Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

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craig.mason
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by craig.mason »

view through coach front window there were people getting out of there cars as they were fed up waiting and having picnics on the grass verges
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the traffic needs sorting out for next year so this do's not happen again
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stuart n
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by stuart n »

Traffic was an issue but looking at the size of the crowd it is understandable. I came in through Waddington itself this year and a person had been knocked of their bike which obviously had an effect on the traffic. I was parked in the field at the 02 end by 8.30.
Bit of a trek from there but the buses had been provided for that very reason. Static was a bit thin, managed to have a look before the flying started.
Flying display itself was very good. Thunderbirds were very good, yes there was a gap after they finished but it was a good demonstration. Chinook display was awesome, back to a full display rather than last years role demo. Apache, Reds, Bronco, Team Viper and 558 were all excellent.
I must admit I did think long and hard before going but I made the right choice.
I left as the Vampires took off to try and avoid the rush. Others has the same idea but I was out in 30 minutes. The only observation I had was that there were 2 exits open but everybody was heading to one. Nobody in the car park directed cars to the other gate which would have sped things up.
All in all a great day out :up:

Pebble
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by Pebble »

Hm, I feel sorry for all of you as I got in with hardly no problems at all. I agree that the static was a bit dim but alot of things in the Flying Display I enjoyed. Main highlight for me was waching those Thunderbirds, there takeoff was awesome. :drool:

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BDL
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by BDL »

Glad I decided to go by train, but have to say that East Midlands Rail were poor - One carriage at Newark for everyone just off the East Coast train from London, it was a tight squeeze.

Disappointed that I missed the E3 and Sentinel Flypast, just got in as the Hawk was doing it's thing.

Agree that the static was poor, not the organisers fault, just down to the RAF being slashed and still expected to fulfill a role.

Vulcan display was tremendous, especially the rolling corkscrew. Loved the bit from Sean Maffett about having to use the airbrakes as she would have been up to 10000 feet in no time.

As for the Thunderbirds, I enjoyed their display but the dire Disney'esque build up and commentary. It may work for the septics who love that sort of thang, but us Brits are just a tad more reserved. I did Tweet something along those lines after the display and had a response from the Official Thunderbird Tweet site last night, thanking me for my feedback!!

Got home by 11, so glad I chose the Train and not the Car. Given the punctuality problems of East Coast it was a bit of a gamble! :hypno:

LarryElite
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by LarryElite »

BDL wrote:Disappointed that I missed the E3 and Sentinel Flypast, just got in as the Hawk was doing it's thing.

No need to be disappointed about missing it ... it never happened from what I saw :wat: Not entirely sure why though. Anyone?

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banksy
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by banksy »

Okay, my take on the day...

I had managed to stay overnight at a relatives house just east of Lincoln, so decided to leave their house at 7am, and hope for the best, but as soon as we hit the A15 in Lincoln Airshow FM reported that there were large queues, so my heart sank a little, but I'd done a dummy run on the Friday night and in the large ignored most of the Airshow direction signs as it was pretty obvious they were guiding you away from the A15.

So, I stuck to my guns and went down the A15 and was at the base by 7.30pm, parked up on the grass verge about 5 vehicles away from the entrance, but the police were continuously telling people to move their car even though they were fully on the grass and not causing an issue, but when I questioned the decision, the police said "It's a clearway, and has to be remain a clearway, even on the grass" - yet i was parked on the grass with a sign post in front of me, so I'm not sure what that particular spot was being kept 'clear' for?

Also, if that was supposed to be clear then what about the actual entrance gate? "their okay, as they are not on the grass!" said the copper - hmmmmm. I stood my ground for a while until he came round a second time, so I agreed to move but made my feelings known as I felt that people stopping on the road was the issue, not the grass. Also that some of the cars doing 3 point turns were actually causing more of a hold up than anything else. To be fair the copper said that the "RAF would not open the gates any earlier" - but when I moved I did what everyone else probably did and head south and just join the queue on the south side of the same entrance, and despite sitting there for about 10 minutes, the traffic started moving so they must have opened the gates at around 7.45am.

As for the show itself I'm not that bothered about the static as I go for the flying - to watch it and not film it or take pictures of it - I got fed up of that a long time go when I found myself missing the show with my own eyes!

