Thoughts on the show.

[roadhousedisco]

The turnstiles are probably there to obtain figures on actual attendance, as opposed to tickets sold.

[pbeardmore]

If RIAT are running the display schedule on the basis of not hurting the feelings of some pilots, they are in big trouble

[andyxh558]

My thoughts on RIAT, Hmm where do I start?

Entry. We got there at 06:45 and headed for the green car park disabled area on base, fine I thought until I saw the 800metre walk to the main entrance, now for me that is Ok but for my wife Its another thing altogether, she can walk but only for short distances without being in major discomfort (she has chronic degeneration of the lower lumbar spine) She finally got there and was in a lot of pain, I could not do anything as i had 2 chairs a cool box, 2 umbrellas and my camera bag on my back. you would have thought there would be a golf buggy to get people from the car park to the entrance.

Security checks. Now as i stated above I had that much stuff on me i was then asked to put all my metallic objects from my pockets!!! even David blane would have found it difficult! so there I am with all of this stuff around me and now a plastic bag with all of my stuff from my pockets in my hand holding everyone up. Its an airshow not an airport!!!! then there was the Big brother Tannoy as you went in telling you what you should be doing while on the base. I am not stupid!!!

So we eventually got to the Disabled enclosure and I was too late to book but they took pity on us and let us in, i would like to say a big thanks to all who ran the enclosure for their kindness and good humour during the worst weather i have seen on a show day since Woodford 1997! you were made to feel very welcome.

There was nothing we could have done about the weather but i was a little perturbed at some of the cancellations which I know has been covered here in some of the posts but I think at least they should have put the highlights on during the afternoon and not during the morning.

Commentary. well what I heard as it was a little low was good and informative apart from airshow radio and the voice of the Vulcan and his if it wasn't for Dr Plemming spiel during it. why cant he acknowledge the buying of the Vulcan and obtaining ALL of the Wartime spares for her by David Walton, which we owe a great deal because if it wasnt for him I strongly doubt we would be seeing her in the air in the first place!

Will I go back next year, and the answer is I dont know?

[triple_ace]

I learned some very valuable lessons today.

The early bird doesn't always catch the worm. In fact I got there so early I got drowned and missed nothing for the first 2 hours of the flying display.

Alos more importantly in extremely wet weather my camera doesn't function very well. In fact it died on me whilst attempting to take some shots in the driving rain and then was still dead for the whole afternoon when the flying display finally got underway.

If only I had got there at 12 o'clock I would have been dry with a live camera to take some shots of the show.

I still enjoyed the flying though and I was able to appreciate the flying more looking through my binoculars rather than through my camera lens. I loved the Rafale display.

[pb643]

I've seen a couple of posts that are dismissive of the Grob Tutor display. That's pretty mean, imagine if you were the pilot of that display and read that people would rather you didn't display!! I always enjoy watching it.

Yes but this is RIAT!!! Stuff like that is for smaller airshows surely? Did the Belgian Red Devils display? That seemed to send a lot of people to sleep yesterday. Again, fine for a country fete type affair, but RIAT?

I would have thought professional military pilots would be the first to recognise the sort of venue there display is best suited to. If it is essential that these types are included, then go ahead and train up two display pilots to display in tandem. Not practical? I thought not.

A couple of other worrying trends, the almost total loss of the traders I would expect to see at an airshow. Replaced with people peddling all sorts of irrelevant sh#te.

Also the vast reduction in the aviation tourist, not many years ago you would hear people speaking all sorts of language from around the globe, they seem to have almost disappeared.

A final word on the great family day out debate. Made a concerted effort to look around at the people in the show. I could see a few families and a ladies visitors, however as far as I could see the majority were still people like myself. No family in tow trying to see military aeroplanes. I am more convinced than ever that RIAT is marketing itself to the wrong people. Realise that people will say that the weather skewed things, but with an all ticket event I am not sure that is true. (there also seemed to be a lot less people there)

I should love to see the breakdown of marketing data that makes the organisers think they are aiming at the correct people.

Go back to aiming to be the best military airshow and I would expect success to follow. Continue down the same route and I think it is doomed, there are always going to be better and much cheaper car shows, music venues, craft fairs, classic car shows, Sunday markets and all the other things it is trying to be. Go back to trying to be the best military airshow!

[G-CVIX]

^ nail on the head.

