It was marketed as "FAB Friday", others can choose more appropriate "F Words" as it clearly was not FAB,
Hear hear. I don't think I've ever felt as ripped-off at an airshow as I did yesterday (Friday) at Farnborough.
It all started at the shuttle bus stop at the Queens Parade car park where there were two gate options available; I chose 'Cargo Village' as this was being displayed in big writing on the light-board and it was something that would very much interest me. Only when we got to the airfield did I discover that 'Cargo Village' was closed, having already been all but dismantled and no aircraft were there.
Moving towards the front, I was really happy to see that the LM100 was still there, and the 787, and the 737Max; but this wasn't to last long as all three started up and departed along with some biz stuff. In fact it was more like departures day than 'Fab Friday'. Thank goodness the A350-1000 stayed!
Moving to the halls, further disappointment as it seemed the majority of the stands in all 4 halls were closed - or simply abandoned. There were some hoards of kids grabbing sweets and the occasional pen and brochure, but few other visitors.
The Red Arrows arrived at around 11, but one flyby then a run and break to land; no display.
The static aircraft display had some interesting aircraft; the Hi-Fly A380 making a real impression in it's special Coral Reef paint scheme and the seemingly tiny A220-300 next to it. There was a Wyoming ANG C130, Portugese Air Force and Italian Air Force ATR variants, a Brazilian Navy Lynx and a Norwegian Sea King and odd-looking military(ish) variants of the Diamond Twin Star and what looked like an old Cessna crop sprayer. There was a Tornado GR4 round the back next to a pink ATR and a HondaJet. A couple of nice aircarft arrived: C-17 from Dover and a Spanish Navy Citation, the Avro Anson too.
The flying display finally got underway with a single flyby by the Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurrican and then, after a gap, a couple of Red Bull Extra-type aircraft did air race stuff between inflatable cones which seemed to go on for ages on the far side of the runway. There was a Red Bull Alpha Jet and DC6 there but they didn't fly.
The Spanish Harrier displayed and was great to see - but you only got the full hover impact if you were at a very specific part of the airfield; then the A350-1000 displayed, which was superb. A new Turkish attack helicopter displayed next and then the 727 took off with The Blades display team and came back for a formation fly-past and pull-up (very impressive). The 727 display was truly excellent and almost made it all worthwhile, but then I remembered just how much stuff had gone - stuff I wanted to see and the title 'Fab' Friday felt even more ill-placed. I left after the 727; there was nothing else I really wanted to see (Wing-Walkers, Gyrocopter, The Blades...)
So come on Farnborough; what was 'Fab' about it? A significant number of aircraft from the trade days had gone, the halls were all-but abandoned, and only a small amount of the stuff for the public days flew. How is this 'Fab'?
For example (quotes from the Fab Friday page on Farnborough's website):
"View Farnborough International Airshow’s famous flying display and see the big names in aviation showcase their latest innovations in the air and across the static aircraft site." Yeah - most of it had gone!
"To those that have a real passion and keen interest in aviation, this is an unrivalled opportunity to gain access to the trade show, experience all four exhibition halls and take in the latest technology whilst interacting with industry specialists." Industry specialists that were all but invisible or showed little interest in interacting with anyone except groups of school-kids.
"Exclusive access all areas" Unless they had already been dismantled, closed or by invitation only.
I will never be taken in by this kind of false advertising again, and Farnborough organisers should hang their heads in shame.