Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Discuss airshows and other aviation events at the Imperial War Museum
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Gonzo230
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by Gonzo230 »

Ryan. wrote:I've done my fair share of knocking this airshow and was it the best Duxford I've been to, no. Not by a long, long shot. Speaking to the director of IWM Duxford, they are taking a different approach to the Air Festival. They are trying to attract families. After speaking with him, I do somewhat understand the approach, Duxford have three airshows is it ok that one of them isn't aimed at me? It's a little sad as I've always looked forward to the Spring airshow as its normally the first major airshow of the year for me. I used to attend without fail and maybe now it's more a case of seeing what's booked before deciding. The approach isn't going to change. They felt the show had everything a family would want to see and are looking at other activities around the show to attract different people. I think they understand that this isn't going to be amazingly popular with enthusiasts but feel they need to change approach to attract a different audience to Duxford.


Yes, I think it's obvious to see the change in tack for the May airshow. The idea being that it will bring in families who have never been to the Duxford site and encourage them to attend the museum on a non-airshow day.

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rockfordstone
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by rockfordstone »

Ryan. wrote:I've done my fair share of knocking this airshow and was it the best Duxford I've been to, no. Not by a long, long shot. Speaking to the director of IWM Duxford, they are taking a different approach to the Air Festival. They are trying to attract families. After speaking with him, I do somewhat understand the approach, Duxford have three airshows is it ok that one of them isn't aimed at me? It's a little sad as I've always looked forward to the Spring airshow as its normally the first major airshow of the year for me. I used to attend without fail and maybe now it's more a case of seeing what's booked before deciding. The approach isn't going to change. They felt the show had everything a family would want to see and are looking at other activities around the show to attract different people. I think they understand that this isn't going to be amazingly popular with enthusiasts but feel they need to change approach to attract a different audience to Duxford.

i heard one of the honchos when he was in the members area suggesting that the feeling is that air fest would become more of a family show.

lets be fair, legends and battle of britain are always jam packed for enthusiasts. also this year we have daks, this new evening show and i did overhear them mentioning something else being looked at.

it wasn't a classic for us enthusiasts, but there we some pretty happy families there in the sunshine on saturday. us guys with cameras and anoraks need to remember we don't hold the monopoly on air show attendance

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jasonT1981
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by jasonT1981 »

I really enjoyed the two days. As said above this obviously wasn't organised with the likes of us in mind, but still was a fun show.

Getting in on both days was a breeze. Was there for 8:15am on Saturday and no queue, managed to get a top row grandstand seat and same on Sunday with a 11:30am arrival, though I did end up with a lower level grandstand seat. Getting out again was no problem, straight onto the bus and away. Very well organised shuttle service. Had a good amount of time to explore the hangers. Loved the American hanger and Hanger 1 with Concorde, Vulcan etc. Getting inside some of the classic airliners was great. We used to have so much variety in aircraft, now every one seems the same inside. Only gripe was having to buy a 'boarding pass' to access the aircraft... Is this done on non show days too? It could have been free with admission given the price to get in.


Oh, and Airshowhammer, was it the lady steward who shouted at you to sit down from the halfway steps? I saw that, if that was you. To be fair, I can relate. On Saturday I had some guy 3 times my size lean over me constantly to line up his shots knocking me and the guy beside me out of the way and the only way I could get around this was to sometimes stand.. I don't like standing in the grandstand, but the steward could have been a lot more discreet in this, especially since there is no one behind you.

Airshowhammer

Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by Airshowhammer »

Indeed that was me, green hoody to be precise :grin:

Good spot Jason!

wdg
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by wdg »

Overall I enjoyed the weekend. A good display, not a great one but still fun and a good warmup for the bigger shows of the season. But then I'm easy to impress... I thought the Chinook and Apache gave good displays. I don't know if it was just me but I thought the Blades seemed a little further away on the Saturday than on the Sunday. Have to say I really liked the Bader's Bus Company display - even if it was just PA28s, it was well set to the music and the formation flying seemed very polished, particularly given what the pilots had been through. Highlight for me was the Spitfire display on the Saturday. The crowd fell quiet, even the commentator shut up, and we could really hear the sound of the Merlin engine. Unfortunately we didn't get the same effect on the Sunday because the Beaver was starting up.

I was very disappointed with the grandstand "experience". They were disorganised opening it up on the Saturday, first of all nobody turned up to open it, then when they did they didn't have keys and the staff on the main entrance hadn't been told to scan the tickets and give out tokens so they then had to go and get a scanner for those. The grandstand itself was easily the most cramped I've been in, and their policy on standing was absurd. They only seemed interested in telling people who weren't in anyone's way to sit down, repeatedly walking up the grandstand to tell people in the back row to sit down (often blocking the view themselves in the process) while doing nothing about people in the lower rows who were actually causing a problem.
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Zoom
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by Zoom »

The main reason I went was to see the F15s which I've never seen before and were fantastic (I'm not from the area where they normally fly) much of the rest was much the same as you get on the usual free seaside shows although with the big advantage of takeoffs and landings and the ground pyro display for the Apache. Overall a very good and varied show :smile:

I had annual membership a few years ago but never got to go to an airshow there whilst a member; do you still get a discount?

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Alpha Delta 210
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by Alpha Delta 210 »

Zoom wrote:The main reason I went was to see the F15s which I've never seen before and were fantastic (I'm not from the area where they normally fly) much of the rest was much the same as you get on the usual free seaside shows although with the big advantage of takeoffs and landings and the ground pyro display for the Apache. Overall a very good and varied show :smile:

I had annual membership a few years ago but never got to go to an airshow there whilst a member; do you still get a discount?


Hi. Friends of Duxford has been replaced by the IWM's own two-tier membership scheme: https://www.iwm.org.uk/membership

If you opt for Premium Membership, you're entitled to 20% discount on air show tickets and 15% discount in the shops and restaurants. However, the member benefits on show days have been reduced. For example, members no longer receive a complimentary aircraft participation list or light refreshments.

I hope that helps.

MikeCooper1990
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by MikeCooper1990 »

Did anyone manage to get the serial of the display Apache?
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DaveBr
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Re: Duxford Air Festival 25th - 26th May 2019

Post by DaveBr »

MikeCooper1990 wrote:Did anyone manage to get the serial of the display Apache?


ZJ211

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