RIAT 2020 - CANCELLED

[harkins]

Using Google Earth's 'historic views', it doesn't look to be that much of an increase....and most of it appears to be on the NE side ( so not used for the showground )

I did the same and I reckon that whilst at a glance it doesn't look a lot different, I think that a few meters here and there on the taxiways and the widened and angled hard-standing over the former 'square' pans will have resulted in a huge increase of area. Certainly enough to get plenty of extra fighters and other small to mid sized aircraft.

See, if faced with the prospect of that many aircraft on the field, I'd be happy to sacrifice that just for the experience and the sight of it. That said, there'd be tonnes of photos you can still get in an environment like that. Not so much when they're spread out and stuck in front of an infinite line of toilets.

For me the static is more about it arriving and departing than simply being stood there (from a photography perspective at least) and therefore 300 bunched up aircraft would be amazing.

[st24]

The static was certainly not full. Plenty of space on the airfield, there was a nice big space that a big wheel took for a start.

I'll clarify my (correct) statement; the airfield space allocated to the Air Ops department for aircraft for RIAT 2019 was FULL. Comparing the space allocated this year compared to 25 years, or even 15 years ago, is simply foolish.

So how do you account for the Austrian Herc, German Transall, Irish CASA, etc that didn't turn up from last minute cancellations and would have just extended the line at the west end? Those three combined are larger than a Turkish KC-135. As others have said it could have been easily dragged over to the western end by the E-3.

The fact is aircraft are spaced out far more excessively nowadays across the airfield than they were back in 1993 when they used to be wingtip to wingtip, the base could easily swallow a 300 static aircraft exhibition now if it needed to, everybody would moan you couldn't get shots then but there is no point saying it couldn't. Far more hardstanding now than back in 1993.

Exactly this, plus of course back then all the car parking was on base too...
Apart from the tree lined West end statics, the amount of crap in the background and poor angles are more prevalent these days with a much smaller static than back in (say) the huge line ups of the '90s.

[jasonT1981]

I'm not sure if I should bother with Friday or not in 2020. Only thing that makes me think it could be worth it is the possibility of the Friday flypasts. Deff not worth getting an enclosure I don't think for Friday if I do decide to go.

Might just do a day at Heathrow instead.

[mark_aviation]

I'm not sure if I should bother with Friday or not in 2020. Only thing that makes me think it could be worth it is the possibility of the Friday flypasts. Deff not worth getting an enclosure I don't think for Friday if I do decide to go.

Might just do a day at Heathrow instead.

Pay ~£15 and Park and View at one of the campsites. IMHO I’d much rather do that for the Friday rather than get ripped off by DBH.

[CJS]

I'm not sure if I should bother with Friday or not in 2020. Only thing that makes me think it could be worth it is the possibility of the Friday flypasts. Deff not worth getting an enclosure I don't think for Friday if I do decide to go.

Might just do a day at Heathrow instead.

Pay ~£15 and Park and View at one of the campsites. IMHO I’d much rather do that for the Friday rather than get ripped off by DBH.

In theory though, if the price is right, it could be a good day to go. No real way of knowing until tickets go on sale.

My guessing is that Friday's show will be considerably cheaper than this year's was.

[mark_aviation]

I'm not sure if I should bother with Friday or not in 2020. Only thing that makes me think it could be worth it is the possibility of the Friday flypasts. Deff not worth getting an enclosure I don't think for Friday if I do decide to go.

Might just do a day at Heathrow instead.

Pay ~£15 and Park and View at one of the campsites. IMHO I’d much rather do that for the Friday rather than get ripped off by DBH.

In theory though, if the price is right, it could be a good day to go. No real way of knowing until tickets go on sale.

My guessing is that Friday's show will be considerably cheaper than this year's was.

Agreed. The Friday can be appealing if the price is right. If I was to but a number on it, I think £35 is about right. Anything more than that this year, and some serious question are going to get thrown in the direction of DBH.

As far as I’m concerned, the issue this year wasn’t necessarily the value of the Friday on its own, it was the value of the Friday in comparison to Saturday/ Sunday (only 2/3 of the static, 1/2 flying display etc.). Friday goers do get perks, like meeting Tim Peake and the Pit Area (which I hear is pretty pointless and under-utilised) but in my opinion, that doesn’t justify the price they are asking. Maybe a few more Friday perks might help justify the cost a bit more.

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll find out the pricing soon enough

[speedbird2639]

some serious question are going to get thrown in the direction of DBH

Serious questions were thrown DBH's way this year re: pricing; they were ignored (as is every single legitimate criticism which is aimed in their direction). Then they introduced a money off voucher for merch if you had bought a Friday ticket and then after the event they contacted Friday purchasers with a money off offer for RIAT 2020.

