RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Forum for information about the annual show at RAF Cosford
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mindy_monster
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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by mindy_monster »

Excellent day at Cosford.

We traveled in from Telford on the train, which was faultless in the morning (we were on the first train in at 8.30). We set off back to the train station after the Chinook display, and watched the others en-route and from the train queue- to be honest I think the Typhoon display looked better from there than crowd centre!

Cosford Club made for a nice atmosphere, as usual, however I felt they'd got the catering wrong in the Club. Possibly due to the higher numbers, it just didn't seem to cope with the demand at all. We ended up going out on to the main showground a few times, and found the queues there much shorter.

Flying display was brilliant, the best in a long time. Loved the Mig, although, yes he did seem to get a bit lost for a while. So pleased the RAFAT and Typhoon were back on the main display axis this year. I enjoyed the chronological approach of the displays, however, my friend commented that it seemed to lead to the crowd getting a bit bored at times.

Would still love for it to be a 2 day event- struggled to get much of a chance to look at the statics. So maybe they could do a flying and a non-flying day in future?

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by Ian G »

You really could sense the excitement and anticipation on the press day and I'm so glad that this year's show seemed to be a resounding success.

:up:
- Seeing all that static! You will not see anything like this anywhere this year or any time soon, so well done. People really enthusiastic about talking to visitors although there didn't seem to be that many people around after the show had finished compared to the morning.
- The flying display - difficult to compare to other Cosford shows as there's always something unique in every year and this was again a different year to celebrate RAF100. However, a real delight to see excellent participation across the board, despite fewer traditional civilian acts this year. Great to see the Kiwi 757 thrown about (#shockfog) and dynamic fast jet displays. On a side note, I didn't take that many photos as it was just too bright but it was great to take in and watch the displays
- Huge crowds around Stem Hangar/RAF rectruitment - I've spoken to a few people at work today who were present on stands yesterday and they said they were inundated
- The only negatives seemed to be the traffic, everyone else seemed satisfied!

:down:
- Getting in and out for me was a nightmare. I arrived down Long Lane intending to park on base however people had been turned around thus we had a queue of cars, vans and coaches down a single track lane while trying to pass cars coming the other way. I was stuck there for about 40 minutes. I wasn't able to park on base and ended up on the off-base field car park - I also encountered a very rude and unprofessional traffic marshaller - they really shouldn't swear at people!!! The police had marshalled people at random arriving on the M54 to turn right prior to the traffic lights who ended up on this car park. I witnessed quite a few arguments and confrontations with staff walking through as people weren't expecting to park there and there were disabled people having to struggle over grass and rough ground.
- Getting off was a scrum with about 15 lanes of cars filtering to one and nobody really had a clue what they were doing. Luckily I know the back lanes so avoided most of the traffic on the main roads once I was out, but there were very angry people in the field!
- The crowd line was very crowded and I have been made aware there were fisticuffs to the west near the Spitfire and Hurricane! Seemed to be exacerbated 10-fold this year but there was plenty of space to the east of the display line
- The BBMF commentary - once it returned - was dull as dishwater and it sounded like they'd pulled a local lad in at the last minute to read a script. There were also a few mistakes in his spiel too. Talking about something like the BBMF requires a degree of decorum and articulation in its delivery
All in all, a really great day and I have a nice tan. Great to meet up with lots of people this weekend, both in the show and on the platform on Saturday. It should have been a two day show this year, a real golden opportunity missed.
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106500
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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by 106500 »

Great show - the no 1 highlight? For me the MIG 29 slow low level missed approach with landing lights then burners on and full power out - unbelievable! :clap:

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st24
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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by st24 »

Cosford for me has always been a local show, 40 minutes or so from home where I can take the family in varying elements to earn brownie points and usually have a fun day out without treating it as "major" show. However thanks to Mr Reoch and co, the show has gone from strength to strength, resulting in yesterdays top drawer offering. The major league international participation, impressive and so well presented ground shows, the support from the museum and other agencies in getting so many machines to look at, the general "feel" of the event all culminated in a show finally worthy of it's status - even the weather played ball. As others have mentioned and I have banged on about - this needed to be a 2 dayer, there was no way of seeing all the displays and exhibitions and it all seemed a little too much - if you wanted to see the whole flying then you had to sacrifice a lot of the ground exhibition which was such a shame as so much effort had gone into them, especially the themed stuff.

