In one of the most picturesque areas of Southern England is the shire of Somerset, where, for exactly 70 years, the ROYAL NAVY Base RNAS YEOVILTON has been located. This Naval Air Station is, especially in the mind of aviation enthusiasts, one of the most interesting spots within the British Islands. Since the founding of this Air Station in 1940, almost every British naval aircraft has been deployed at RNAS YEOVILTON (SEA HURRICANE, SEA FURY, SEA VIXEN, BUCCANEER, PHANTOM, SEA HARRIER, just to mention a few). One can see all these aircraft even now in the famous FLEET AIR ARM MUSEUM, which is also located on the RNAS. Additionally Yeovilton is also the home base of the ROYAL NAVY HISTORIC FLIGHT (RNHF). A very interesting aspect is the fact, that the RNAS YEOVILTON has also a “ship-name” – HMS Heron.

Every land base of the ROYAL NAVY also owns a ship-name (i.e.: RNAS CULDROSE _ HMS Seahawk). Being in the position of having far more than 4000 employees the RNAS YEOVILTON is not only one of the most important bases of the RN but also one of the biggest employers in the area. No less than eight active squadrons as well as various training units are deployed there. Since the decommissioning of the BAe SEA HARRIER FA.2 of the Squadrons No. 800, 801 and 899 NAS in April 2006, no combat aircraft is deployed on any of the remaining RNAS (beside RNAS YEOVILTON the RNAS CULDROSE is the second remaining RN land base). The squadrons at Yeovilton consists mainly of helicopters (Westland SEA LYNX Mk.3 as well as Mk.8, Westland SEA KING Mk.4; only some training units are equipped with fixed-wing aircraft). With the introduction of the future naval combat aircraft, the Lockheed Martin F-35 LIGHTNING II (sometime in 20??), the noise will come back to this busy, but relatively quiet area. The task of the SEA HARRIER is taken over by the JOINT HARRIER STRIKE FORCE flying BAe HARRIER Gr.Mk.9.

The main topic of this years AIR DAY was for sure the 70th anniversary of RNAS YEOVILTON. Especially the display of the historic navy warbirds was eagerly expected by the approximately 30.000 spectators. Even before the show started a Supermarine SEAFIRE Mk. XVII (owned by Kennet Aviation) took off together with a BAe JET PROVOST. The SEAFIRE performed later also a nice solo display. Unfortunately some of the announced highlights couldn’t show up due to several reasons. The de Havilland DH-110 SEA VIXEN is technically ok but has no qualified display pilot (the actual pilot Mark Whitfield is recovering from a severe sickness – all the best wishes from our side!). This is why the SEA VIXEN was grounded for the complete 2010 season. The next, long awaited highlight, the Fairey SWORDFISH had (at the time of the AIR DAY) still technical problems as well as the RNHF Hawker Sea Fury FB.11. In spite of these unfortunate breakdowns the displays of the historical aircraft was more than worth seeing. Beside the already mentioned Supermarine SEAFIRE Mk.XVII one could also see the only airworthy Hawker SEA HAWK FGA.Mk6. This particular aircraft is also owned by the RNHF and is held in the colours of No. 806 NAS. The SEA HAWK was used within the FLEET AIR ARM between 1953 till 1960. It had been the very first jet-powered aircraft of the Hawker company (originally it was based of the fuselage of the SEA FURY). The first combat mission of British SEA HAWK`s took place in the Suez war (1956). The SEA HAWK was also purchased by the Federal Germany´s Navy (BUNDESMARINE) in a modified version (called Mk.100 & Mk.101). Germany phased out the SEA HAWK in 1965 and replaced it with the more sophisticated F-104 STARFIGHTER. The Netherlands and India have also been customers of this beautifully shaped naval aircraft. The latter used the SEA HAWK even in the Indo-Pakistani War in 1971 quite successfully.

There was a lot of advertising for it before the AIR DAY 2009 – nevertheless it was unable to perform due to technical problems – the aircraft in question was the AVRO VULCAN B.2 (XH588). This time the luck was with the organiser (as well as with the public). Powered by four Bristol OLYMPUS Mk.301 turbofans this icon of the Cold War took off with a thundering noise, which sounded like music in the ears of many spectators (even if the one or the other couldn’t hear any music after the VULCAN´s display for a while). The sight of this aesthetic looking Delta-wing aircraft, it is almost unbelievable, that is already 50 years old. No other aircraft has engaged the aviation enthusiasts but also the normal British citizen more than the VULCAN´s restoration project. For a long time the first flight of the VULCAN was on the brink, and financial problems have persisted with the project up until the present time. The mighty engines do have a respectful thirst (bout 3000 GBP per flying hour only for the fuel), and there is a lot of additional money to be spent on spare parts, personal, etc. Nevertheless the AVRO 698 VULCAN B.2 was able to perform in front of a million of spectators in the 2010 airshow season.

