This year’s Families & Friends Day at Lossiemouth followed this trend, but probably faired a little better than similar events elsewhere. Lossie’s event not only caters for service personnel and their families, but it is also held for the benefit of local residents who live next to what is probably the busiest and noisiest RAF station in the UK.

Most of the RAF’s solo fast jet display acts were made available for Lossie, but it was a great pity that the Jaguar wasn’t allocated to the event, even for static display, when one considers the association that particular aircraft has had with the base for so many years.

What did display however, provided the 7000 strong crowd with a good cross-section of the RAF’s training and frontline assets ranging from the Tutor and Tucano to the Harrier GR7 and of course, the Tornado GR4 from the resident Tornado OCU – 15[R]Squadron. The Hawk was also on the flying bill – the display being provided by 208[R]Squadron at Valley, with the newly painted mount, complete with orange and yellow nose! It was also good to see the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster so far north. Although it makes its yearly appearances at Leuchars Airshow, we don’t see this icon nearly enough in Scotland, and it stirred the emotions within young and old alike.

The best, however, wasn’t saved for last. In Lossie’s case, best was first, in the shape of the Red Arrows. Ironically, I’m sure the Reds will be the first to admit that it wasn’t one of their best performances. It was to be remembered though, it was the start of the season with their new intake, and probably more importantly, the display changed throughout, switching between a rolling and a full display due to the showers which had been progressively bubbling up throughout the day. However, for the vast majority of the appreciative audience, it was their first ever “live” Red Arrows performance, and it was interesting to hear the audible gasps during manoeuvres which the hardened airshow enthusiast would take for granted.

There were one or two manoeuvres new to the 2005 season, the most notable being the “Cyclone”, performed by the Syncro Pair. The displays this year will be tinged with sadness after the tragic death of Flt Lt Matt “Jarvo” Jarvis who had trained as Red 2 for the 2004 season. Fittingly, the Red Arrows have chosen to honour him in this year’s display with the “Lancaster Pull-up” manoeuvre dedicated to him, with Red 2 trailing red smoke rather than the usual white.

The static display, although small by airshow standards, contained several photographic highlights. It was dominated by the majestic shape of a VC-10 K4 from 101 Squadron and local heavyweight – a Nimrod MR2 from nearby Kinloss. A surprise item was the former Lossiemouth gate guard, Buccaneer S2B, XV863, which had been thoughtfully brought out of its storage hangar for the event. The aircraft still wore its desert camouflage scheme together with its Gulf War art applied to the nose, although the years languishing outside had bleached the paintwork almost white.

All four resident Tornado GR4 Squadrons were represented in the static display, with both 12 and 14 Squadron’s specially marked 90^th Anniversary aircraft adding a splash of colour to the line-up. Each aircraft carried a different stores and weapons load, illustrating the diversity of the GR4’s roles. These included Storm Shadow and Paveway II LGBs, as well as the standard training fit generally used by 15[R]Squadron. A further Storm Shadow-equipped aircraft was also on show in one of the hangar displays, whilst the Tornado Servicing Flight hangar was also open, with several Tornadoes in various states of maintenance on show.

Although perhaps not a display for the regular airshow goer looking for something out of the ordinary, this event was obviously aimed at RAF personnel and their families, and they clearly had a great day out in a beautiful setting under (mostly) blue skies.