Pretty confident the wind didn’t hit 43 knots as I was there for 3 days. They had to evacuate because the forecast (which was 51 knots at 1,000ft) exceeded the safe limit of the hired tents. The rain and dust caused the cancellation of the Saturday air show, however the weather was perfect for Sunday.
There simply weren’t enough punters coming through the gates. Perhaps Parkes wasn’t the ideal location for a large airshow.