RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day 2010 - Press Release
RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day 2010 - Press Release
HEAVYWEIGHTS TO DOMINATE STATIC PARK
NATO's 'Eye in the Sky', the Boeing E-3A Sentry, will keep watch over the crowds at this year's RNAS Yeovilton Air Day on 10 July. Together with an RAF Vickers VC10 tanker, the E-3A will dominate Air Day's Static Display which will complement the five-hour-long Flying Display.
The presence of Air Day's NATO-operated E-3A will represent one of just two 2010 UK airshow appearance for this aircraft so far announced. First flown in 1972, Boeing's AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) features a distinctive and vast fuselage-mounted radar dish that makes it one of the most recognisable types in service today.
NATO's 17 examples make up part of the organisation's Airborne Early Warning and Control Force and carry out surveillance missions all over the world, while the Sentry equips several air arms including the Royal Air Force.
In some contrast, the RAF is the world's only user of the VC10 air-to-air refueller, the military career of which is now coming to an end. The VC10 was adapted from the classic 1960s-era British commercial airliner of the same name and serves with No. 101 Squadron at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The basic VC10 airframe is now close to 50 years old and the type will soon be withdrawn in favour of the new Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), of which 14 are due to equip the RAF from 2011 onwards. Opportunities to see a VC10 at an airshow - especially at close-quarters as will be the case at Air Day – are consequently becoming ever-rarer.
Both heavyweight modern military aircraft designs are expected to be popular features of Air Day's Static Display of NATO hardware and historical naval aircraft gathered in celebration of RNAS Yeovilton's 70th anniversary.
The current list of participating aircraft can be viewed at www.yeoviltonairday.co.uk. Tickets are available online or via the ticketline on 08445 781 781 until 3 July. Tickets are also available from local tourist information centres and at the gate.
