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As a Company founded on a passion for aviation, Osprey is very supportive of our staff volunteering in this arena, our staff volunteer in various guises both within and outside of the aviation sphere and this volunteering spirit allows Osprey, a part of TP Services, and its parent company, Science Group to access areas it otherwise wouldn’t. It also allows our staff to broaden their outlook and influence newer generations to develop a passion for aviation as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, a theme that is important to the future of aviation, encouraging young people to get involved in the industry.
One of Osprey’s Senior Consultants, Andy Chase is a volunteer at the Royal International Air Show (RIAT) at Fairford where he works in the Flying Display Team from Thursday through to Sunday. In this article Andy explains his role as a volunteer at the world’s largest military airshow.
The Flying Display Director (FDD) is responsible for planning and running the entire airshow and as part of the team, I support the FDD with updating and maintaining the bespoke RIAT computer program that is used to ensure all the other teams, including Air Traffic Control and Operations are kept up to date with the flying program. Arriving on the Wednesday evening before the show, my first day on site, is very busy as the day is spent briefing the arriving crews and ensuring that the display paperwork that they have provided is correct. Thursday also sees several display crews and teams practice their displays and some of them will need display authorisation from the FDD to display in the UK. The Military Aviation Authority and Civil Aviation Authority have stringent rules in place for air displays and due to the very long crowd line at Fairford some adjustment is needed by the crews to ensure that their display is suitable for such a long display line. They can use the practice slots available to modify their displays and to ensure the large crowds are all treated to a good display whatever their location. I, along with my colleagues on the team, are on site every day, including Saturday & Sunday at 7am and we often don’t leave until 8 or 9 pm that evening as several adjustments are needed to the flying display as timings and other requirements are built into the program.
Friday sees the first of the formal flying display days and although the flying display is only half a day, it is still very busy running the flying program and continuing to welcome arriving crews at the Flight Centre. The Flight Centre is where all activities relating to flying at RIAT are managed, including crew accommodation, Border Force, Flight Planning and its where the Air Operations Manager and his team are located, this team has overall responsibility for all flying activity during RIAT. This year due to the inclement weather on Friday and Saturday was even more challenging than usual, the flying display program was re-written several times as a number of the aircraft couldn’t display due to the weather. However, despite the constant downpour on Friday we managed to get 13 out of the planned 18 displays flown.
Saturday and Sunday are two full days of flying displays, and we have to brief the crews twice a day on the weather forecast, rules for the display and any display feedback from their previous displays, in addition we have to plan in various VIP arrivals and departures, and we work alongside colleagues in Air Traffic Control and Flight Planning to ensure that the flow of the display is not interrupted. Inevitably, plans often change in such a dynamic environment and we are on hand to respond to these multiple changes. By Sunday afternoon things have calmed down for our team and we can get out and about to meet up with friends and family.
RIAT gives me a perfect opportunity to interact with both military and civilian pilots and the support crews that they bring with them as well as giving me a perfect opportunity to visit the various companies that have a presence at the airshow; technology and innovation are all on display at RIAT and these give me a better understanding of the technological innovation that industry has in the pipeline for the military and civilian aviation industries. It is also a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and hopefully make some new acquaintances.
The success of RIAT is largely down to the vast number of dedicated volunteers, in addition to the permanent staff, who provide their time and expertise to ensure the best possible experience for the public attending the show; I am very proud to have volunteered at RIAT for nearly 10 years and I am grateful to all the wonderful volunteers and permanent staff who ensure that RIAT truly is, “the world’s largest military airshow.”
