RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day 2011 DVD
Produced by PlanesTV, available from PlanesTV.com priced £16.99 DVD, £24.99 Blu-Ray
Without doubt, RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day was one of the very best airshows in 2011 with an unparalleled varied flying display with participants from across Europe. In 2011 Yeovilton celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Westland Lynx with support not only from the Royal Navy, but also the Army Air Corps and AgustaWestland who are based on the other side of Yeovil.
The show started with an impressive balbo of 9 Westland Lynx based at Yeovilton chased by the AgustaWestland Wildcat, the latest incarnation of the Lynx design which will enter service with the Navy at Yeovilton in 2015. The highlights just keep coming though with a solo Wildcat display, Polish MiG-29, Dutch AH-64D Apache, French Navy Role Demo of Super Etendard and Rafale, Vulcan and Sea Vixen, Belgian F-16 and of course the might Commando Assault finale.
As with all Planes TV productions, the order of flying on the DVD closely resembles the order of flying on the day of the show. Yeovilton’s flying display was very well constructed with some great contrasts and that does reflect well in the DVD. There are some great ground shots too including some interesting artistic panning shots, particularly on the jet pan. As you would expect the footage of the flying displays is of a very high quality. With such an interesting collection of displays though, it is a little disappointing that there are no interviews or background stories to the displays that were such great feature of equivalent DVDs of Waddington or Bournemouth. An obvious miss in this regard was the lack of coverage of the static collection of historic and international Lynx airframes and commentary on the Lynx story or some of the more interesting static display aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom from the Luftwaffe.
There are a very good selection of the interactive in-cockpit special features covering the Dutch Apache, Black Cats, Royal Navy Raiders and Vulcan. Overall this is superb reminder of a great airshow with some spectacular footage.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imxh0tLh9gU