I always love Cosford as no other place rekindles memories of RAF at home and open days of yore - more Jags that you can shake a stick at, proper RAF hangars with proper military crews with bits and pieces of their trade and the sight of an F3, Phantom and Lightning sat on a pan in front of said hangars; I could have been at Coningsby, Leuchars Brize or Abingdon etc in 1986 again! Priceless. The museum stuff was fabulous to see but disappointed that they were back under cover when the evening light was so special, talking to the museum staff it was apparently "in case of rain" utter nonsense and banged of the museum close down at 7 pm or so again. Not on.

We went down the far left hand end as usual, largely away from the great unwashed - it also gets the best of the light as the sun finally moves over your right shoulder. All well until some chancer and his brother rocked up muttering about wanting to see a vintage chopper to which I took umbrage; I'm not that old - I gave him an ice lolly and he seemed content so didn't bother us much after that.

Flying was great in general and well thought out but the pre-Anson delay was very apparent especially as the PA system gave up. A very noticeable hiatus in an otherwise very well run display. Likewise and as others have said, the RAF finale really did peter out and left the last hour feeling very flat and laboured. Even the #bringthenoise nonsense to close the show (non RAF 100 jet ?!?!) did very little to rescue it I'm afraid - even my daughters (bless; they buy into the hyperbole - must be their age) were struggling by then.

Highlights for me matched what others have said really but to see the Fury away from home was wonderful, the Kiwi 757 a welcome returnee, the GR4s last Cosford hurrah (needed a 4 ship and/or a wall of fire fast pass - the old girl has been a service war horse bar none) and that Sycamore, boy that Sycamore all gave me special feelings.

Minor mumblings-

Commentary- just did not feel tight given the billing, plus the RAF commentators were just so dull - apart bizarrely from the Tutor who over egged the dynamism of his colleague's steed.

Being told to leave by RAFP when absolutely nothing was moving!

RAF guys on "security" duty just sitting under/in front of aeroplanes..

With so many bases open it does make me think the RAF could have given just a little bit more given the QBF the day before. Also why oh why didn't the Tiger Puma turn up after aforementioned flypast and stay for static....?!?

Overall though a cracking day out and full marks to everyone involved; stops well and truly pulled out. :up:
You caaan't trust the system... Maaan!

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by Mantog »

It was a good do and I'm glad I went but on the way in we encountered the worst traffic I've ever seen at an airshow, that did knock the edge off it. We came off the A5 and onto the A41 about 08:50 having driven down from Leeds and it then took about 3 and a half hours to get into the car park. Lots of people abandoning cars on the grass verge or turning around and going home. The stock answer from those who just sailed in without even the slightest delay is that people should turn up early but if everyone did that then the nightmare traffic situation would surely have started earlier! Also, my understanding was that turning up before the gates opened was to be discouraged (indeed RAF Cosford did tweet something about unprecedented numbers of early arrivals).

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by paulb1973 »

Was there a power/transmitter failure (or whatever) during the RNZAF 757 display? - the commentary disappeared and didn't come back on until half-way through the BBMF display a little bit later. Speaking of that, I think the commentary was much improved this year - although I suspect Ben Dunnell (very much the man for the job at many airshows these days) could have managed on his own. It shows how important air show commentary can be, with a few people looking around wondering what was going on. At last we had a full [height] Red Arrows display - not something we normally get at Cosford!

eddywinch82
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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by eddywinch82 »

Yes that silence from the commentary team , was unusual, I wondered what was going on myself. Even when the Avro Anson arrived to display, the silence remained.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by capercaillie »

st24 wrote:I gave him an ice lolly and he seemed content so didn't bother us much after that.


:grin: A balloon on a stick also does the trick. :up:
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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by paulb1973 »

eddywinch82 wrote:Yes that silence from the commentary team , was unusual, I wondered what was going on myself. Even when the Avro Anson arrived to display, the silence remained.


