Airshows as entertainment

[G-KEST]

:sad:
On another forum the question has been put on variety at airshows and this is my response.

I could not agree more. Variety is the keyword and there is much of a sameness in the UK display scene at the moment. Airshows are primarily entertainment and they have to entertain as well as enthrall. Spectacular displays by vintage warbirds, jet or piston plus participation by military agencies are all very well but are they really what a family regards as a good day out especially with so many counter attractions to divert them.
Enthusiasts are vital however they number but a small and vociferous minority of those who attend displays.
The bulk are ordinary folk where the husband is a keen aficionado but his wife and kids are not necessarily so. They do need entertaining otherwise perhaps they will not be so willing next time to attend that, or indeed any other, display.
Just as the circus needs spectacle it also needs comedy from the clowns. As a long time airshow "clown" in the form of a convincing crazy flying routine by one of my distant family it seems an awful long time since we saw this in the UK. Compared with the heavy metal it is certainly not expensive in terms of cost effectiveness as a vital piece of the overall entertainment airshow package. It is an item only suitable at some venues - it would be absolutely lost at RIAT for example - but there are many where such an act could be flown to good effect.
Obviously here I must pay tribute to the the Turb team of the Tiger Club and, especially, the "Utterly Butterlies" right back to their inception with Yugo Cars so long ago; both of whom have kept the entertainment, razzmatazz and "WOW" factor in the public eye at airshows
What do you think............???????
Would really appreciate your views.
Cheers,
Trapper 69
www.tempest.ndo.co.uk
:ok:

[treadigraph]

I have to agree.

On the one hand, Flying Legends and Shuttleworth address my personal desire to enjoy historic aeroplanes in their element; Shuttleworth is moving towards a barnstorming goal at some of their displays which addresses my desire to be humourously entertained as well.

Can't be bothered with RIAT any more. Was a guest of a supplier at Farnbrough last week; some of the flying was superb, particularly the F-18, and great to see Patty Wagstaff flying over here (and to see the B-51 sharing the same airfield as its intended audience!!!!). But... er, boring...

Best airshows? Never did a Barnstormers I'm afraid, but I enjoyed several of the Tiger Club's shows at Redhill and, yes you non-believers, Croydon in 1989. Superb. Aerobatics, racing, barnstorming and, Trapper's particular delight, Crazy Flying. Brendan O'Brainstorm variety that was, variously in Stampe or Super Cub. He did some of the commentry as well - Family Show or not, the double entendres, etc, were well received!

By experience I was in on the joke unlike some of the audience - and at Croydon several of the Met's finest. Pure entertainment, particularly B O'B trying to convince a couple of flat foots that it was all part of the act... Also seen someone do half a job at Old Rhinebeck - missed out on Stan Segalla in his Cub, but I'll be back! Enjoyed Trapper and his antics - subject of some correspondance between us - at West Malling a few years ago, and Charlie Culp in a J-3 at Middle Wallop, plus many years ago, at the same White Waltham airshow that saw a BA VC-10 at, er, not much altitude at all, one of the Leisure Sport pilots do a great display - I really thought he was going to hit that hangar! Come on CP, who was it?

I want to be entertained!

I'll be at Shoreham at the end of August, but in the Red Lion pub enjoying af ew pints and the show at a slight distance... I'll go to Biggin, 'cos I'm hoping that there really will be two Connies flying there. And I'll keep going to OW as often as I can 'cos it's great.

Good thread Traps!

PS I read your comments about UK airshows in Pilot a few years ago - Xavier de Lapperant expressed much the same sentiment...

[BEagle]

Personally I prefer the Shuttleworth style displays - except for the aerobatic displays in that flying advertising hoarding..

Crazy flying? No thanks.
Balloon bursting, flying under ribbons, flour bombing? No thanks.

And a sock for Jeremy Spake's mouth might help!

[PPRuNe Pop]

Treadders. You are thinking of Nigel Brendish! I was the other one but my display was tame compared to his. I had an in built self preservation circuit which activated doing stuff like that. ;)

[AirportsEd]

BEagle pretty well sums it up for me - although I don't mind that advertising hoarding thing!

[surely not]

Well I was introduced to aviation by my dad in 1963. It was a Tiger Club display at Fairoaks and included Turbs flying tied together, Turbs and Tiger Moths flour bombing a moving Commer van, Crazy Flying of the 'oh no he's never flown before! Someone Stop that aeroplane!!' variety, and a superb handicapped air race with a rich variety of machines taking part. There might also have been a White Mustang with an American registration, or was that in subsequent years? At the end of the show I had my first flight, in an Auster. Terrific fun!!!

Subsequently I have been to Farnboroughs since 1964, Biggin Hill up until the 80's, Upper Heyford, etc etc up to the RIAT and Farnborough of this year.

