Tips please

  I would go sport mode John, it will fire off shots all the time you keep finger on the button and the exposures will be as fast as poss, if shooting RAW you will only have a finite number of pics before the buffer fills up and you will have to wait for the reader to catch up.

 Before you go practice panning at Manston while you can. 

When shooting into the sky, the camera will, if left on auto underexpose an aircraft, as it will almost inevitably be darker than the background. Not aquainted with your camera John, but if you can overexpose by one stop and take a "gander" at the shot on the screen, and then if the 'plane  still looks too dark, increase the exposure again. Taking a few test shots is always worth the effort. RAW will allow a lot of post production, but getting it right in the camera will always give the best possible result. 

Looking forward to seeing your best result in the "latest pictures"  in July. Try taking a few before then of objects against the sky. 

Good luck. 

As Rod says, be aware of the camera under exposing on sky shots of the planes, and to put any exposure compensation back to normal when taking pics at the static display. You'll be facing north which will help, not shooting into the sun. You didn't say which day/s you were going on?  Whichever, try to get there as earlybas poss--- you'll be quequeing for the car parks and then to get in.

 Centre of the runway will be crowded, so better off away from it, amd landing side will have planes lower. Websites such as airshow.co.uk will give you some idea of pics you might like to take from examples.

 Also, photos taken at RIAT are not allowed to be sold without their written permission as noted on their entry T&C's.  Have a great time when you get there. 

That's probably good advice for me as well Vince to catch these speeding bikes. Got to admit I'll be glad when it's all over, the road closure notices are coming soon and it's not looking good 

Sorry for for hi jacking your thread John. 

I can't add any other advice to what has been said already, but what is certain, photographing real-time dynamic events such as Air Tattoos, Regattas, Sports Events etc is a challenge to both the photographer's skills and the performance of the camera.

It wasn't until I tried taking pictures of rowing events that I realised a pro camera will shoot effortlessly at 10 frames per second whilst an amateur camera will perform like a snail on valium. Also, a fast lens is a great advantage, enabling you to shoot at shutter speeds faster than a thousandth of a second to freeze the action.

That's not to say you can't get great shots with a compact or with an amateur SLR and a tourist zoom, but it's definitely pot luck. The pros don't use the fast lenses and the rapid-fire cameras just to show off. They need the pro kit to get consistent results.

But to reiterate my original point, it's a challenge to try for that great shot with more modest kit, then dream of what you could do with pro kit. It is a great way of improving your skills and knowledge.