RAF Displays Abroad?
 

Before Covid in the past when the RAF were displaying abroad at an airshow, would they use their call sign they arrived with at the base eg RAFAIR--- or just the aircraft type? I'm making a list of different callsigns used at airshows by various air forces!

Regards

Boeing Jet

The overseas displays I was lucky enough to do used a mix of callsigns. We always used RAFAIR during the transit (they did once try to make us use the dreadful ASCOT prefix!). But once at the venue it was often agreed to use the standard UK callsign.

I guess for a solo display you can use any callsign from an ATC perspective, but if you have a multiple-aircraft display then with so many internal calls, its only going to work if you use your normal callsign.

Thanks for the reply, interesting what call signs are used at airshows around the globe.

Why would you be forced to use an ASCOT C/S when that specifically referred to an AT&AAR task (deriving, as it does, from: Air Support Command Operational Tasking)?

RAFAIR (RFR on the Flt Plan with no explanatory note) was for everyone else doing a long transit!

WRT to us either displaying, static display, or Reds support we used ASCOT with a 4 figure suffix. If the suffix was 4xxxx then it denoted a Herc CMk1, it the suffix was 5xxx then it denoted a Herc CMk3.

In Personnel & Trg Command we used Station callsigns for displays (which might be personal), eg FYY xx for a Finningley a/c, CWL xx for a Cranwell based a/c.

Now that was my regular argument with Stn Ops at Waddo, but more often we were told to use ASCOT and not RAFAIR. You could still file RFR and call yourself ‘RAFAIR’ until the Turkey/Iraq boarder where the Dip Clearance had been filed for ‘RRR’. We would then briefly become ‘ASCOT’ to get through, before promptly returning to RAFAIR over Kuwait.

I never did manage to find where the confusion arose, and with over half of Sqn being ex-route queens, there was little incentive from them to get RAFAIR to become the norm!

Ascot (RRR) was also used for ac on trails including the receivers. I did find it amusing when a Jaguar pilot tried to write “ASCOT 9***” in a 2919 and wondered why he couldn’t get it right.

RAF Displays Abroad
 

Its my recollection that when I was leading The Gemini Team in 1973 and the Swords Team in 1974 we used RAFAIR for the transits to our european trips and then used 'Gemini' and 'Swords' when on local transits and displays. Happy Days

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f31b0ce840.jpg

For the OP, in my experience, as ever - 'it depends'.

We invariably used RFR callsigns for the transits - although in answer to Ex-Ascoteer, ATC occasionally tried to call us Ascot despite having RFR on the flight plan. Once at the venue it was down to the organisers who mostly referred to us by ac name. I never understood why our callsign system was so complicated, the JP pair often got called Lopblade!

I did an event at Ramstein, in a black Hawk, where I was directed round the houses via very detailed and unexpected taxi instructions, and finally ended up parking at the Blackhawk squadron - which turned out to have much better social plan than the main event.

Absolutely brilliant - black Hawk black-catting!!

Jack

In the late 60s Gemini wangled a display at Bardufoss, inside the Arctic circle. In the short-range JP4 we had to stage via Manston (customs), Aalborg (Denmark), Gardermoen, Oerland and Bodo (Norway). It took a week to get there and back. As we had only ARC52 UHF we had to fly in company with a Dominie, who did all the RAFAIR airways chat on VHF. We did IMC letdowns formating on the Dominie. Happy days!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ce0dbd5893.jpg
The Dominie also carried the Duty Free!

And before RAFAIR (or maybe we were just doing our own thing) the Nimrod fleet used Mxxxx for overseas transits (including airshows to keep it on topic). My favourite was MOGGY :) which the lovely Sergeant in Air Plans allowed me to select. Once at the airshow we were invariably Nimrod (and much to the mirth of North Americans)