Honestly I thought the opening of the show was poor, it should have been the take off of the Sentry that formed the actual opening of the show as the flypast was a little lightweight, followed by a small plane displaying minutes later.

For me the first part of an airshow is key to the rest of the day, and there is nothing better than hearing a fast jet thundering away on take off to open an event, but I guess each one is different, but I'm sure many would have liked the opportunity to see more of the take off by the Sentry but instead were walking round the base first before settling back at 10am for the show tio start.

The highlights were for me, the Vulcan display - but then it would be wouldn't it?, the Thunderbirds - despite the length of time they sat across the runway were great once they got in the air, for me the power of the F16's is what it's all about, not their actual display - my stomach likes to be rumbled and it certainly was a number of times by the Thunderbirds, the Team Viper section was also quality, and really enjoyed the Tornado role demo.

I decided to leave once the F16 later in the day was doing his bit, and was off the base within 5 minutes, although annoyingly were stopped at the traffic lights further up for what must have been 10 minutes whilst the police allowed cars to join from the A607 to the A15 (Lincoln) - this resulted in plenty of frustrated drivers tooting their horns as they werre - quite rightly fed up of waiting.

All in all, a good show despite the problems around for organisers at the moment, well worth the money, but once again traffic issues mainly down to the inability to open up the base earlier.

One thing that did grate me slightly was the presenter on Airshow FM, who said at around 7.15am, "A note for those queuing, you are probably stopping those working at the show from getting in, so don't bother arriving at the base until 8am - errrr, surely those working at the base should know they face the prospect of getting stuck in traffic, and on a huge show day should be there a couple of hourse earlier????

Waddington 2011: 7.5/10
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by andyxh558 »

I got stuck in traffic between north and south Hykenham which to be honest was very surprising but it was due to an accident so it took me about 35 minutes to get in, so not too bad.

The flying display this year was very good with a good variation of different acts, was disappointed with the Thunderbirds and all the faffing about on the runway!! It was a little improvement to the display i saw in 2007. Reds were very polished and a good display (first one where i actually watched and not took pictures). Team Viper again were great too but they were a bit out of shape on some of the manoeuvres, didn't matter as they are hunters!! Loved the Norwegian Vampires and the Bronco was just amazing!! Role demo was good too, but, the highlight was that stunning display of the Vulcan! It was almost like the old days plenty of howling and the take off a reminder of what it can do!

Static was very sparse and was disappointing but in the light of the current financial situation I can understand, I thought putting the nimrods down on their own was not bad and the cones and ropes was a vast improvement from previous years.

Just one niggling complaint. Why on earth did they let the Scientologists on the airfield, they were using the premise of disaster relief to convert. Its an airshow not a church, well not a religious one anyway!! Not forgetting the ladies up near Alpha stopping everyone to ask questions about something, they looked like hari krishnas? very inoffensive but again it isnt the place to do that!

a good day was had by all and on a personal note it was the first time I was able to walk up to alpha from where the Nimrods were without having a cardiac. It proved to me that what I am doing is a good thing!

BossMann
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by BossMann »

I thought that the team at Waddington did an excellent job with this years given all the problems with the clash of displays with the shows in mainland europe.

Highlights for me - The Thunderbirds display was brilliant, such power and force, when they took off and the soloists did loops straight from take-off I was wishing that we would get the full high show but we still got the rolling display, I personally really liked the music and the production of the show - wish that more of the same sort of production would go into other displays.

Team Viper were also brilliant as a 5 ship, much better display compared to their 2010 display - hopefully when the paint all the jets the same colour scheme and perhaps a smoke system then they will be brilliant

The ACC apache was impressive too - with the news that the Blue Eagles may be returning in 2012 with an Apache duo, will be an excellent demo

The Vulcan display was impressive - no need to say any more.

The Tornado Role demo was also impressive and the pyrotechnics excellent, I just wished that they had saved them to the end of the show to end the show with a 'bang'

The Yak 52 was ok, but perhaps the AeroStars would have been better

The Royal Jordanian Falcons display was surprisingly good but the commentary was poor and the lack of music to their display did not do them justice - I am sure than Dan and the commentary team at RIAT will do a much better job.

The Belgian F16 was also brilliantly flown.

The BBMF spitfire and hurricane syncro pair was also good.

