verreli wrote:
I think RIAT isn't necessarily the place to be seen, but the place to 'meet'. This will likely continue, especially if the organisers make this a feature of the show, albeit one not available to the general public. The evolution (decline) of the Farnborough trade show has almost certainly had an effect on RIAT. This is likely to continue. The one curve ball is what influence the American presence at Fairford will have in the future.
Based on today's update I think you are correct Verreli. 50 airships compared to 37 at this point last year!! From my personal point of view I couldn't care less about this statistic and don't consider this an update (are RIAT struggling to find things to tell us?) unless each of them bring some of their pilots/aircraft.