Are all air shows lame now?
Discussion
I'll keep this short.
I went to the Marham Families Day yesterday, mainly to meet up with old mates and to see the Tornados for possibly the last time and of course the F35.
Boring. Too many manoeuvres carried out way beyond the end of the crowd line and very little use of speed. The Typhoon was good, as usual, but I've now promised I won't be going to any air shows unless I'm given a ticket for free.
I understand the safety aspect/Shoreham etc, but it was mind-numbing at points. One of my mates was at Farnborough a few days ago and said that was worse!
So glad I had the living daylights scared out of me in the 60s, 70s and 80s!
I went to the Marham Families Day yesterday, mainly to meet up with old mates and to see the Tornados for possibly the last time and of course the F35.
Boring. Too many manoeuvres carried out way beyond the end of the crowd line and very little use of speed. The Typhoon was good, as usual, but I've now promised I won't be going to any air shows unless I'm given a ticket for free.
I understand the safety aspect/Shoreham etc, but it was mind-numbing at points. One of my mates was at Farnborough a few days ago and said that was worse!
So glad I had the living daylights scared out of me in the 60s, 70s and 80s!
Tony1963 said:
I'll keep this short.
I went to the Marham Families Day yesterday, mainly to meet up with old mates and to see the Tornados for possibly the last time and of course the F35.
Boring. Too many manoeuvres carried out way beyond the end of the crowd line and very little use of speed. The Typhoon was good, as usual, but I've now promised I won't be going to any air shows unless I'm given a ticket for free.
I understand the safety aspect/Shoreham etc, but it was mind-numbing at points. One of my mates was at Farnborough a few days ago and said that was worse!
So glad I had the living daylights scared out of me in the 60s, 70s and 80s!
Can only agree with your last sentence. I'm glad to have seen the good years.I went to the Marham Families Day yesterday, mainly to meet up with old mates and to see the Tornados for possibly the last time and of course the F35.
Boring. Too many manoeuvres carried out way beyond the end of the crowd line and very little use of speed. The Typhoon was good, as usual, but I've now promised I won't be going to any air shows unless I'm given a ticket for free.
I understand the safety aspect/Shoreham etc, but it was mind-numbing at points. One of my mates was at Farnborough a few days ago and said that was worse!
So glad I had the living daylights scared out of me in the 60s, 70s and 80s!
And sadly, yes, welcome to the post-Shoreham world of airshows.
As mentioned above, the likes of Old Warden is still atmospheric enough even in the new rules to be worth a visit, especially the evening summer display if the weather is good.
Went to Flying Legends at Duxford a couple of weeks ago and thought the display was as good as previous (pre-Shoreham) years. Got some of the best ‘flying’ pictures I’ve taken at an air show, despite being a couple of rows back from the crowd line and having a slightly shorter lens this time. Even got to see an F-35 in action. Looking forward to the next one in September.
I was at RIAT for the weekend 2 weeks ago, I thought it was great. It was worth 2 very early starts. Plenty to do if one got itchy feet, The majority of the displays were good(the Spanish one dragged on a bit but the commentator made up for it!
) As soon as next years tickets are on sale, I’ll be buying them again.
) As soon as next years tickets are on sale, I’ll be buying them again.AdamIndy said:
I was at RIAT for the weekend 2 weeks ago, I thought it was great. It was worth 2 very early starts. Plenty to do if one got itchy feet, The majority of the displays were good(the Spanish one dragged on a bit but the commentator made up for it! ) As soon as next years tickets are on sale, I’ll be buying them again.
I went Friday, I was disappointed. Appetite for afterburners satiated, but ultimately disappointed. ) As soon as next years tickets are on sale, I’ll be buying them again.All because of a very brief period of poor weather we didn't get the RAF100 flypass, so no WW1 aircraft or mass Typhoon formation, and no F35B.
The B2 flyover on the Saturday and the Spanish Harrier only at Farnborough were probably enough to stop me going again next year (though certainly not saying never again).
Evanivitch said:
I went Friday, I was disappointed. Appetite for afterburners satiated, but ultimately disappointed.
All because of a very brief period of poor weather we didn't get the RAF100 flypass, so no WW1 aircraft or mass Typhoon formation, and no F35B.
The B2 flyover on the Saturday and the Spanish Harrier only at Farnborough were probably enough to stop me going again next year (though certainly not saying never again).
That’s a shame, I’ve heard a few people say Friday was a disappointment due to the weather. We were lucky enough that the 9 typhoons were being held over my work place(Leominster) waiting for the weather to lift which unfortunately, it didn’t. All because of a very brief period of poor weather we didn't get the RAF100 flypass, so no WW1 aircraft or mass Typhoon formation, and no F35B.
The B2 flyover on the Saturday and the Spanish Harrier only at Farnborough were probably enough to stop me going again next year (though certainly not saying never again).
My girlfriend and I were there on Saturday and Sunday so luckily, we had the full house.
The only disappointment for me was the lack of F22’s. They were there last year but didn’t fly on the Saturday due to the weather. I’m sure I read they were going to be there this year but they weren’t. I’ve never been fortune enough to see them fly.
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
What were airshows like in their heyday?
The best I have ever witnessed wasn't actually an air show, it was Fleet Week in San Francisco in about 1990 when 'The Navy' pitches up in town and the Blue Angels were doing aerobatics and seemingly rooftop level fly by's over the city at mach 1 (slight exaggeration).It was amazing to see. They could take more risks because SF is surrounded by water on three sides so if anything goes wrong they should be able to point the plane out to sea and bail out.
Check this out, specifically at about the 11 second mark..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQMD2r523IU
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Friday 27th July 22:48
skinnyman said:
I remember going to Culdrose airshow way back when, I vividly remember the harrier doing its vertical take off and landing very close to the crowd line, and planes visibly breaking the sound barrier at low high, no such thing these days.
No such thing those days either. An aircraft going supersonic at an Airshow would cause huge damage, as it did at Farnborough.AdamIndy said:
The only disappointment for me was the lack of F22’s. They were there last year but didn’t fly on the Saturday due to the weather. I’m sure I read they were going to be there this year but they weren’t. I’ve never been fortune enough to see them fly.
Awesome aircraft and very good display. Take off was exceptional.MikeStroud said:
Well there were Vulcan bombers for a start.... nuff said.
Travelled to Cambridge several years ago to pick up a car, Mrs F came with me and we stayed the night. The hotel backed into a green that was semi closed for a company family day that included a couple of fly pasts by a Vulcan. Just got lucky with that one. 2nd only to the time when my dad took me as an 8 year old to the access road at Liverpool airport. For anyone not local to the airport it’s stupidly close to the runway with no restrictions for parking back then and I stood on the roof of his car while the concord flew over to land. Loudest thing I’ve been close to and was only a few feet above me when it went over. Happened every grand national day.
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