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RAF prepares for world's biggest military air show

Getty Images The Red Arrows perform at RAF Fairford during the Royal Military Air Tattoo on July 15, 2023 in Fairford. Two red aircraft trailing blue smoke perform a close pass with a third aircraft with red smoke in the background.Getty Images
Military aircraft including the Red Arrows will feature at the event

A specialist RAF team will play a vital role in the execution of the world's biggest military air show.

The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), held over three days from Friday at RAF Fairford in Glocestershire, will feature hundreds of aircraft representing 25 nations.

RAF Brize Norton’s air traffic control tower in Oxfordshire will be in charge of all the radar responsibilities.

Air traffic controller, Flt Lt Bethany Horn, said about 300 aircraft would fly in over at "roughly one every four minutes".

The visual control room at RAF Brize Norton. One man is standing and looking through a set of binoculars. Another man sits in front of a computer and looks at control panels, facing away from the camera. The green air field can be seen though the windows.
Sqn Ldr Clayton said he believed they had picked "the correct crack team from Brize Norton"

The base at Fairford does not have its own radar capabilities, so Brize Norton’s air traffic control tower handles them all year round.

Flt Lt Horn said aircraft that flew into Fairford were "normally only four or five a day".

During the event, the controllers will be handling hundreds of visiting aircraft from around the world, on top of maintaining its own operational activity.

Your guide to the skies

Flt Lt Horn said the team would be "incredibly busy for their arrivals phase and all the way through until they depart on Monday".

She said that they got to "control every single one of them" but during breaks, they would sometimes "bring the aircraft through Brize overhead".

"We will go upstairs to the visual control room and look at the aircraft going into Fairford with our own eyes," she added.

Flt Lt Horn said RIAT was "a unique opportunity" which gave "a big sense of achievement at the end of the day".

Air traffic control panel. Two red phones are on each side of the screen that displays air traffic. A yellow sign reading Runway Occupied lies underneath.
The Brize Norton controllers will be handling hundreds of visiting aircraft from around the world

Sqn Ldr Tim Clayton, terminal air traffic control centre commander at Brize Norton, said planning for every RIAT started a week after the previous event.

"We gather all the radar recordings so that we can use them for our future training and throughout the year," he said.

"We're going to use those recordings and the training tools we've got here to get the guys absolutely to the pinnacle that they need to be to control this volume of aircraft from this many nations in such a short time."

Sqn Ldr Tim Clayton speaks to a reporter who is behind the camera. He is in front of the windows of the visual control room. The green air field can be seen though the windows.
Sqn Ldr Tim Clayton said all radar recordings from previous RIATs were used "to get the guys absolutely to the pinnacle that they need to be"

Sqn Ldr Clayton said he believed they had picked "the correct crack team from Brize Norton" to "put on a good show for all the visitors".

He also hinted at "an impressive flying display" which "has taken a lot of planning but it would certainly be worth it".

The event typically attracts about 150,000 people.

It will feature the Red Arrows, Spanish Harrier, Patrouille Suisse and Canadian Hornet.

Flt Lt Bethany Horn in front of control panels, facing the camera. She looking at a reporter who is behind the camera. Her hair is in a pony tail.
Flt Lt Bethany Horn described RIAT as "a unique opportunity"

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