Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

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jasonT1981
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by jasonT1981 »

With the public Grandstand gone from this years show, where would be the best place to go on the airfield? I've heard a few say down towards the tank hangar at the bottom of the airfield in the past but was thinking about somewhere close to the American hangar.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Mooshie1956 »

Because of local lock down in Manchester, I don't think my son in law and myself can go unless we travel in separate cars. It may well be over by then but we're not wasting money just in case.
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Jakub.Zurek »

jasonT1981 wrote:
Sat 08 Aug 2020, 9:30 pm
With the public Grandstand gone from this years show, where would be the best place to go on the airfield? I've heard a few say down towards the tank hangar at the bottom of the airfield in the past but was thinking about somewhere close to the American hangar.
Either far end of the airfield will be good if you are after photographing topsides. The area in front of the land warfare hangar is shut during airshows since Shoreham.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by FlyingMachinesTV »

iainpeden wrote:
Thu 06 Aug 2020, 12:48 pm
rutley wrote:
Thu 06 Aug 2020, 7:22 am
itfcscott wrote:
Fri 24 Jul 2020, 1:17 pm
This is all that I can find at the moment: https://www.iwm.org.uk/airshows/faqs/covid-19. It will be interesting to see how the Showcase Days in August work to start to see how they might manage the full show.
Crowd limit for the Battle of Britain airshow is 15,000 per day. Saturday is nearly sold out, Sunday is getting there.
2/3s of that.
Still interested to see how you can get 10,000 people together for an airshow and maintain social distancing, how did it work on the first Showcase day?

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Aquarious
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Aquarious »

Generally, I found on the recent showcase day that people behaved well and kept their distance. Other than having some hand-sanitiser available on the museum side of the shop I didn't notice many other measures in place. I didn't see any sanitiser at the entrance which is surprising given that people handled goods on the way in through the shop. That may be because I didn't see them, not because they didn't exist. I was at both the M11 and Land Warfare ends.

I went into LW only to use the facilities, people appeared to be wearing masks in LW and staircases were single direction only. Other than that, I didn't go into any of the halls or hangers however, so I can't comment on what measures were in place there.

Having been to the recent Shuttleworth drive in airshow I was quite pleased with the preparations at Old Warden. I am concerned as to what if any preparations will be in place for the Duxford BoB airshow with 15,000 people. I would hope that as a minimum, they will provide additional toilets along with hand sanitiser points as they did at OW.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by benji1867 »

I dont suppose anyone has a spare Saturday parking permit do they? Was just about to buy Saturday tickets but realised they have sold out.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Pen Pusher »

Aquarious wrote:
Mon 10 Aug 2020, 12:02 pm
I am concerned as to what if any preparations will be in place for the Duxford BoB airshow with 15,000 people. I would hope that as a minimum, they will provide additional toilets along with hand sanitiser points as they did at OW.
If you contact the museum all you get is the standard corporate reply like the one below from Facebook, which is a cut & paste from the airshow covid-19 FAQ's. From the couple of visits I've had, there is no social distancing along the crowd line, and the crowd barriers don't get disinfected, and I can't see how they will social distance along the crowd line. Some one standing on the crowd line would need 2 meters either side of them as well as 2 meters behind. On showcase day, non of that happened and people were standing shoulder to shoulder along the crowd line
Imperial War Museum Duxford Hello Andy, Customer safety is our priority and we are working hard to plan for a thrilling 80th Anniversary Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show. We are including special measures to keep visitors, volunteers and staff safe. Based on current advice, this commemorative event will go ahead but please visit this page for the most up to date information. https://www.iwm.org.uk/airshows/faqs/covid-19
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Wrexham Mackem »

benji1867 wrote:
Thu 13 Aug 2020, 8:12 pm
I dont suppose anyone has a spare Saturday parking permit do they? Was just about to buy Saturday tickets but realised they have sold out.

cheers
Ben
Oh no, not the parking pass thing again. One would assume, with a reduced attendance and a need to apply distancing measures, that there would be ample parking allocated this year. So if you don't get one, its shuttle buses then? very socially distant, eh?