They should adopt the ticketing stance of the 'no frills/ cheapie' airlines. Prices start at 99p for the first few tickets and then based on demand and availability the price ramps up. You want to buy a Friday ticket the minute they go on sale? 99p; you want a Saturday ticket at 6pm the day before the show? £1500. That way people way what they think it is worth. They need to come up with something regards the ticketing/ pricing as it was almost universally condemned this year.

[IATthenRIAT]

To me I think a striaght forward approach would be to keep friday for the VIP's etc with all thats associated with it, give the public access just to park and view areas (like it used to be on friday and mondays) but at a reduced ticket price say £20, then keep sat and sun for the full show days.

[HeyfordDave111]

To me I think a striaght forward approach would be to keep friday for the VIP's etc with all thats associated with it, give the public access just to park and view areas (like it used to be on friday and mondays) but at a reduced ticket price say £20, then keep sat and sun for the full show days.

Laudible idea, however, wasn't it stated by a RIAT person on here that without Friday there would be no RIAT, as they couldn't afford to put on the show otherwise?

[Airshowhammer]

some serious question are going to get thrown in the direction of DBH

Serious questions were thrown DBH's way this year re: pricing; they were ignored (as is every single legitimate criticism which is aimed in their direction). Then they introduced a money off voucher for merch if you had bought a Friday ticket and then after the event they contacted Friday purchasers with a money off offer for RIAT 2020.

They should adopt the ticketing stance of the 'no frills/ cheapie' airlines. Prices start at 99p for the first few tickets and then based on demand and availability the price ramps up. You want to buy a Friday ticket the minute they go on sale? 99p; you want a Saturday ticket at 6pm the day before the show? £1500. That way people way what they think it is worth. They need to come up with something regards the ticketing/ pricing as it was almost universally condemned this year.

No. Just set a fixed and fair price, first come, first served. If they sell out, tough luck. Thats all I ask!

[speedbird2639]

Laudable idea, however, wasn't it stated by a RIAT person on here that without Friday there would be no RIAT, as they couldn't afford to put on the show otherwise?

I've never bought into this as for years there was only P&V on Friday and show did just fine. Also they are always crowing that they can't reduce the corporate element as it brings in so much cash so why not be honest about it and make Fri a full show day with a full display and maximise the corporate aspect of it on the Friday. DBH sometimes states something as fact forgetting that this 'fact' seems to directly contradict other of their 'facts'.

The attendance is so low on Friday normally that I can't see it would make a massive difference to their balance sheet. They would probably take more money by focusing on making Sunday a sellout and a big step towards that would be booking acts that are able to display on both Sat and Sun rather than Sunday's show being an hour shorter and brim full of filler such as the Blades.

I reluctantly understand (though still don't like) the temptation by DBH to go down the 'more corporate' route but I still don't understand the rush to make RIAT just like every other 'family airshow'. We are always told that actual enthusiasts make up a minority of the paying customers but I'm sure that if DBH focused on making RIAT the best airshow an enthusiast could attend then they wouldn't need to raise funds by having big Ferris wheels and selling trading pitches to double glazing companies. Their attempts to make the show appeal to the Everyman alienates their core customer who is more likely to book FRIAT/ multiple day tickets etc.

To sum up it has all the hallmarks of a marketing team driving the direction of the show and saying "You don't need to know anything about aircraft to market a successful air show". It remains to be seen what effect, if any, the new chap has on the direction of the show. My fear is we are too far down the corporate/ family seaside route for him to be able to make much difference and rather than have a 'show for enthusiasts where the general public are welcome' we will have a 'show for families/ weekend Dads where enthusiasts are grudgingly tolerated' .

It was good while it lasted.

[Wes_Howes]

I've never bought into this as for years there was only P&V on Friday and show did just fine. Also they are always crowing that they can't reduce the corporate element as it brings in so much cash so why not be honest about it and make Fri a full show day with a full display and maximise the corporate aspect of it on the Friday. DBH sometimes states something as fact forgetting that this 'fact' seems to directly contradict other of their 'facts'.

It has been said on here numerous times that rules changed regarding spectators being on site etc. but I've never seen any sort of evidence to support this and no big song and dance or effort to explain was made about the reasons, it just happened.

To sum up it has all the hallmarks of a marketing team driving the direction of the show and saying "You don't need to know anything about aircraft to market a successful air show".

Seemingly proven in the much-maligned marketing releases this year.

[jalfrezi]

To sum up it has all the hallmarks of a marketing team driving the direction of the show and saying "You don't need to know anything about aircraft to market a successful air show". It remains to be seen what effect, if any, the new chap has on the direction of the show. My fear is we are too far down the corporate/ family seaside route for him to be able to make much difference and rather than have a 'show for enthusiasts where the general public are welcome' we will have a 'show for families/ weekend Dads where enthusiasts are grudgingly tolerated' .