It was nice to see the Norweigen Vampire duo but they didn't do much.

On static seeing the Typhoons was impressive but for me it was the Tiger F16 from Belgium that was outstanding, it was also nice to see some heavies at waddo - namely the KDC10, C17 and the two Nimrod R1s.

The RC135 was a bit high and distant but it was still nice to see the type in the air at a UK airshow.

It looks like the Poles DID send something to waddo after all - although a Bryza, better than nothing.

However, for me the commentary was very poor, no mention of the Sentry taking off or the Belgian F16s arriving to land or even some items taking off. The lack of musical accompaniment to the displays was very noticeable, when some display teams have music (e.g. Team Viper) it was not used. Some of the quieter displays e.g. Tutor, tucano, Yak 52, bronco, BBMF can be flown to a musical accompaniment as at the seaside shows. The best commentary was still at Biggin Hill where the commentary team used music to accompany most of the displays and was brilliant and appropriate.

All in all I enjoyed it, no problems with getting in or out. Waddo is one of my favourite airshows and I am thrilled that they managed to get the T-Birds and the other international participants and I hope that the show will continue to get more international participants in the future.

But silent flight - please improve the commentary and more accompanying music please for 2012.

Good Luck silent slight for 2012!!!

DeltaPapa
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by DeltaPapa »

My take -

The park and view gate opening on Thursday and Friday was a debacle, the statics and displays not the most exciting.
However I knew before I decided I was going what was/was not going to be there, but saying that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Loved 558 on Saturday, BBMF, Sally B, Role demo, Chinook, and the Blades are so professional even tho' the Extra does noting for me their display really entertains.

Down side - too much sun over the last 4 days - may we have it a little cooler for next year please, I now have a headache!! :sad:

Well done all despite the trials and tribulations.

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virginking
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by virginking »

As a relative local - Carlton Scroop near Grantham - I long since got fed up with the annual traffic queues to reach or leave the base and now confine myself to actually entering better organised events like Duxford or Shuttleworth. Finningley was never this bad. Still, turned out on Friday for arrivals and was surprised to find that 02 was in use which made it rather pointless going to the official park on the A15. Managed to park well off road at Harmston end of runway. Police did not bother me unlike previous years and got many nice shots of Tbirds, Vipers, Belgie F16 and Typhoons. Went to official park in afternoon and found everyone asleep - well almost!

Saturday used the local bus service to get to Harmston Xroads- still a queue from Navenby at 1300 - and spent beautiful afternoon watching Vulcan, Reds, Vipers, BBMF and B17. As someone else noticed traffic management seemed to be in hands of contractors TMS with police taking passive interest.

Incidentally from where I was the Vulcan - directly above - was significantly beyond 90 degrees at it climbed out and we all thought it was about to roll. Spectacular.

Perhaps next year someone will rattle the tin for contributions from those of us who for one reason or another - crowds, queues, funfair atmosphere - do not go into the show.

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wessex01
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by wessex01 »

I've been reading the posts on here, with particular interest to the traffic management side of things and the use of contractors instead of Police.

I don't have any experience with how the local Police up there deal with large public events, but as part of an organising team for an event held in the Avon & Somerset Police area, they have placed the responsibility for traffic management, and stewarding, on to the event organisers. All this came about following the review of the Hillsborough disaster, and the Police reviewed how they support such events.

This entails people attending a specific course for signage, implementing and removing road closures etc at cost to the event organising team. A comprehensive signing package has to be passed to the Police several months in advance for approval.

As such, the Police around here only attend the event for crime reduction etc, and would only step in and take over if a 'major incident' occurred or is deemed likely.

Like I said, I don't know how the local Police support the event, but it could be that the event organisers were faced with a similar situation.


Roger

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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by jules48 »

I drove up from outside London this morning,left at 5.30am and drove straight in with no traffic congestion on the A15 at 0800 when I arrived.
I think the problems started about 9.am when everyone seeing how good the weather was decided to make a day of it.

The Hunters,Reds,Thunderbirds,Vulcan and Tornado role demo were all excellent.