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by rockfordstone »

Pen Pusher wrote:
Fri 14 Aug 2020, 5:54 am
Aquarious wrote:
Mon 10 Aug 2020, 12:02 pm
I am concerned as to what if any preparations will be in place for the Duxford BoB airshow with 15,000 people. I would hope that as a minimum, they will provide additional toilets along with hand sanitiser points as they did at OW.
If you contact the museum all you get is the standard corporate reply like the one below from Facebook, which is a cut & paste from the airshow covid-19 FAQ's. From the couple of visits I've had, there is no social distancing along the crowd line, and the crowd barriers don't get disinfected, and I can't see how they will social distance along the crowd line. Some one standing on the crowd line would need 2 meters either side of them as well as 2 meters behind. On showcase day, non of that happened and people were standing shoulder to shoulder along the crowd line
Imperial War Museum Duxford Hello Andy, Customer safety is our priority and we are working hard to plan for a thrilling 80th Anniversary Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show. We are including special measures to keep visitors, volunteers and staff safe. Based on current advice, this commemorative event will go ahead but please visit this page for the most up to date information. https://www.iwm.org.uk/airshows/faqs/covid-19
there was little social distancing at the showcase day. most people people were being sensible, but it was in no way monitored from what i saw

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by BobL »

The "Crowdline" is approximately 1.1km long (excluding any kinks) and with SD of 2m that would allow just over 600 people to stand safely in a rank along the fence. The estimated attendance of 15,000 would, if strict SD spacing was enforced, require 25 or so ranks of 2m spaces.

But I suspect it'll just turn into a free for all like the recent images of people "practicing" safe social distancing on the beaches...
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Mike »

My money is on it being canned altogether. I’m sure IWM were taking a punt that restrictions would be eased more by mid-September and mass gatherings permitted. That obviously hasn’t happened, I can’t see they have any option other than cancellation.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Wrexham Mackem »

BobL wrote:
Fri 14 Aug 2020, 10:12 am
The "Crowdline" is approximately 1.1km long (excluding any kinks) and with SD of 2m that would allow just over 600 people to stand safely in a rank along the fence. The estimated attendance of 15,000 would, if strict SD spacing was enforced, require 25 or so ranks of 2m spaces.

But I suspect it'll just turn into a free for all like the recent images of people "practicing" safe social distancing on the beaches...
That assumes every individual comes from separate households or social groups. I could stand as close as I wanted on the crowd line to my family - but yes, the principle remains that 10,000 (as I understand the attendance to be, not 15,000) are going to have to invade one another's space to a greater or lesser extent in the show ground.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by rutley »

Over 14,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday 19th September. The maximum limit is 15,000 per day. If you've been to a Duxford before, you'll know how busy it gets, and crowded along the fence line...........

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by BobL »

Wrexham Mackem wrote:
Fri 14 Aug 2020, 10:54 am
...the principle remains that 10,000 (as I understand the attendance to be, not 15,000)...
"Crowd limit for the Battle of Britain airshow is 15,000 per day. Saturday is nearly sold out..."

I was going on the figures posted earlier in the thread by "rutley".

Yes, there will be groups from the same social "bubble" - but four or five family members all standing in a 2m square just isn't feasible. They will reduce the available 'blocks' in their immediate area for others to occupy...
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Wrexham Mackem »

Agreed, one way or another, you wonder how its going to work.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by BobL »

One social distancing calculator suggests a 12 feet grid to remain safe...

https://covid19.colorado.gov/safer-at-h ... oor-events
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by jasonT1981 »

In terms of announcements, are we about the same at this point as previous years? Not seen an update in about 3 weeks. Aside from a post last night that animals from 'ZooLab' will be at the show.

I do think it will go ahead. Fans are being allowed back to select sporting events this week and concerts have restarted with distancing. I think we might well be a 'test' group for larger events to see how it goes as crowds will return to football the week after Duxfords show.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Mike »

jasonT1981 wrote:I do think it will go ahead.
A fiver says it doesn’t! You said it yourself, pilot events are starting to be allowed to go ahead with distancing. There is no way to distance an airshow crowd other than the way Shuttleworth have done it.

