Tomahawk wrote:
If that was what he said then I can now add unprofessional and arrogant attitude of the commentator to the poor organisation and lacklustre 'selling' of the show. If that was how he felt then he no doubt would have applauded as one poor chap was taken to hospital off the hill yesterday after suffering breathing difficulties before the flying started, 'freeloader eh? got what he deserved'.
I cannot let these comments go without comment.
I am not part of the organising group of the airshow and my comments are made from what information I have had over the weekend.
You say that your reason for watching the show from Old Sarum castle was that you had tried to get information from the website and it had not been there. This was a problem and it was discussed in a frank discussion after the event.
However, you had the option of choosing not to attend if you were not satisfied with the information you were receiving. You chose not to attend the show. That is all acceptable.
Now, whichever way you choose to try and excuse yourself, as a secondary action you chose to watch the show from the grounds of the castle. For ree. You had the choice to stay away and you chose to watch for free.
Now even if I chose to accept your reasons, which quite frankly are pretty thin, you are only talking about yourself. There were many hundreds of people that were also on the castle. There is no way they all had the same reason as you. They were there because they had no intention of paying to get in.
Not only that, but they chose to visit a place where they were not covered by the safety provisions that were put into place for this event. In the aftermath of Shoreham, this is something that is of great concern to airshow organisers, the CAA and aircraft operators. Yes, it is your choice, but it is someone else's responsibility, something they actually take very seriously.
Many of you went to see the Vulcan and it was a shame it did not appear. But there is one very important piece of information that you should know.
Now, here is something you may not know but we were very, very, aware of. The organisers of the show had been told by the Vulcan operators that if any significant numbers of people were seen under the approach, the Vulcan WOULD NOT DISPLAY.
Your very presence, in such numbers, as freeloaders and nothing else, was a significant threat to the appearance of the Vulcan. They may have chosen to display, had they not had the fuel leak, but so soon after Shoreham that was actually very unlikely. Your presence was a threat to the one thing you had turned up, in such numbers, to freeload and see.
You accuse me of arrogance. That is your opinon and, to be perfectly honest, I could not care less. However, your assumption that you have every right to compromise your own safety and the viability of the airshow, because you simply did not like what you heard from the organisers, is way more arrogant and foolhardy than anything I may have said in passing as a joke.
That is bad enough but you go much further.
You mention the gentleman that was taken ill.
I sincerely hope that when he was taken ill, his position away from medical services that were available at the airfield, did not cause problems in his treatment or his future recovery. Had he been taken ill on the airfield we would have had services available and we would have been more than happy to hold the show to allow an air ambulance to come and get him. We also had better road connections to get him away from the site, by road if necessary, to where treatment could take place.
But you don't leave it at that. You have criticised me and that is fine, however you have also personally insulted me and that is not acceptable in any way.
You have suggested that I would be glad that a gentlemen was taken ill, because it serves him right. If you think this, you clearly do not know me but that doesn't matter as this says much much more about you than it does me. I use my real name on here as I have nothing to hide. You, like so many people, hide behind a user name and you seem to think you can say what you like with no comeback.
I wonder if you would have the nerve to come up to me and make those accusations to my face. Somehow I doubt that, it is much easier to be a big man, hiding behind a username, jeapordising the one thing you seen to think you have a right to see for nothing with no thought for anyone else and slopping out personal insults to people that you do not know.
And you call me arrogant.