Right, where to begin...
Firstly thank you to everyone who has read the review and commented on here and social media - good or bad. To answer a few specific comments...
Elliot wrote:I have to take issue with that statement
I would agree in retrospect that perhaps that statement could have been written better. Happy to admit my mistakes
Joker displays which were arguably some of the finest in Legends history
We will have to agree to disagree on that point, whilst I can't compare to Legends of the past being a first timer, the word that I used - and those around me - wasn't excellent. I deliberately decided not to comment on it specifically as the word used would have undoubtedly been controversial to the extreme.
Harry wrote:You appear to have failed to mention quite a lot of the action
I do not write reviews which are effectively just a list of everything that flew with comments that "this was nice and that was nice plus this was there".. In my opinion, that style makes for a boring review that organisers can't ascertain the pro's and con's from.
I have chosen my absolute highlights from the show - The Horsemen, Battle of Britain formation and the Transports and spoken about them; I've also chosen what I believe to be the main negatives and spoken about them. Granted, I have concentrated in particular on one negative more than the rest but with good reason.
st24 wrote:Both Jokers and the Fury /Bearcat sequences were masterclasses and should have been acknowledged as such, irrespective if this was your first or one hundred and first Legends. Another flying Hurricane is a massive plus to the airshow scene and it's debut deserved far more fanfare.
Again, I chose to talk about my personal highlights - as this was written as a personal account of the event. The Bearcat was nice, yes, but not an absolute highlight for me.
The Reds were an "also ran" and whilst the daft display line should be noted, not in such a headlining way, Legends is about much more than that.
As stated in the review, I don't understand or agree with this "also ran" view. They were a participant at the show.
The Reds issue, in my opinion, deserved the coverage it was given. Not only is their approach a wider issue for UK airshows which needs calling out but also the organisers need to be challenged over their decision not to tell the public in advance.
Pat wrote:The Reds weren't there on Saturday, so I can't comment on the display, as I didn't see it, but to me it's a separate issue to Legends and a pity that so much editorial was devoted to it. Maybe a request for an interview with The Reds might be worthwhile, as this looks like it may become a continuing issue.
An excellent idea, if the Reds would be willing to stand up and be counted (which I do have my doubts about) but it is something I will feed in to proposals for off season feature reports.
Jumbo wrote:this is just not true and is even proven not to be by his own photos
No it isn't proven by my photos (taken with a 900mm equivalent). The vast majority of those shots are of aircraft whilst they were at the M11 end apart from some of the larger aircraft whilst at show centre. A number of acts I didn't even bother attempting to photograph as they were just too far away to attempt a crop shot of... unless people wanted frozen props as seems to be the current style on social media??
has beef with Legends and is trying to do everything to prove it was a bad show whilst not saying the positives
No beef at all. It was my first Legends and I was really looking forward to it (those that spoke to me a few days before can attest to that). Perhaps it was my fault for believing the hype but I came away with a sense of "is that it?" "Is that really what Flying Legends is?"... to coin Brevet's favourite three letter word I came away feeling "meh". As this review was written as the personal experience of a first timer, of course that feeling is going to come across, the article wouldn't be right if it didn't.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions which I relish and will feed back in to future reviews for which I thank people. Perhaps a future visit to a Flying Legends will alter the perception that I came away from 2017 with. Right now, I didn't see much that I haven't seen before at a normal Duxford show. Perhaps I've been spoilt over the years by witnessing some excellent displays. Who knows?
Andy