As already mentioned the RNAS YEOVILTON is the home base of several helicopter units of the ROYAL NAVY and the ROYAL MARINES COMMANDOS. With a mighty air power demonstration (Command Assault) the public was shown the flexibility and combat readiness of the different units. While the SEA KING delivered mobile forces as well as equipment on the spot, heavily armed SEA LYNX helicopters flew close air support. Additionally BAe HAWK T.Mk1a and BAe HARRIER Gr.Mk 9 took care of local air superiority.  These so called scenarios are very popular with the public, as one can see what the British taxpayer’s money is used for. Beside the already aged SEA KING Mk .4 one could also see the newest achievement of the ROYAL NAVY, the Agusta Westland MERLIN HM.1 in the flying display (coming from the No. 824 NAS / RNAS CULDROSE). The company WESTLAND, with it’s headquarters just around the corner (Yeovil) has a respectful reputation in producing helicopters. Most of the helicopters used by either the ROYAL NAVY or the BRITISH ARMY have been either designed by WESTLAND or have been license-produced by this company (i.e.: the Westland H.A.R. 5 WHIRLWIND was a license-produced American Sikorsky S-55). The actual model, the MERLIN HM.1 was designed and produced together with the Italian company AGUSTA. After initial problems, the MERLIN is in the meantime fully operational and is used within the RN as well as in the BRITISH ARMY. Beside Great Britain and Italy the EH-101 (original designation) is also operated in Canada, Denmark, Portugal as well as in Japan.

The international participation at the AIR DAY in Yeovilton wasn’t that wide -scale as it was in previous years, especially in case of naval aircraft. The few aircraft on display, which were of interest for the enthusiast, could be seen only in the static (i.e.: the AMD RAFALE M of the French Aeronavale or the Polish PZL-28-1R BRYZA). In the flying program one could mainly see the Lockheed Martin F-16AM FIGHTING Falcon’s from the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. This hotspot consisting of three aircraft of the same type was just interrupted by a very agile and dynamic display of a French Dassault Breguet ALPHA JET E. In case of the military aerobatic teams the visitor was much more pleased. The RED ARROWS did a fantastic flying display (as usual). Beside the British National Demo Team also the Spanish PATRULLA AGUILA flew a stunning display.

The AGUILA`s are not only one of the major European display teams, they also use a very unique aircraft, rarely seen outside Spain (CASA C 101 AVIOJET). Not really a military display team (at least not in case of the operational aircraft) is the ROYAL JORDANIAN FALCONS, which did some magic manoeuvres in the sky above RNAS YEOVILTON. Another (civilian) team, which is well worth mentioning is the BREITLING WING WALKERS. This formation was formerly also known as the CRUNCHIE`s, the UTTERLY BUTTERLY´s and the TEAM GUINOT. They always carry the name of their main sponsor (actually it is the Swiss watchmaker BREITLING). Their flying program can be described with a single word: MAGNIFICENT! Even a die-hard bloke gets dull in his stomach if he thinks about staying on the upper wing of a biplane while the aircraft is doing crazy manoeuvres. It seems that the beautiful aero babes do not really care about that and find themselves quite comfortable – well, maybe just a question of familiarisation, isn’t it?

VERDICT: the AIR DAY 2010 at RNAS YEOVILTON was (once again) a great experience for all visitors. Contrary to the last two years the weather was brilliant and presented some of the app. 30.000 spectators with a sun-burned face. The ROYAL NAVY displays were absolutely great and spectacular. Also in case of the warbirds the AIR DAY made lots of people happy, even if some of the expected performers couldn’t show up (i.e.: SWORDFISH, SEA FURY or the SEA VIXEN). Solely with the guest displays one could have seen a bit more variety, but this was more than equalised by the stunning display of the mighty VULCAN. All in all it was an awesome event. We already look forward to AIR DAY 2011, which will take place on the 09th of July 2011 – CU there

Robert Kysela / CHK 6