Duxford have previous on pulling events at the last minute for spurious reasons - look at the HAC evening that was supposed to happen last year.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Pen Pusher »

Some of us regulars are of the opinion that it will get pulled one maybe two weeks before the event and then the museum will go begging for people to donate their entrance fee etc. to the museum because they spent a lot of money organising an air show that wasn't going to take place.
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jasonT1981
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by jasonT1981 »

That won't go down to well if they leave it to a couple of weeks or less to cancel. Many have paid not just for tickets but hotels, flights, trains or other transport etc that are now non refundable as things get back to normal and will lose out quite a bit of £££.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by MiG_Eater »

If it gets pulled I will be a little angry to be honest - things regarding the virus have steadily improved since they announced the airshow, and if their plans are not viable - they never would have been.

Fingers crossed it will all go ahead though!

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by jasonT1981 »

I might rightly get a lot of flack for this. But sooner or later larger events are going to have to be tried again as it is the only way things will get back to normal.

I'm ok with being there if Duxford is seen as a trail event for larger crowds. It has to happen sooner or later.

From tomorrow indoor sports are allowed crowds (Snooker) which is even more a risk than outdoor events. Other sports will allow crowds from tomorrow too. It's not a nice situation but it is getting better. We are never going to get anywhere if we live in a protective bubble for the rest of our lives over this.

I will be bringing a mask, my own hand sanitiser and finding a quieter spot even if it means standing back a bit from the crowd line.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Pat Murphy »

jasonT1981 wrote:
Fri 14 Aug 2020, 5:16 pm
I might rightly get a lot of flack for this. But sooner or later larger events are going to have to be tried again as it is the only way things will get back to normal.

I'm ok with being there if Duxford is seen as a trail event for larger crowds. It has to happen sooner or later.

From tomorrow indoor sports are allowed crowds (Snooker) which is even more a risk than outdoor events. Other sports will allow crowds from tomorrow too. It's not a nice situation but it is getting better. We are never going to get anywhere if we live in a protective bubble for the rest of our lives over this.

I will be bringing a mask, my own hand sanitiser and finding a quieter spot even if it means standing back a bit from the crowd line.
Pretty much this but......

My business has been shut since lockdown and finally we re-opened 3 weeks ago to busy times thankfully (vacancies still available :grin: ) I'll admit after shielding my parents for 4 months, it's been a bit strange welcoming people back into our home, albeit in a heavily sanitised and socially distant way and cleaning the bathrooms in PPE :mask: with all that disinfectant in the air is horrendous!! but I've got "used" to wearing the PPE and sanitising like a sanitising thing.

However, having booked the tickets and decided we as a family, need to get down that way anyway, to see our eldest (not seen since Feb :frowning: ) I'm getting a little nervous again. The thought of mixing with 15000 people doesn't exactly thrill me at the moment but if it's on I'll be there. I'll be gutted if they do scrap my only airshow fix but with new cases ticking up to over a 1000 a day, I'm fully prepared for that to be the case. We'll just have to watch and wait.
If it's on and I do go, you'll spot me easily. I'll be the guy screaming at people to GET AWAY!! while wielding a stick....2 metres long :joy:

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Now back to bathing in disinfectant in those bathrooms.........

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by rockfordstone »

jasonT1981 wrote:
Fri 14 Aug 2020, 5:16 pm
I might rightly get a lot of flack for this. But sooner or later larger events are going to have to be tried again as it is the only way things will get back to normal.

I'm ok with being there if Duxford is seen as a trail event for larger crowds. It has to happen sooner or later.

From tomorrow indoor sports are allowed crowds (Snooker) which is even more a risk than outdoor events. Other sports will allow crowds from tomorrow too. It's not a nice situation but it is getting better. We are never going to get anywhere if we live in a protective bubble for the rest of our lives over this.

I will be bringing a mask, my own hand sanitiser and finding a quieter spot even if it means standing back a bit from the crowd line.
the difference between a sporting event and an airshow is with a sporting event that has seats, you can largely dictate where people sit. 15,000 people at an airshow with no allocated seating you can't.

with all the best will in the world, as soon as the reds come flying in the crowd will bunch up. it happened at the showcase day and there weren't 15,000 people in that day.

I think it's less about whether it's a trial run and more than at the moment i don't think government guidance allows for that sort of mass gathering

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by lynothehammer »

I'm still debating on whether to book tickets but the information on social distancing is non existent.

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