[techniquest]

the show is a family event and not for the "enthusiast" anymore, I think some people need to come to terms with that....

Yes, but this is the "Royal International Air Tattoo" not Alexandra Burke in concert (with added planes).
Also, why is there this crazy assumption that being part of a family means avaiation enthusiasm suddenly doesn't exist?
Finally, as an aviation enthusiast I really appreciate the flying skills of the pilots of the Tutor, Tucano and Red Devils and actually enjoyed seeing the FlyBe Embaer. How many 'families' genuinely prefer to see these items above - say - fast jets, big noisy stuff, and big aerobatic teams such as Freece Tricolori? I was with a family at Yeovilton last week and everyone wanted to see the fast jets, Vulcan, Red Arrows and Junglies with the explosions!

[skyking_comms]

For those complaining about the flying display, then why dont you go on the friday and watch the rehearsals? We saw the A10, C27, Italian Tonka, Turkish F16 etc.. We have done this for a number of years as if an aircraft doesnt fly on the saturday for whatever reason we have already seen it.
On the saturday we get the chance to see the aircrafts that dont rehearse, like the RAF ground demo which was fantastic once again!

Overall a fantastic couple of days. Roll on next year

[BossMann]

Dear all

I echo the thoughts above with many regarding the cancelled items in the morning. RIAT organisers would have known the weather situation just as we did but they did'nt rejig the flying display to switch the rare foreign stuff to later in the day.

I was gutted that the RIAT didn't reschedule the Saudi Hawks to display later in the day, as much as I love to see the 'Breitling Wingwalkers' display (which I don't think should be at RIAT at all) their slot should have been given to the Saudi Team as they are rare as shit and it was their ONLY UK display. (if waddo had got them a few weeks ago would be a different story but they didn't).

Also with the Cadet 150 flypast being scrapped why could the Saudis not take that slot? or why could they have not been added onto the end of the flying display when the weather was excellent?

Also as nice as it is to see the tutor, hawk solo and tucano which are excellent displays in their own right their slots maybe could have been given to the C27, Italian Tornado, and Austrian Saab 105 as all the RAF stuff can be seen again at any free seaside airshow whereas the foreign stuff will not be displaying again in the UK this year.

Is there any rule that prevents RIAT from simply adding the cancelled item to the flying display at the end??

From memory when the weather was terrible at Mildenhall in I think 2002 the whole flying display was re-jigged to allow the aerobatic teams to demo in the afternoon, similar from Biggin and Duxford in the past when they re-jigged items to allow the BJT and PdF to display in the past. Why could RIAT do the same??

[MerlinJon]

A mixed RIAT for me, drove straight on to the airfield at the Eastern end and the security was excellent with a quick check and sensibly not checking the young kids, my biggest disappointment was that they were not able to re-jig the display and of course it is possible to rearrange the acts. They had plenty of time to change things as they new what the weather was going to do. What flew was excellent but the main display act I wanted to see was the Saudi's and that was a very poor decision from RIAT especially since they were parked in a non photo graphical location.

[pb643]

For those complaining about the flying display, then why dont you go on the friday and watch the rehearsals? We saw the A10, C27, Italian Tonka, Turkish F16 etc.. We have done this for a number of years as if an aircraft doesnt fly on the saturday for whatever reason we have already seen it.
On the saturday we get the chance to see the aircrafts that dont rehearse, like the RAF ground demo which was fantastic once again!

Overall a fantastic couple of days. Roll on next year

Because Friday is a shadow of what it used to be. Friday of IAT was my favourite day of the year masses of arrivals and all for £5 to park the car. Then somebody decided the arrivals needed to be spread over 3-4days and that you needed robbing blind on each day. My last Friday was the year of the IL18 and mermaid.

[farnboroughrob]

Ok firstly I didn't go yesterday going on Monday. Why could RIAT not do what spoting evets(Cricket,Wimbledon golf etc) do an add some time at the end of the day? Ask the likes of the C-27 and Saudi hawks if they were willing to do a late display. Then extend the display by 30min surely no big deal you would think it would be a standard contingency plan??

[rdchawk]

Ok - I don't normally post feedback for shows - butI will with this one as I (like it seems others) am immensly annoyed with RIAT

I went to RIAT this year to see the only UK performance of the Solo Turk F-16 and the Saudi Hawks but no I didn't get to see both.