Think there has been mention of the Planes TV livefeed going down around lunchtime - I wonder if there is a connection.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by st24 »

capercaillie wrote:
st24 wrote:I gave him an ice lolly and he seemed content so didn't bother us much after that.


:grin: A balloon on a stick also does the trick. :up:

:grin: True, simple things...!
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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by st24 »

paulb1973 wrote:- I wonder if there is a connection.

Or rather not!! :music:
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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by Jakub.Zurek »

Was the Dutch KDC-10 flypast cancelled in advance and did I miss the announcement or was it just a no-show on the day?

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by davidjones533 »

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Last edited by davidjones533 on Thu 13 Sep 2018, 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by Luke28 »

It was announced over the tannoy as the commentators ran through the flying display with any tweeks that didn't appear in the Programme, shortly before the flying display started.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by Xray833 »

paulb1973 wrote:
eddywinch82 wrote:Yes that silence from the commentary team , was unusual, I wondered what was going on myself. Even when the Avro Anson arrived to display, the silence remained.


Think there has been mention of the Planes TV livefeed going down around lunchtime - I wonder if there is a connection.



I was told by one of the RAF personnel that the main generator ran out of fuel. I don`t think he was joking.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by TornadoAlex »

Set off at 8.30 arrived on site at 1.15 ! so took me 5 hours 15 minutes to do a journey that on previous years has taken 1 and a half hours. So missed out on Mig 29 and F16 display totally gutting.

No one to blame but myself though I should have set off around 7.00am so major clown act on my own behalf :clown: next year I will not make same mistake. Was the serious accident in the morning or when the show ended late afternoon?

Cant blame myself for the carnage leaving the site though set off at 5.30 finally got home at 10.15 so again 5 hours 15 minutes to do journey that should take an hour and a half. In total that is 10 and a half hours driving to do 3 hour round trip EPIC :cool:

I am now going to watch Mig 29 and F16 display on youtube if the Mig did a cobra I will cry absolutely gutted to miss Mig and F16 :wall:

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by jasonT1981 »

Not long home, an absolute fantastic show, a personal highlight for me was getting to hold the RAF Baton and be photographed by the RAF Photographer after the Falcons completed their display and line up/hand over ceremony :D

I did feel it dragged towards the end, I put this down to the heat though. I enjoyed every display. Tucano was a real highlight for me, they were built not far from me and I have a family connection to them. I saw many of them roll out of Shorts for their first flight.

Mig and F16 were brilliant, as was the 757. BBMF was amazing to see with all 4 types of aircraft together.

I really enjoyed the very early displays pre-WWII, a lot more than I thought. Chipmunk was a little high though but still a nice display.

Cosford club was fantastic to be in. I loved that the commentary went out during the 757 so I could hear it properly on that pull up and also during the BBM just hearing the engines.

Only complaints is the trains as already said. Very unorganised and unprepared. Didn't get to see much of the static, just the cold war aircraft at the end of the show. Maybe something this size should have been done over 2 days as it was impossible to do static and watch the flying fully.

Well done to the Cosford team, you put on a show I will remember for a long time.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by G-CVIX »

TornadoAlex wrote:Set off at 8.30 arrived on site at 1.15 ! so took me 5 hours 15 minutes to do a journey that on previous years has taken 1 and a half hours. So missed out on Mig 29 and F16 display totally gutting.

No one to blame but myself though I should have set off around 7.00am so major clown act on my own behalf :clown: next year I will not make same mistake. Was the serious accident in the morning or when the show ended late afternoon?

Cant blame myself for the carnage leaving the site though set off at 5.30 finally got home at 10.15 so again 5 hours 15 minutes to do journey that should take an hour and a half. In total that is 10 and a half hours driving to do 3 hour round trip EPIC :cool:

I am now going to watch Mig 29 and F16 display on youtube if the Mig did a cobra I will cry absolutely gutted to miss Mig and F16 :wall:


It did a tailslide right in front of the sun so I don't think anyone saw it!

