The organizers of the Fairford Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2012 had another busy day on Friday, July 6 as well. While the pilots were practicing flying under a low cloud base, the panel of judges in the “Concours d’Elegance’ competition went round on the ground to see the aircraft on display.

The 16 air attachés and their four civil assistants had a difficult time, as they had to decide by scoring which was the best aircraft on ground display at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2012. The panel of judges gave or took away scores not only for the external appearance of the aircraft but also for the required markings and the presence or absence of safety equipment.

The Hungarian aircrew received the strict judges in a “Hungarian style”, wearing highwayman-style shirts and vests on top of their uniforms, which expresses the resourceful and many-sided character of the “people of the Plains” among the soldiers of the sky.
The winners of the noble competition ‘Concours d’Elegance’ were announced on Friday in the late evening hours: a Sea King helicopter in the military aircraft category, a Breitling DC-3 in the civil aircraft category, while in the Over All category, the Hungarian An-26 was awarded the Skylift 2012 Trophy!

The judges’ decision is the recognition of the veteran aircraft and the Hungarian crew. The F-16 fighter with the tiger-striped painting on it, which was competing with the An-26 for such a long time, could be no more than a “teenager” in comparison with the Hungarian aircraft, whose logged flight hours are increasing month by month. Even aircraft of the same type in NATO would have a hard time surpassing its 22,000 flight hours!

(MoD Press Office)