Viewing Village Grandstand Enquiry

[Harvo266]

Hi all,
As some may have seen, I have been gifted RIAT Grandstand seats for 2018 as we missed out on FRIAT. However, the person who got it for me decided to book bottom row seats, which naturally goes against my idea of the best position.
Does anyone have any experience of spending a day on the bottom row (row a) and if it's still a good photography point?
If anyone has any photos from Row A, please send them my way
Is it worth trying to change and possibly pay £20 for the admin?

Thanks in Advance

Harvo

[Brevet Cable]

You could try E-mailing DBH....it may be that as it's just a seating allocation change as opposed to an actual ticket change they may not impose the admin fee.
Got to be worth a try.

[Go4Long]

a lot of the videos you see posted online are being taken from the ground in front of the FRIAT grandstands, so I've gotta think that row one of an elevated grand stand would be better than that.

Not my photos, but this looks to be ground level to me:


" Bird Of Prey" by simon johnson, on Flickr


" X Marks The Spot " by simon johnson, on Flickr

[Thomas Beting]

Can anyone send some pictures or videos taken from the Viewing Village Grandstand, Thanks in Advance!

[Heater]

Can anyone send some pictures or videos taken from the Viewing Village Grandstand, Thanks in Advance!

View from the top row from Viewing Village Grandstand. A bit far from the rotation point, and about 40 meters further back from the FRIAT enclosure, but still better than ground level.

RIAT GRANDSTAND by Kostas Giarimis, on Flickr

And a couple of pics from the action from the same point.
_DSC7755 by Kostas Giarimis, on Flickr

_DSC7105 by Kostas Giarimis, on Flickr

Hope this helps.

[Thomas Beting]

Can anyone send some pictures or videos taken from the Viewing Village Grandstand, Thanks in Advance!

Hope this helps.

It does, Thank you!
And also, what Lens do you guys recommend for this grandstand?

[disgruntled]

Unless it's changed this year (and I've not noticed it) the Grandstand is first come first served on the day, so there is no allocation. Happy to be corrected

[disgruntled]

Unless it's changed this year (and I've not noticed it) the Grandstand is first come first served on the day, so there is no allocation. Happy to be corrected

[Adie1980]

Unless it's changed this year (and I've not noticed it) the Grandstand is first come first served on the day, so there is no allocation. Happy to be corrected

I have a VV ticket with a grandstand number and a seat number, so it had better not be first come first served

[Heater]

It does, Thank you!
And also, what Lens do you guys recommend for this grandstand?

Anything from 200 mm (for shots right infront of the stand) and above. I have shots of cargo aircraft and large fighters (i.e Su-27) at 200mm from that stand, that almost filled the frame.

[John5199]

I have a VV ticket with a grandstand number and a seat number, so it had better not be first come first served

I bought my tickets last weekend including VV grandstand for all 3 days and chose my seat for all 3 days. The back and front rows are all pretty much filled !

[Brevet Cable]

Unless it's changed this year

It has.

This year when you're booking the VV grandstand tickets, the next step after selecting how many tickets on what day(s) is one to select which seat(s) you want to book.

[Wrexham Mackem]

Just had a look at the booking process for the VV, for no reason other than curiosity, but consider it a heads up to those who may be considering Saturday grandstand seats that there aren't a great number remaining.

Personally, I've used the public grandstand once or twice in the past, but in my opinion it moved too far back, and lost its appeal. The crowd line of the garden section is a cracking view, if you're just at the rope the one day. Recommended.

[sithrity]

Hello everyone, sorry to hijack the thread.
I'm considering taking the family to the viewing village this year, a garden chair not the grandstand. We normally purchase standard entry tickets and camp in the red zone, but think it will be better for our two young Daughters having catering and toilets close by.

Would anyone with experience of the VV and standard entry, say its worth the extra £30 a ticket?
I'm mainly curious about the catering options, number of toilets, crowd line position/ display view, general experience and any other pros and cons people might like to point out.

Many thanks, Simon.