Yes the organisers have no control on the weather and I am no way upset that we lost a couple of hours flying.

BUT - Why did we need 2 Apache displays??
If we needed 2 F-16 displays (as there was so many of them) why not the rarest 2 the Danish (which did fly) and the Turkish F-16??
As mentioned already the Cadet flypast was canned and the A-10 cut short - why not put these rare displays on???

It really was the case (which I think has been shown all the way on the lead up to the show) as the organisers were just poking 2 fingers up at the crowd and say well we have your money and we have to display what our sponsers want us to display. If you heard the commentary it really was like RIAT had to kiss arse some of the air arms and sponsors displays - " we'd like to thank this air arm and that air arm and this sponsor blah blah blah" I just feel as though the organisers have now lost overall control on what goes on now at the show.

Another point for Dan and the commentary team - you really did piss off a lot of the public by where I was situated when after a display was canned you guys really rubbed it in further by saying - oh what an awesome display it put on at the practice and it really was phenomenal.

If a display is canned - then just say its cancelled.

Next year I shall not be giving RIAT any of my money after this farce and complete mistreatment of advance ticket purchasers, I shall be looking at camping at the place opposite the crowdline (if anyone can help with the name of that area as there are so many places for RIAT) and staying there for the show.

But - there were also some positives

I thought the staff were brilliant - I had to attend the airshow on crutches and had a wheelchair due to myself recently braking a bone in my foot and not being very mobile - the staff were helpful and made sure I got into the showground fine and were concerned with my wellbeing - Well done guys!!

Also I thought (for once) the Royal Jordanian Falcons did very well in their display with the strength of the wind.
Another brilliant display by the Frecce Tricolori (although was worried when the Italian commentator said they could only do their low display when there was no cloud in the display area at all!!)

[Saracen]

and the A-10 cut short

Just a note about the A10 he had to stop due to an Electrical problem and as he came into land he told the tower he had fixed it and he could now continue the display but was told by the Tower to land !!!

[nigelblake]

[

Next year I shall not be giving RIAT any of my money after this farce and complete mistreatment of advance ticket purchasers, I shall be looking at camping at the place opposite the crowdline (if anyone can help with the name of that area as there are so many places for RIAT) and staying there for the show.

I made this decision several years ago; the last RIAT I attended on show days was at Cottesmore, although I have since attended several arrival/departure days.
RIAT seemed to be consistently very good at cancelling the acts I specifically went to see, a trend that continues by all accounts, and frankly I got fed up with the best of the visiting aircraft being static only and that those aircraft were nearly always being positioned in such a way that it was impossible to get worthwhile images of them.
Couple that with the inept road traffic controls and queuing, OTT security nonsense, public address system being at the front of the crowdline and in the way, corporate tents on the crowdline.. again in the way.

I feel that the rot set in after the loss of Paul Bowen, a real aviation enthusiast who went out of his way to get acts that would please and attract fellow aviation enthusiasts. Now the show has lost its way by trying hard to attract a wider audience and more corporate interest they are continually alienating the core supporters, as can be seen from the above posts.

This always was and should stay as the premier aviation event on the calendar, but the addition of falsely elevated to pseudo-stardom non-entities such as Alexandra Burke and loads of non aviation related tosh really is the icing on a mouldy old cake.

I go to several airshows a year; smaller events like Yeovil and the Little Gransden show always manage (with a small organizing team and few funds) to put on great shows that are a pleasure to attend.

It is high time that RIAT consulted the core enthusiasts (after all they have the “Friends of RIAT” etc details) and also took in the feedback that appears on the many aviation forums and addressed the many issues raised so that the show gets back to the major event that it used to be. I would then be first in line for tickets again!

[Sulman]

I was down with a friend that has come along with me since '09 and - overall - had a positive day. I was very happy once the sun came out, prior to that I was actually considering calling it a day because the weather looked so dire around 11am and I already had a slight cold that I didn't want to make worse.

The way I look at it is, it's RIAT. It is always going to be special to me (it was the first show I returned to in '05 after a long, long absence from airshows), and there really is a wealth of aircraft to see.

