Airshow melancholy.

Discuss all things 'aviation' that do not fit into a more appropriate forum
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craigy
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Joined: Wed 17 Feb 2010, 1:32 pm
Location: Wrexham

Re: Airshow melancholy.

Post by craigy »

First airshow was Waddington 1995 at the age of 11. It was their first show and the year the F-117 attended.

I've attended one most years since then, including many Waddos, East Kirkby, Southport, Rhyl, Welshpool, RIAT and lots I forget, but my last airshow was Southport 2015. Looking at the "aircraft attending" lists since, I quite often think... "well there's nothing standout on there". So i've unfortunately lost interest in attending.

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starbuck
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Joined: Tue 28 Mar 2017, 9:35 pm

Re: Airshow melancholy.

Post by starbuck »

First shows for me were the Great Warbirds at West Malling which I could cycle to. Sometimes we paid to go in, sometimes we perched on a gate at one of the emergency access points at the end of the runway.

Can't remember the year of the first one (86 maybe?) but well remember the Sunderland flying, the multiple Dakota / parachute drops and Gary Numan in his 'Zero'

nighthawk999
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Joined: Fri 08 Apr 2016, 11:15 pm
Location: Leicester

Re: Airshow melancholy.

Post by nighthawk999 »

I haven't been to many airshows over the years,but,did go to the following;

1995 and what turned out to be the very last show at Leicester Airport(Stoughton),then Waddington twice in that decade,we were yards away from the B1-B going vertical on it's departure.

RIAT when it came to Cottesmore for the first time,in the Waitrose enclosure,with no scrum at the front and a secure area to leave camera kit in,guarded by RAF personnel.
Waddington could have learnt a lot from the traffic control system in place at Cottesmore,very organised entry and exit,unlike Waddo where it was a free for all at the end of the show.My job sometimes involved traffic control,therefore I could spot the difference between good and bad systems.

Then a big gap until 2017 due to my work situation;a coach trip to Cosford where it rained heavily most of the day.My last one was Cosford 2019 which was a good day out all round.

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aviodromefriend
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Joined: Sat 26 Jun 2010, 2:22 pm

Re: Airshow melancholy.

Post by aviodromefriend »

First one was Le Bourget '89 (An-225 with Buran, MiG-29), Last one till now was Zeltweg in '19.

In between, airshows took me as far North as Lulea, as far West as Landivisiau and as far South and East as Kish Island.

I´m not going to count how many shows I´ve been to in total, sorry for that.
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parsley
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Location: Just east of a large airport in West London

Re: Airshow melancholy.

Post by parsley »

First one for me was the Hawker Siddeley family day at Dunsfold in 1969...I was 9 years old at the time..An uncle who worked at the Kingston HS factory took myself and my brother down there for a day out.I don't remember a huge amount about it apart from a Harrier GR1 flying but the bug bit seeing that fly.Said uncle also took me round the production line at Kingston on a few occasions.

Another relative hearing about my aviation interest (he himself was a spotter in the 50's/early sixties) would take myself and brother for weekend afternoons at Heathrow from 1970 onwards.After my brother decided his major interest was football,said relative would take me out for runs to airfields in the London area reliving his earlier spotting days !

First major show with him was IAT at Greenham Common in 1974 (and I've been to every IAT/RIAT since) followed by Farnborough a couple of months later.

With my first car in early 1978 operations rapidly expanded !

Shows since those early days have encompassed the UK,North America and Europe.Although I haven't done much overseas travel in the last 7-8 years for various reasons, myself and the memsahib still enjoy shows in this country so this year there has definitely been a gap in our social calendar !