibition of a Harrier II of the Spanish Navy in the United Kingdom

Esp 7·14·2023 · 21:43 0

The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), one of the largest airshows in the world, kicked off in the UK today.

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The RIAT is held annually at RAF Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire in the center from England. The Spanish Armed Forces have participated many times in this event, and usually with a very good reception. This year, the Spanish Air Force has sent the Patrulla Águila with its C-101 Aviojet and a CASA C-295 from the 35th Wing as support aircraft. In turn, the Spanish Navy has sent two McDonnell Douglas EAV-8B+ Harrier II fighters from the 9th Squadron and one Cessna Citation executive transport plane from the 4th Squadron.

The festival lasts three days, from Friday to Sunday. This Friday, the RIAT public was able to see the exhibition of one of the Spanish Harrier IIs, the VA.1B-6, which usually has many enthusiasts in the United Kingdom, since the last Harrier IIs from the British Armed Forces were withdrawn from service in 2010. It is an aircraft model that still has many fans in Great Britain, and seeing the aviators of the Spanish Navy flying with them must be very nostalgic. The Spanish Harrier II at today's exhibition has received applause from the public, as you can see in this video Dafydd Phillips (turn up the volume on your speakers, because the sound is amazing):

The channel TheFighterCommunity has also posted a slightly longer video of this exhibition:

You can see here some screenshots of Phillips' video.

The Spanish fighter put on a hovering air show, thanks to its V/STOL capability. It is a common display on Spanish Harrier IIs, but it is still impressive no matter how many times you have seen it.

The VA.18-6 has its drift decorated for this festival, with a design alluding to the 9th Squadron and the animal that gives its name to the radio callsign of this unit: Cobra.

It must be remembered that in 2019, the Spanish Harrier IIs won the RIAT Chief Executive Trophy, due to their excellent performance at this air festival.

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