I left at 3pm as had seen all I wanted to and got back home at 5.45pm without any problems at all but looking at the crowd when I left I felt sorry for all the people hoping to leave when the show finished

Obviously the Thunderbirds and Vulcan were a great temptation for many but maybe they should consider making the event advance tickets only

jon93
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by jon93 »

Left Gateshead at 5 40 we arrived at about 9 40, traffic wasn't really that bad the worst was probably traffic lights through lincoln on the A15. Highlight for me was the Thunderbirds the 4 ship take off shook the ground and me like nothing I have seen or felt before, I also think people criticise them way too much I thought it was a good display full of noise and some good photo oppurtunities (this was my first event with a DSLR.) Static was a bit thin but there was some very nice aircrat in it, flying display was great and full of variety. Only downside is it seems harder and harder to find aviation stalls. Got back home at about 21 40. Congrats to the organisers I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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vtwo
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by vtwo »

Today was my first time at Waddington.

It's strange to see all of the comments about delays getting in. I came over from Lancashire and got the A1 from the M62 and followed the signs, then turned around and followed them again after I had missed one. I came in on the A607 at about 07:35 and was parked up on the external field at the south end (I don't know if this is Barn Farm mentioned by others) and walked in by 07:45 - no waiting at all.

Enjoyed the show today - the Reds were in good form and as others have said, the Thunderbirds seemed to be much better than at Fairford 97. In addition, it's the first time I have seen Team Viper and they stole the show for me. I thought I saw XE601 parked over on the flight side but it must have gone tech before the display. The Vulcan was noisy and spectacular as was the Role demo. All that and I managed not to see Carol Vorderman - all in all a good day. Think I will go for one of the grandstands next year though.

LarryElite
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by LarryElite »

vtwo wrote:Today was my first time at Waddington.

It's strange to see all of the comments about delays getting in. I came over from Lancashire and got the A1 from the M62 and followed the signs, then turned around and followed them again after I had missed one. I came in on the A607 at about 07:35 and was parked up on the external field at the south end (I don't know if this is Barn Farm mentioned by others) and walked in by 07:45 - no waiting at all.

Think the key today was they learnt from the shambles of yesterday and opened the gates at half 7 meaning the hell hole on the various roads didnt happen again and people got in as they arrived. Only way to do it.

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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by SuffolkBlue »

In all, I found it to be an enjoyable day today. Got to the airfield just after 8 and had to queue for about 45 minutes to get in, having taken my usual route via Ancaster and through Navenby.

The flying display itself was pretty good and varied. Highlights for me being the Vulcan, Team Viper and Belgian F-16. Nigel Wilson in the Yak-52 held his own today as well. I’ve seen him display the Yak at various “low key” venues around East Anglia and I think he transitioned from being the big fish in the small pond to small fish in the big pond rather nicely! The Thunderbirds were OK. There entertaining...although at times rather repetitive and their show seemed to last maybe 5 / 10 mins too long in my opinion.

Having attended the last 6 Waddington shows, the static this year, as has been mentioned, was really lacking. Poorest I've seen...sign of the times though.

I usually sit around the car for a couple of hours after the show to let the traffic clear, but had no such problems at all this afternoon while leaving. Stayed to watch the Norwegian pair, then wandered back to the car to see a fair sized, but moving queue of traffic. Decided to join it and was heading South on the B6403 High Dike within 20 minutes....touch! This might have been down to pure luck, or good management...who knows!

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The Baron
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by The Baron »

Having left Dorset at 3.30 we were in and parked by 8.45. No problem getting in at all! Flying display I thought was great, lots of variety and some great acts - Vucan as always was superb, Team Viper were fantastic and the highlight for myself was the Norwegian Historic Squadron. What a great coup! Thunderbirds though were awful. Take off made me think it might be a good display, but no, it was dire. All noise and no skill. As for being an inspirational display? How could it inspire anyone?! I've seen more dynamic Tiger Moth displays.
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banksy
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by banksy »

The Baron wrote:Having left Dorset at 3.30 we were in and parked by 8.45. No problem getting in at all! Flying display I thought was great, lots of variety and some great acts - Vucan as always was superb, Team Viper were fantastic and the highlight for myself was the Norwegian Historic Squadron. What a great coup! Thunderbirds though were awful. Take off made me think it might be a good display, but no, it was dire. All noise and no skill. As for being an inspirational display? How could it inspire anyone?! I've seen more dynamic Tiger Moth displays.