Sounds like the 'Farnborough' approach, and we all know how that's turned out.

[Seahornet]

To sum up it has all the hallmarks of a marketing team driving the direction of the show and saying "You don't need to know anything about aircraft to market a successful air show". It remains to be seen what effect, if any, the new chap has on the direction of the show. My fear is we are too far down the corporate/ family seaside route for him to be able to make much difference and rather than have a 'show for enthusiasts where the general public are welcome' we will have a 'show for families/ weekend Dads where enthusiasts are grudgingly tolerated' .

Sounds like the 'Farnborough' approach, and we all know how that's turned out.

The difference though, is that Farnborough was always a corporate show (being run by the SBAC*, what else would it be?), to which the general public was admitted as something of a PR gesture. Farnborough is just going back to its roots - I'm sure we'd all be cock-a-hoop, if RIAT did that!

* Society of British Aircraft Constructors / Society of British Aerospace Companies

[jalfrezi]

Sorry, I should have been clearer in that I was referring to the public airshow at Farnborough, rather than the trade show.

[Brevet Cable]

Don't think it's been mentioned yet, but isn't 2020 the 100th anniversary of the SAAF ?

[Airshowhammer]

Drinking game for RIAT 2020.

Take a shot everytime Ben Dunnell says the word 'potent'.

[jasonT1981]

Hotels booked. Staying in Bristol again. Hotel from Thursday to Monday was £150 every weekend in lead up to RIAT weekend, then when RIAT weekend bookings went on sale you were talking close to £200 per night!! So will only be doing Sat & Sun again in 2020.

[CJS]

Hotels booked. Staying in Bristol again. Hotel from Thursday to Monday was £150 every weekend in lead up to RIAT weekend, then when RIAT weekend bookings went on sale you were talking close to £200 per night!! So will only be doing Sat & Sun again in 2020.

You've obviously got expensive tastes - the IBIS in Bristol is currently available for around £60 per night right across the RIAT weekend - Wednesday - Mon nights (apart from the Sat night which is £120).

[JJC]

Hotels booked. Staying in Bristol again. Hotel from Thursday to Monday was £150 every weekend in lead up to RIAT weekend, then when RIAT weekend bookings went on sale you were talking close to £200 per night!! So will only be doing Sat & Sun again in 2020.

You've obviously got expensive tastes - the IBIS in Bristol is currently available for around £60 per night right across the RIAT weekend - Wednesday - Mon nights (apart from the Sat night which is £120).

I’m staying at the Travelodge near Oxford, 45 mins each way but almost half the price of the equivalent hotel in Burford. Paid around £120 for 2 nights.

[jasonT1981]

Hotels booked. Staying in Bristol again. Hotel from Thursday to Monday was £150 every weekend in lead up to RIAT weekend, then when RIAT weekend bookings went on sale you were talking close to £200 per night!! So will only be doing Sat & Sun again in 2020.

You've obviously got expensive tastes - the IBIS in Bristol is currently available for around £60 per night right across the RIAT weekend - Wednesday - Mon nights (apart from the Sat night which is £120).

Sorry, meant to say the increase to £200 per night was in Swindon, so decided to stay in Bristol again for £50 per night. I shouldn't really post when half asleep

[FlankerPhoto]

https://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/peopl ... operations

Any takers?

[mark_aviation]

https://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/people-at-the-airshow/job-vacancies/head-of-air-operations

Any takers?

That will be Tom (RIATAirOps) stepping down from his position. He’s been a key part in making RIAT so successful over the years and he’s done a fantastic job at it! I hope he is just as successful in whatever endeavour he moves on to.

Now with 2 major personnel changes at the very top, I can see RIAT 2020 and beyond being very different shows than what we have come accustomed to.

[G-CVIX]

https://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/people-at-the-airshow/job-vacancies/head-of-air-operations

Any takers?

That will be Tom (RIATAirOps) stepping down from his position. He’s been a key part in making RIAT so successful over the years and he’s done a fantastic job at it! I hope he is just as successful in whatever endeavour he moves on to.

Now with 2 major personnel changes at the very top, I can see RIAT 2020 and beyond being very different shows that what we have come accustomed to.

I know I'm a pessimist but I find it hard not to feel worried about this development.

[MiG_Eater]

Well the 'enthusiast community' has been asking for change for years... here it comes...

I just hope RIAT can go some way to maintaining the quality it has had over the last few years. As I mentioned in the other thread - things have been so good, and yet so unappreciated, I really think RIAT could well lose its enthusiast focus. For those that say it is long gone, just take a look at the aircraft participation over the last few years.