Objectively, the quality and 'buzz' of previous shows has not quite been there. There are two reasons for my feelings on this:

i) Operational commitments & cuts in money are taking their toll; a sparse static and a lack of exotic visitors. There is little that can be done about this, but I don't think matters are helped by my second point...

ii) The show, as has been said before, seems to lack focus at an organisational level. It is an airshow. People are there to see the stars of the show - the aircraft - and they will pay the ticket price just for that. This appears to be getting forgotten. This year, the tat-fest was off the scale, it was actually pretty grim to see, and looks cheap and nasty. I understand they need the revenue from the stall holders, but please, try harder. A. Burke? Please. Concentrate on your themes and being the best airshow in the world. People will come. Farnborough is a show with far less focus on regular punters, a higher, much shorter display time, and yet they still pack the stands. People like aircraft.

That being said, there are people taking part that absolutely get it. The French contribution, as at Yeovilton and RIAT in '09, was unforgettable, as were the efforts of many of the other visitors and the ground staff. RAF staff were particularly good-spirited this year, I even managed some banter with security. Possibly the British reaction to adverse reactions? We are very good at that.

I'll always be happy to support it but going more and more mass-market will turn people off.

[Ian G]

I only bought tickets a few weeks ago as my Dad and I weren't going to go but decided to change our minds. I don't hold the views that some people have on here about the organisers, RIAT has become more commercial since it moved back from Cottesmore I feel and although over the last few years it's really become prominent, I'm not surprised or dissapointed any more, it's what I've come to expect with RIAT now and I don't know whether that's the right or wrong feeling to have. £££ is the name of the game, without it RIAT simply wouldn't exist now.

Getting in, no problems.
Arrived at the Shell garage at about 7.45, took half an hour to drive and park, slowed down by people shaking charity buckets and stopping the traffic - nothing wrong with that, just time and place. Walked in at about 9, told to take all things out of our pockets etc but managed to walk straight through without being stopped. Turnstiles were pointless and most annoying as I got the flippin strap on my rucksack caught on it and almost went round twice. Car park and entrance staff most helpful and friendly.

The show.
Rafale was simply superb. I took a few pictures as it took off and the first few passes but had to put my camera down and stood in awe at the way it was thrown around, absolutely brilliant. Shame about the A-10 yes, but got a few nice passes at least. There seemed to be lengthy gaps at times and I don't see why things like the Saudi Hawks couldn't have been rescheduled. After all, how many times do they strictly follow the published programme anyway? The Red Devils were wasted in those piddly planes, they seemed to have a decent display, not suited to Fairford - give them Magisters!! Glad to see that I wasn't the only one who got a bit apprehensive when the Frecce crossed over after their break and turn. Gulp! Static was sparse but again, I was expecting that. Il-76 and Flanker were the stars but were wrongly positioned. Not many other highlights and I didn't see why they had to pad the static out so much with so little. Get rid of half those shops. I'm sure one day that bloke will get rid of his wicker garden swing too! Nice to have seen other stuff like the hunters but you can't change the weather. Agree with those who mention contingency plans, I think lessons need to be learnt.

Most annoying gripe was the live music. All day our chests were thumping, listening to cover artists of crap songs ALL RUDDY DAY. We couldn't hear the commentary and it just wasn't on at all to have the crowd at the Eastern end be subjected to it. If I want to have a chest thumping atmosphere with loud music all day, I can stay at home with my (annoying) Polish neighbours for that! We'd come to listen to aircraft and commentary at an AIRSHOW, not a band. I am so aggrieved at this that I will be writing a letter of complaint to DBH as I think it's only fair that they hear the views of us RIAT punters rather than ranting on here. Fill out the questionnaires they do, they want to hear from us so let's tell them what we really think. Re the stunt driving and arenas, I have no problem with those as I remember watching Russ Swift in Montego's in the mid-80's, awesome to watch!!! Just why live, loud music at an airshow???? Wait until the end for goodness sake. Or not at all.

Having attended every Fairford show since I was born in '81, I still think that this is one of the world's most highly regarded airshows. You don't get what you used to get for a number of factors, namely retirement of a lot of airframes and ongoing commitments over the world. I guess what we see at RIAT now is just a sign of the times. As I read through the (ridiculously overpriced) programme we bought, I looked at the pictures of IATs gone by and it really took me back. Gone are the days of the line of 25 Phantoms or a multi-ship Hercules flypast. RIAT's best years, in the late 90's, have now gone, be grateful for what you've got now!

PS - I'll probably be back next year!