Have to say I did look at the wife, and quip "That really inspired me...lots" before I just accepted the fact that it was the usual American tosh (I work for an american company so know it inside out), and just thought pleased that they'd done a decent display - power and sound is what I go looking for in air displays, so I guess it satisfied me on that score.

You take the rough with the smooth, but I think Waddington 2011 was better with them, than without them.
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DeanW
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by DeanW »

It was an interesting one for me. The flying display had a few really nice items - Bronco, Thunderbirds, F16, Vampire pair, Apache etc but at times it was also a bit slow. I thought the Thunderbirds saved the day though, without them it might have been more like a line-up that you'd expect to see at a smaller show.

No point repeating what others have said about the static. There were a few gems in there (Typhoons, KDC-10, Andover) so it shows they can still attract interesting aircraft, I just wondered why it was so thin on the ground - was it a case of that's all they could afford or were they unable to attract any other participants?

Had no problems with traffic travelling in from Lincoln either!

But £1.70 for a bottle of water? Absolute jokers! :down:

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maffie
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by maffie »

stuart n wrote:Traffic was an issue but looking at the size of the crowd it is understandable.


Isn't this billed as the show for/and by the RAF. They know how many people are coming by looking at previous years. I feel that your statement is just a whitewash for the VERY bad traffic management bought in by the organisers. We were 2 1/2 hours from stopping at the back of the traffic queue on the A15 to getting in at Barn Field. At least our bus had race with the last Thunderbird Taking off for their display :sad:

And what was it with all the corperate tents lined up along the flight line? Is there space infront of them for the great unwashed, or do they control that area aswell? In which case does anyone know how much space is available for the general public to use (is it all towards the left of the site?)

When we made it onto the site we parked our arses on the grass area infront of the Nimrods. Could see enough of the flying, but after stressing out with the drive in, didn't want to drag our chairs further in.

Won't be going again to Waddington unless there are lessons learnt from the weekend and they are implemented

Matt

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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by NAM Updater »

Congratulations to the 1800 service personnel at RAF Waddington who helped ensure that the 2011 Airshow happened – perhaps everyone should also pause and give a small moment of thought to those base personnel who are deployed operationally in two different theatres – stay safe! :up:
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Russ
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by Russ »

I had a really good day on Saturday. Perhaps it's not the strongest line-up but still a decent show.

Good:
- Thunderbirds, stole the show. Much better than at RIAT 2007.
- Kevin Rumens Vulcan display.
- Bronco, what a great little display.
- Vintage buses around the showground. Sometimes quickly to just walk though.


Bad:
- Traffic. Getting in and out was time consuming. Missed the E-3D. Even leaving before the end of the flying was a problem.
- Programme sellers. Where were they? Took ages to find one.
- Commentator moaning about the "noisy" Belgian F-16 display. Honestly, grow up!

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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by Finningley Boy »

The Thunderbirds commwntator could have done with sore throat as far as I was concerned. She must have learnt her art as a Kinder Garten assistant. Otherwise if the Storm Spuggies ideally need 90 minutes to go through their display sequence from start to finish, I'd be interested to hear what they though of the relatively tight scheduling for everyone else? Their display this year wasn't as good as the ones they gave at Upper Heyford and Bentwaters in 1991. All to do with the amount of cloud I suppose.

FB :biggrin:
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jon93
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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by jon93 »

Did anyone else notice quite a strong gust of wind when the vulcan was throttling up on its slow pass (this was on the saturday), chairs and umbrellas went everywhere, could have just been a coincidence.

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Re: Waddington 2011... Thoughts and comments

Post by Richard E »

Finningley Boy wrote:The Thunderbirds commwntator could have done with sore throat as far as I was concerned. She must have learnt her art as a Kinder Garten assistant. Otherwise if the Storm Spuggies ideally need 90 minutes to go through their display sequence from start to finish, I'd be interested to hear what they though of the relatively tight scheduling for everyone else? Their display this year wasn't as good as the ones they gave at Upper Heyford and Bentwaters in 1991. All to do with the amount of cloud I suppose.

FB :biggrin:



Apologies for taking this off-topic. Having never been to an air display in the States is the style of Thunderbird's commentary, and that for the F22 at last year's RIAT, typical?