by wv383 on Sat 01 Jul 2017, 10:13 pm
I am very surprised that there have been no comments relating to the first day of this show. Perhaps no UKARians went. It was good however to catch up with friends that I had't seen for a good few months following my illness and finally being allowed to drive again.
It actually turned out to be a very enjoyable day and there was certainly plenty to keep the decent sized crowd happy. There were some nice aircraft available for close up inspection. Particularly notable was the only Beech 18 currently flying in the UK and which did some very noisy circuits during the day. Other statics of note were a couple of the Gazelles from the Gazelle Squadron (RAF red/white and RN 'Sharks'). First time I had met these guys and found them very welcoming. What else? Hurricane and Vega Gull from Biggin Hill, 'Sharkmouth' P-51 and Spitfire 'City of Exeter' from Goodwood, Hangar 11's 'Tall in the Saddle', Catalina, Pembroke, Stearman, Historic Army Flight Beaver & Scout, Wasp (sounded like one as well!) and many more. There were far more traders than at the fly-in twelve months ago and music all day from the likes of the RAF Odiham Wives Choir and the Rock Choir, though one or two of the other acts left a bit to be desired as far as 'tuneful' is concerned.
The announcement only 24 hours or so before with the disappearance of all 'displays' and replacement by 'flypasts and demonstrations' had a massive effect on the flying which was opened by a flypast by The Reds which was seen at the last minute due to the lack of any announcements of their arrival and the BBMF sent Hurricane PZ865 for some flypasts in place of the Lancaster which of course still hasn't flown. Other items did their best, I guess, given the totally restrictive nature of what they were allowed to do, but this failed to discourage one from feeling that the event had become a glorified 'fly-in' rather than an air display. Of course those who followed the forums and social media were aware of this but 'Joe Public', who were the majority of the visitors weren't and when they were given a list of flying participants on entry, were left somewhat bewildered when the aircraft took off, flew round the downwind side (behind them), made a flypast and landed. I know this was an event for three worthy charities, but £20 advance or £25 on the gate was about £10 too much for what was actually on offer, as far as flying was concerned.
Although getting in was a breeze with the new parking arrangement on the old north runways and shuttle bus straight to the terminal area, thus avoiding the A30 and its traffic, there were unexpected and unexplained delays in opening the gates to the showground though apologies were given. Getting out by the shuttle buses was chaos once the flying had finished. This was not because of the crowds but because some idiot had decided to tow the Catalina to the taxiway for the main runway prior to start up. The problem was that was the only route for the shuttle buses which were now completely full and blocked by the terminal. To make matters worse, one of the engines of the Catalina failed to start. Having been held on the buses, which were getting very hot, for over 45 minutes with no real explanation of what was going on or how soon we were likely to move, tempers were really starting to get frayed and resulted in many (more than half of the passengers from the bus that I was on) got off and decided to walk back to their cars. This caused many, young, old and disabled, to leave the event utterly frustrated and confirming that the organisers would be getting very disgruntled comments via whatever medium was open to them.
Until this happened, the day had been enjoyable, given the reservations in my comments above but hundreds ended up leaving feeling frustrated and angry.
Well, the commentators kept saying during the day that all comments would be welcome!
(This comment has also been sent direct to Blackbushe75 social media)
Simon