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by bristolian1 »

For the first time in many years I went without a camera. Instead, I spent time properly exploring the site, all the static and displays, inside the hangars. Watched the flying from wherever I happened to be, and walked to the front if I wanted to be close for a favourite display. I must admit I enjoyed the day much more than usual - not jostling for a front line position, seeing the aircraft properly and not through a lens, being able to move around rather than feeling like I shouldn't move in case I missed yet another similar photo. The whole site was brilliant, themed static, costumes, vintage village, cold war line up, jags everywhere, less fairground and more aviation than normal. Plenty to keep adults and kids occupied all day. By far the best Cosford and probably best UK airshow event I have attended in 30 years. Well done to all the organisers.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by vulcan558 »

Ian G wrote:You really could sense the excitement and anticipation on the press day and I'm so glad that this year's show seemed to be a resounding success.

:up:
- Seeing all that static! You will not see anything like this anywhere this year or any time soon, so well done. People really enthusiastic about talking to visitors although there didn't seem to be that many people around after the show had finished compared to the morning.
- The flying display - difficult to compare to other Cosford shows as there's always something unique in every year and this was again a different year to celebrate RAF100. However, a real delight to see excellent participation across the board, despite fewer traditional civilian acts this year. Great to see the Kiwi 757 thrown about (#shockfog) and dynamic fast jet displays. On a side note, I didn't take that many photos as it was just too bright but it was great to take in and watch the displays
- Huge crowds around Stem Hangar/RAF rectruitment - I've spoken to a few people at work today who were present on stands yesterday and they said they were inundated
- The only negatives seemed to be the traffic, everyone else seemed satisfied!

:down:
- Getting in and out for me was a nightmare. I arrived down Long Lane intending to park on base however people had been turned around thus we had a queue of cars, vans and coaches down a single track lane while trying to pass cars coming the other way. I was stuck there for about 40 minutes. I wasn't able to park on base and ended up on the off-base field car park - I also encountered a very rude and unprofessional traffic marshaller - they really shouldn't swear at people!!! The police had marshalled people at random arriving on the M54 to turn right prior to the traffic lights who ended up on this car park. I witnessed quite a few arguments and confrontations with staff walking through as people weren't expecting to park there and there were disabled people having to struggle over grass and rough ground.
- Getting off was a scrum with about 15 lanes of cars filtering to one and nobody really had a clue what they were doing. Luckily I know the back lanes so avoided most of the traffic on the main roads once I was out, but there were very angry people in the field!
- The crowd line was very crowded and I have been made aware there were fisticuffs to the west near the Spitfire and Hurricane! Seemed to be exacerbated 10-fold this year but there was plenty of space to the east of the display line
- The BBMF commentary - once it returned - was dull as dishwater and it sounded like they'd pulled a local lad in at the last minute to read a script. There were also a few mistakes in his spiel too. Talking about something like the BBMF requires a degree of decorum and articulation in its delivery
All in all, a really great day and I have a nice tan. Great to meet up with lots of people this weekend, both in the show and on the platform on Saturday. It should have been a two day show this year, a real golden opportunity missed.

The problem is people expect to be on base parking from m54, so guess that they have turned around and tried to go back to on base parking, why I will never visit this airshow again, I have always come in from the A5 end, but the last2 years we end up off base with a long walk, so i binned the show this year and will never visit again, thats after going to the show for a few decades.
We used to take our kids with picnic etc in the car and set up by the car and watch the show, cannot do this now with our now 2 young grandsons, end up in a field way away from the display, cannot lug cool boxs chairs table etc and hold 2 young boys hands over that distance. Think a lot of people do not like it and are by the sounds of things turning around.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by FullCarrot »

So this was my first cosford and overall I had an enjoyable day and would agree with people who say it should’ve been a two day event.
In the morning I got caught up in some of the traffic as everyone else but it didn’t take me too long to get into the car park off base, getting into the show ground was alarmingly easy and I say that because I was expecting bag searches and I didn’t see any of that going on. From a security point of view that’s absolutely abysmal in the current climate.

The static was some of the best I’ve seen yet at an airshow, such variety and plenty of Jags! I had a real geek out moment with the Jag on jacks cycling it’s undercarriage! Enjoyed the people they had in to pose with the aircraft and create more interesting photo opportunities, the only thing I didn’t get to see was the TSR2 in the museum but it just gives me another excuse to go back.