[Lightning]

Some more detailed thoughts from me after a night's sleep:

Traffic etc: Probably the easiest entry and exit I've had over the years of attending I have memories of the 4hr+ queues to get out in the 1990s). Maybe 20 mins of slow-moving traffic on the way in, straight into the blue carpark, which seemed 2 fields less-full than at the same time lat time I went (2007). I've never seen the carparks so empty at 8 a.m. Getting out was even better - about 15 mins to the A419, at around 1830.

Security and queues: Avoided standing in the rain for an hour by simply waiting in the car until the gates opened, waiting for the queue to disappear, then walking straight in, just before the heavy rain started. Didn't get stopped by anyone. Took around 15 mins from car door to crowdline to set up my seat

Aircraft and displays: I'd say it was the most disappointing display I've seen at RIAT (have been attending approx every other year since 1990). Some couldn't be helped - ie A-10 problems, but leaving out the Saudi Hawks and instead putting on a flipping Tutor/Tucano, as others have said, seemed ridiculous. RAF Role demo, Vulcan and Frecce Tricolori were my highlights in the flying, with the pointless FlyBe plane being the lowlight

Fun Fair/other: RIAT has effectively become an awful, low-quality fun fair/street market/car show/music venue which just happens to have a runway next to it and some annoyingly noisy planes interrupting the music. This has become especially noticable for me because I've not attended since 2007, mainly due to the cancelled show farce a few years ago. The difference was quite stark. As I said before, I could barely hear the commentary over the thumping music all day. I bet the people in the hospitality tents nearby loved it!

Commentary: Firstly I thought the Vulcan commentary was good, and brought back memories of the early 1990s displays. However, many bad points; why keep saying "I'm sure they'll put on a great show tomorrow"? People were laughing all around me at the fact that that's pretty offensive if you can only afford 1 day at nearly £45 a pop. Weather forecasts were hopeless during the rain. "Looking clearer over Wales apparantly" - hardly very informative given anyone can look at the Met Office radar and say within a few miles where the rain is and how long it will last. Finally, 'traffic' bulletins were read out seemingly by 13 yr olds who sounded like they'd rather be doing anything else other than read traffic from a piece of paper.

Will I attend again? Not next year, certainly. Farborough, even on public days, is better now I think, plus you get all the rarer stuff that RIAT might get that year anyway - oh, and it's about £25 cheaper. I might attend an arrivals/depatures day in the future, but even those are the cost of other decent airshows on public days!

[the fairford mole]

One thing i thought RIAT would of done (or maybe will be doing fingers crossed) is a commemerative history of 40 years either in dvd or preferbly book form, sure there will be alot of interest in that

[81TFW]

A final word on the great family day out debate. Made a concerted effort to look around at the people in the show. I could see a few families and a ladies visitors, however as far as I could see the majority were still people like myself. No family in tow trying to see military aeroplanes. I am more convinced than ever that RIAT is marketing itself to the wrong people. Realise that people will say that the weather skewed things, but with an all ticket event I am not sure that is true. (there also seemed to be a lot less people there)

I should love to see the breakdown of marketing data that makes the organisers think they are aiming at the correct people.

Go back to aiming to be the best military airshow and I would expect success to follow. Continue down the same route and I think it is doomed, there are always going to be better and much cheaper car shows, music venues, craft fairs, classic car shows, Sunday markets and all the other things it is trying to be. Go back to trying to be the best military airshow!

This absolutely hits the nail on the head. RIAT is a freakin' airshow!!! I'd also like to see who the target audience these days, and WHY, as it's certainly not aviation enthusiasts.

As for the guy who suggested we all go on Friday, because he saw all the cancelled displays then, well good for you but have you considered one day is all some of us can do or can afford?

RIAT and Mildenhall used the be the highlights of my aviation year, now one is gone and the other is frustratingly slipping away. I appreciate there are some things the organisers have no control over (particularly which air arms choose to attend), but the things they DO have control over (the awful fairground atmosphere mostly) are making me wonder whether to go again.

So glad I went to Yeovilton, great shows can still be seen!

[DeltaPapa]

Last year on the RIAT website was a feed back form - not sure if there is this year but would worth filling in if there is!

[robtheplod]

Hi

I'm just back today after visiting the show yesterday. I've been going to RIAT for 10 years and here's some feedback.

We came in on the Green route and had no delays getting in or out, the control of this was excellent by the even organisers and the police.