[Wrexham Mackem]

Whether the VV garden is worth £30 to you depends on how much money you consider £30 to be - we're all different - but I consider it good value. Location is central in the show ground. Not bang on datum but not too far off. The lawn itself is quite big but not densely populated. Its the area between public grandstand and crowd line, but wider than the stand. There is plastic garden furniture scattered around, and its first come first served as to where you want to sit. You can get on the rope if that's what you prefer, with much more space around you than in the general admission sections. Toilets are good quality mobile blocks, there is a variety of catering, there is no queueing to speak of, and you will have a comfortable experience and a great view of the display. A bit more room for the kids too, which will make the whole day more relaxing.

In years out-of-FRIAT, I've done many locations up and down the crowd line. And out-of-FRIAT, its the best location I've found.

EDIT: there's a shot higher up this thread that shows a general view of the enclosure from the grandstand.
This shot gives a bit of an impression of crowd density at the front. Taken from the crowd line facing back towards the show ground, with the enclosure boundary fence visible on my left.


Hope that helps!

[sithrity]

Thanks Wrexham Mackem.
Your review may have swayed my decision to go ahead with it. Nice photo! does this enclosure normally offer brilliant sunshine?

[speedbird2639]

Nice photo! does this enclosure normally offer brilliant sunshine?

Don't even joke about it! I'm sure if DBH could ever harness a mechanism whereby you were only guaranteed good weather if you paid the extra to go into a chalet/ garden then I'm sure they would - they hate us 'normals' out on the lawns.

[sithrity]

Nice photo! does this enclosure normally offer brilliant sunshine?

Don't even joke about it! I'm sure if DBH could ever harness a mechanism whereby you were only guaranteed good weather if you paid the extra to go into a chalet/ garden then I'm sure they would - they hate us 'normals' out on the lawns.

[stevebrodie]

Unless it's changed this year

It has.

This year when you're booking the VV grandstand tickets, the next step after selecting how many tickets on what day(s) is one to select which seat(s) you want to book.

Yep email came out around end of October (?) last year stating you could book grandstand seats in advance, which i promptly did (Saturday) and by the time i did on Nov 5th most of the back two rows had gone !. Glad you can book in advance as means an extra hour in the sleeping bag

[Harvo266]

Hi all, just thought I’d let you know the result in the end. The RAFCTE Customer service manager is calling me in the morning to arrange a change for my seats! Very happy it was all able to be sorted without paying a £20 fee as i thought could happen. Successful outcome!

[Thomas Beting]

What zoom/lens do you guys recommend for the viewing village grandstand? How far is it from the actual display .
Thanks
Tom

[Jetnoise]

Tom,
These questions have already been answered in this thread.

Cheers,
Ralph

[spellow3010]

What zoom/lens do you guys recommend for the viewing village grandstand? How far is it from the actual display .
Thanks
Tom

In the past, a 300mm lens has been sufficient in the Viewing Village for most passes, with some cropping of the image after to fill the frame if that's your thing. Some low and fast passes do not need a 300mm lens. Some of the bigger display team formations fill the frame quickly at lower altitudes.

I currently take a Canon 100-400 Mk2 in with me. Happy with last year's results from the Viewing Village. This year, I am Mach 3 for the first time so will be in the FRIAT enclosure. But never had a bad time in the Viewing Village. That said, I've always sat on a plastic garden seat at the front. Not in the grandstand itself.

[harkins]

I currently take a Canon 100-400 Mk2 in with me. Happy with last year's results from the Viewing Village. This year, I am Mach 3 for the first time so will be in the FRIAT enclosure. But never had a bad time in the Viewing Village. That said, I've always sat on a plastic garden seat at the front. Not in the grandstand itself.

Welcome to the land of elbows

[spellow3010]

I currently take a Canon 100-400 Mk2 in with me. Happy with last year's results from the Viewing Village. This year, I am Mach 3 for the first time so will be in the FRIAT enclosure. But never had a bad time in the Viewing Village. That said, I've always sat on a plastic garden seat at the front. Not in the grandstand itself.

Welcome to the land of elbows

LOL - I do P&V East for arrivals so I'm used to elbows...