The tour started on Tuesday 15 July 2025. The original plan was to pick up the first participants (of a total of 8 participants in the tour) in Arnhem at 07.00 in the morning. This appeared to be a challenge, since a highway on the way towards Arnhem was completely closed off and the van, with the tour guide/driver on board, was stuck.
Eventually, a change of plan (in which two participants headed to Eindhoven from Arnhem) resulted in the group coming together via different pick-up locations and arriving in Calais in time for the ferry to Dover. After our arrival in the UK, we continued our journey towards Devizes. In Devizes, we would spend the coming six nights.
On Wednesday (16 July) we would pay our first visit to the Royal International Air Tattoo. Five participants had bought FRIAT tickets, but for this Wednesday the FRIAT enclosure was not open yet. Therefore, the whole group went to the Park & View area. Park & View West to be precise.
After “setting up camp”, the group enjoyed a large number of arrivals this day. The arrivals started with a Pakistan Air Force C-130H (a former Belgian Air Force one). Throughout the day, the group saw a large variety of aircraft arriving for the show. The weather was quite OK overall. After the arrival of two Swedish Black Hawks the group left the base and headed for Devizes and a good meal (and a drink) in the evening.