One thing I had a real issue with is the car park on base directly behind the crowdline, I really feel that shouldn’t be there at all, throughout the day I was watching cars driving in and around crowds of spectators and this led to a lot of heated discussion between security staff/military personnel and the public when asked to move, I really feel a clear pathway should be marked out and kept clear like the emergency routes for cars to come and go with ease and to also allow spectators to enjoy the show safely. The crowd line should be made deeper and completely removed from the dangers of cars moving in and out of the parking area, I even witnessed one guy driving out after someone had smashed their back window in, there were some extremely vile people around which was a shame.

I’m not sure if I will return given the appalling light conditions (I was sat behind the Cosford enclosure) - I’ve never binned so many photos from a show before, or maybe being down the right hand side would have helped things?
I’d go back in a heartbeat if there was a campsite either on or next to Cosford, the closest I could find was Hunger Hill Farm 8 miles away.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by speedbird2639 »

I was expecting bag searches and I didn’t see any of that going on. From a security point of view that’s absolutely abysmal in the current climate.


They weren't doing bag searches but they were doing car searches - I know because I got 'collared'. All they did was walk round the car with a mirror on a selfie-stick to look underneath and then asked me to open the bonnet and boot while they had a look. They didn't ask to look in the glove locker or under the rear seat squab (both obvious places if you were trying to bring in some sort of weapon/ device) and they didn't ask me to open my cool bag or camera bag or check that my folding chair bag actually only contained a folding chair.

The overall feeling I got from the people doing it was they were going through the motions and to them it was just a tedious box ticking exercise to say they had checked a random sample of 'x' cars. They certainly seemed more concerned about getting my signature on their form than doing any form of meaningful checks.

So, much like RIAT, a security check which was nothing more than a waste of time and an inconvenience for all concerned.

It would be interesting to see the response to a Freedom of Information request for a list of articles confiscated as a result of searches at airshows. I bet its nothing more than nail scissors and those pen knives you can get that are also a keyring. Oh and of course the bloke who had his bottles of wine confiscated at RIAT one year because the over zealous security said "a glass bottle could be used as a weapon" - I bet they enjoyed drinking those later when they got off duty!

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by Wrexham Mackem »

vulcan558 wrote:The problem is people expect to be on base parking from m54, so guess that they have turned around and tried to go back to on base parking


Far more likely to be ticketless folks being turned away, don't you think?

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by GT6BOY »

1st Cosford for me- last at the museum in 1983!
Well done RAF.
Given the dramatically reduced current RAF, it was a good show; more aligned at giving the public an in-sight into what the RAF does(via the static and hanger displays), as compared perhaps to RIAT which is an airshow. I was surprised at the lack of Hercules/Atlas/Globemaster presence on the static. Perhaps space and operational commitment precluded that?
The flying display was light on current RAF types- but so is the service.
I was parked in the Neachley Lane field immediately abutting the railway. 07:45 queue for 300m on M54 then very quickly around and directed down Long Lane and into the parking. On site 08:00.
Given the last hour of the display held little interest, I abandoned ship after the Chinook. I thought the Chinook display was less spirited than in previous years- perhaps they have fatigue restrictions for the airframes these days?
The car park was being patrolled by young RAF /cadet types who were without exception polite and helpful. Their handing out of bottled water was much appreciated.
Highlights from flying display were the Sycamore and the Rafale. The Trenchard formation and coming in over the flightline from the museum was fabulous.
I was surprised the BoBMF was as tight as it was. Loved it but, was I the only person there who thought it left little margin for error...

Reading the posts above, I suspect I may have had a fortunate day without witnessing the excesses of human frailties.
I went to Shuttleworth Navy Day last year and I have to say, given that was my 1st airshow in a great many years, I'm minded to think I may keep to smaller events such as that in future.

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Re: RAF Cosford Air Show 2018 - [Main Topic]

Post by MikeCooper1990 »

Does anyone know the identity of the Harvard fuselage that was parked between the Defiant and the Gladiator?
2023: Shuttleworth, Abingdon, RIAT, Duxford

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