A bumper-length 90 minute special kick-starts our all new Airshow Dispatches series, bringing you the very best of the Royal International Air Tattoo 2018. RIAT 2018 was one of the best European airshows in recent years, marking the centenary of the Royal Air Force, and performances representing the RAF’s past, present and future appear throughout the programme. Most notably, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight staged a unique, one-off seven-ship display, the Great War Display Team re-enacted early air battles, the USAF Heritage Flight performed with a Spitfire for the first time, and modern RAF display teams all took to the skies.

International air arms supported the show, too: the US Air Force displayed the F-35A in the UK for the first time, the ever-popular Ukrainian Air Force Su-27P1M Flanker returned to the show, the thunderous Couteau Delta drew unanimous praise and the Canadian CF-18 Demo Team made a rare trip across the Atlantic. They joined RIAT regulars such as the Turkish and Belgian F-16 solo displays, Swiss F-18 Hornet, Airbus A400M and Czech Gripen.

Several major aerobatic teams also feature, including the Red Arrows, Frecce Tricolori, PC-7 Team and Patrulla Aguila.

With our cameras on-site for the entire week, we’ll also glance at some of the most memorable moments from the arrival days, including the display practice of the French Navy’s ALT-2, which was recalled on operational duties before the airshow began.