The biggest difference is that new aircraft are few and far between, and common re-equipment programmes mean each Air Force is likely to fly the same type and the variety is therefore very limited. The F16 display is still excellent to watch, and the Harrier is as agile as ever .....................but it's very old hat. I've seen a similar display for going on 30 years!!! I got very little thrill in watching straight line fly bys by the B1B and B52. Are they really so lacking in agility that they cannot do more?

Shoreham is my local airfield and I will go along and support the airshow because I think it's important to back the efforts of the management who are doing a good job of growing the airfield. The display last year was pretty much the same as the last few years only minus a lot of the RAF aircraft such as the Nimrod. The highlight for me was the microlight and geese for goodness sake!!! Oh and the glider and Dennis Kenyons display. So I started to watch the crowd. The kids were still excited by the display which has to be a good thing, and the fast jets were appreciated as were the display by Denny Dobson amongst others, but the 'wow' factor was not constant.

At Kemble the best display was the Chinook which was terrific, and the Red Bull Air Race idea was interesting, but the rest was pretty bland.

What is going to make me, a 40 year airshow veteran, gasp? New and different aircraft will always excite, particularly fast jets. The Sukhoi 26 and Yak 52 turning inside out amaze me, as much for the ability of the pilot to stay conscious. I am looking forward to seeing the A380 take to the skies, the Boeing Dreamliner, JSf and a few other designs. The Russian types, the new Indian Indiginous designs. Something other than the 30 year old designs that currently fill the spaces.

Old Warden is tremendous and I try to go there a couple of times a year. You know what you will get at Old Warden and it is a smaller show which can achieve success on far smaller numbers than RIAT or even Kemble.

Not sure how much sense this makes as it is late and I am rambling! I might cringe when I read it tomorrow :D

[G-KEST]

surely not - I flew in that Fairoaks Tiger Club display you mention. Looking up my logbooks brought back pleasant memories. Thanks for the reminder.
Trapper 69
PS - Do keep the responses coming. It does help organisers with their future plans.
PPS - Have flown innumerable shows in "flying billboards" over the last 46 years in the display flying game since 1958; without sponsorship an awful lot of great airshow acts just would not happen.

[hjc]

I've been going to airshows of all sorts for nearly 30 years man and boy and in recent times I've gone both as an enthusiast and as a parent.

Personally, I think there is a lot of variety in UK airshows but from an enthusiast's point of view perhaps certain locations tend to conjure up particular expectations.

Think of RIAT and one tends to think of long queues, lost of fast jets & heavy metal and long lines of static aircraft. Old Warden tends to conjure up thoughts of props, vintage aircraft and aerobatics. With Farnborough it is new designs, generally quite staid displays and perhaps not so much excitement as there used to be about the place. Think 'Duxford' and one tends to think of WW2 vintage machines doing choreographed recreations of various events.

The truth is that most of these locations do offer quite a lot of variety but perhaps two points are worth raising. In the first instance I have to confess that as the years go on my ability to be truly impressed by airshows has slowly diminished. I think this is partly because while, for example, strawberries and cream might appear wonderful on your first experience, its appeal is much less after the umpteenth time and perhaps we enthusiasts in the UK have become a little spoilt? The second reason is because perhaps some events have neither the capability nor the desire to offer total variety and so they have concentrated more on certain aspects; this can make such events much more predictable in terms of what a visitor can expect but I wonder if this gives them so much appeal for the family?

I took my son, his two friends and their father to RIAT this year and it was the father's view which surprised me most. Some said that RIAT 2004 was a little bland but he (who hadn't been to an airshow before) was truly impressed ... I have the bottle of Bells he gave me to prove it! [... and a request to do the same in 2005.] Actually even RIAT has its variety (the 'lazy lunch') but perhaps its sheer size (and cost) is a factor against it.

For me as the enthusiast without doubt it is the unusual or the unexpected that appeals. That means that the Italian G.222 display at RIAT will always make me stop and stare, as would the French guy with the geese or even the South African 747. I also have fond memories of a superb display at Middle Wallop some years ago by a guy with a Piper Cub so I still think that an airshow offering variety appeals.

For my son and his friends fast jets are impressive just as much as an Su-26 display. I suspect that RIAT was actually too much in some respects - perhaps an airshow works best if it is a filling meal, rather than a gorging feast?

... and the conclusion from my ramblings? I think more variety is needed for all concerned. 'Themed' displays are OK but they do tend to get a bit boring for some people and a work colleague (not an enthusiast) said just that about a recent Duxford show. I also think that smaller events probably do work better - fewer queues, lower prices, less crowds ... but then again I shall always enjoy RIAT!