Its a real shame about the weather and this can't be helped, but up end of the show where the Vulcan was standing which is where we were they was no shelter at all. I desperately looked for a big plane to stand under or a show marquee etc, but none of these were there, or the planes were all roped off. Several large planes which had their cargo doors down with the ground staff in looking out were laughing quite openly at those who could not find shelter - something which annoyed me!

Eventually we found the bus and went to the end with all the entertainment. The RAF tent was excellent and we discovered cover and warmth!

When the sun came out it was a relief and back we went out watch the show.

With so much lost display time it seems a shame that not enough attention was paid to the items people would have been most interested in - as highlighted in previous posts. In these conditions it should have been expected by all participants/organisers that the order becomes fluid and be ready to send up whatever gives the best show to the people who have attended!

If its true the A10 wanted to do flypasts but the tower told them to land then its only fair to broadcast this fact, to promote the American view and show why it is cut short. I'm personally not impressed that he was forced to land despite his best endeavour to give a good show. Poor decision by the organisers.

The Vulcan display was the best seen so far - are they pushing it more than usual???

Looking through the programme (which incidentally increases in prices too often), and looking at the excellent article on previous show content its clear to see the age of the 'must see' air show is numbered, with cut backs and a general lack of planes with crowd pulling ability. Could you even imagine an Australian F111 doing a dump and burn in theses days??

As I always take advantage of the earlybird ticket purchase to ensure my place it seems i've been silly this year. The e-ticket scheme now makes the 'no tickets at the gate' policy pointless and i will now do this in the future so i can see how the flying lineup shapes up and how the weather is before purchasing tickets. Having advanced ticket sales only has made the organisers lazy in what entertainment they supply as people will come regardless - since the policy has come in the air side has fallen, whereby the onground cheap entertainment has grown considerably. Bring back pay as go in so people can again decide if a particular RIAT show is worth the cost.

One other point, and i know its silly, but what is the point of getting high profile, brilliant aircraft to come to the show, only to sit on the ground all weekend - point being the ukranian jet...... I see this as a 'tease'... I would personally rather not see it at the show at all unless it can fly.

My overwhelmingly biggest gripe is the commentaters saying 'it will go up tomorrow'. I paid for today and tomorrow is irrelevent!!!!

I appreciate air shows are a nightmare to organise, and each year you have less planes/countires willing to contribute - you do well overall with what you have. Maybe the time has come to stop trying to be the biggest and concentrate on quality instead? It's all getting a bit 'samey'. They need to look for diversity and excitement to reignite peoples interest in the show.

I hope Alexandra Burke gives a good performace today - which 'star' is booked for next year?

[jon93]

I think its safe to say a few people are a bit P'd off, on the readjustment side of things Waddington didn't go to programme I think so there can't be really any excuse there. I must say I feel sorry for those who went yesterday and didn't see the stars of the show, at one point this year it was a fight between waddo and RIAT as to which one I go to glad I chose waddington now as I would of gone on the saturday. And as someone said when someone says well go on the rehersal days, well I'm sure they would go on that day if you paid for them it is so irritating when someone says that and I wasn't even there.

[Andyperkins]

It was a great shame the Saudi Hawks and Italian Tornado couldn't do their displays but apart from them I saw everything I wanted to see with the Rafale being the highlight and despite the horrible weather until around 11:30 I thought it was a damn fine day, certainly the clearest skies at Fairford I have seen since I started attending again in 2009 but that's my fault for only going on Sunday's lol

I did wonder what show one of the commentators had been watching on the way out as he was asked 'what was your favourite act' and he said 'it has to be the Turkish F-16' which I found quite odd seeing as it didn't get any further that lining up and then taxing back lol

[fighterfoto]

Have been to every IAT/RIAT since 1981 and for me this was the worst one yet and the show continues to go downhill. I fully understand that there are less aircraft around these days and ongoing operations also have an impact, but there will come a tipping point when the show's attempts to be all things to all men will lead to it being nothing to anybody.

That said I enjoyed it! The reason I think is it is a lot less stressful now trying to balance the competing need to photograph static and flying display. With both shadows of their former selves you could do both relatively easily (which now means you can do the show in one day rather than two).

One thing that did disappoint however was the lack of aviation stalls. I saw a couple of one's selling models which were busy but there was a distinct lack of book stalls. I had to console myself with a tiara from the Jewellery Store, a bag of sweets from Liqourice Heaven and some garden furniture.