Aviation Riat 2025 Airshow with Sony 400-800mm

[Paul stuart]

My take on shooting riat sunday 2025 , although the airshow had little in the way of surprises with aviation last time i visited the fairford airshow the korean display team were there and excellent they were sadly not around this time but at least the weather was cool ,35c at riat is not enjoyable ,and it is always good to see a damp air at the show makes for great photography blue skys are the worst ,here are some of planes i photographed although seeing the typhoon 3x was a little tiresome and i am really annoyed i missed the turkish f16 as i went home early as its it last time on these shores but a surprise lancaster that had been grounded early in the week made a apperance ,is the 400-800mm sonys best airshow lens probably as i find i do not need prime sharpness as much as i do in wildlife just my take ,but it is heavy lens for 6hrs of handholding

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 1250

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 800

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/9
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 320

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 1600

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 2000

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 320

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 1250

• ILCE-1
• FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS
• 800.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 1250

 

[Tim Mayo]

Awesome shots Paul! They certainly fluffed up a lot better with Sunday's weather, Friday was bone dry. I agree about the heat there, it can be brutal. I've sat in the stands a few times but found them too claustrophobic for my liking, you are practically on each others laps. I went with the Garden Village this time which was much more comfortable, especially on Friday. I might do a Saturday or Sunday next year, arrivals on Thursday looked good too. I took off before the red arrows to beat the rush. I've seen them so many times I don't mind missing them if it avoids hours sitting in traffic. It looks like some of your uploads didn't insert correctly, do you want me to fix those for you?

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Superb Paul. I've not ever done RIAT, maybe I should one year.

 

[Paul stuart]

Awesome shots Paul! They certainly fluffed up a lot better with Sunday's weather, Friday was bone dry. I agree about the heat there, it can be brutal. I've sat in the stands a few times but found them too claustrophobic for my liking, you are practically on each others laps. I went with the Garden Village this time which was much more comfortable, especially on Friday. I might do a Saturday or Sunday next year, arrivals on Thursday looked good too. I took off before the red arrows to beat the rush. I've seen them so many times I don't mind missing them if it avoids hours sitting in traffic. It looks like some of your uploads didn't insert correctly, do you want me to fix those for you?

If you can fix tim ,i also had the village garden ticket and still struggled for flightline view and arrived at 8.00 oclock ,saturday looked the best day i will do next year maybe arrivals as well with a friday depends what is on offer ,the statics i would love to properly next year ,still the 400-800mm coped even at f8 and dark conditions ,yes the traffic is nusiance you have to factor in this its a long day ,i find it brutual if doing more than 3 days not sure the stands offer much really i just feel a bit better in the garden area more space .

 

[Paul stuart]

Superb Paul. I've not ever done RIAT, maybe I should one year.

well 10 -20 years ago i would of said worth every penny but now it is a little less extravagent quite a few repeat performances but always something special to see ,ticket prices keep going up and now they want paid parking on top of your ticket ,the 3 day early bird was always good value ticket ,but if you factor fuel ,a stay ,and food £15 a hot dog and coffee more expensive than cider ,and its not really the stall holders fault they paying over 3k a pitch a day .It becomes costly

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

well 10 -20 years ago i would of said worth every penny but now it is a little less extravagent quite a few repeat performances but always something special to see ,ticket prices keep going up and now they want paid parking on top of your ticket ,the 3 day early bird was always good value ticket ,but if you factor fuel ,a stay ,and food £15 a hot dog and coffee more expensive than cider ,and its not really the stall holders fault they paying over 3k a pitch a day .It becomes costly

Yes, that's the thing when much of the display is things you can see free at Clacton or Eastbourne

 

[Tim Mayo]

If you can fix tim ,i also had the village garden ticket and still struggled for flightline view and arrived at 8.00 oclock ,saturday looked the best day i will do next year maybe arrivals as well with a friday depends what is on offer ,the statics i would love to properly next year ,still the 400-800mm coped even at f8 and dark conditions ,yes the traffic is nusiance you have to factor in this its a long day ,i find it brutual if doing more than 3 days not sure the stands offer much really i just feel a bit better in the garden area more space .

Sorted Paul. Yes the Village Garden seems to be the best value. I've booked FRIAT before but it wasn't worth it, the Village Garden is in a great spot anyway. It was almost deserted when I arrived around 8:30 on the Friday. I didn't do the statics this time as I wasn't feeling up for the long walk especially with the 400-800 in my bag. I've only ever done one day but I could be tempted by Thursday next year then maybe the Sat or Sunday, we'll see