I attended on Sunday, and was amazed at the lack of light a/c on the East airfield. Straight in at 07:45, and start-up and taxy with NO delay on leaving.
If this was indicative of the overall attendance, then I cannot believe the numbers as claimed.
The trade displays were very impressive, and I enjoyed catching up with the AN DC3 crew again.
The flying display, overall, I found somewhat disappointing. There was a terrible "sameness" to it, possibly understandable in light of the difficulty in getting "new iron" to attend.
How many times do I have to be told how the F-15 is the saviour of the free world? How many times do I need to learn the climb rate of an F-16, or that the pilot is pulling a 9G turn, and its physiological effects?
For sheer flying ability, and the ultimate "shock-and-awe", then Jurgis Whatsisname was impossible to beat!
His display was all I heard spoken about round me, he was the highlight of the day for me.
I didn't go Friday evening, I've seen one, that was enough.
I didn't stay for the F-111 display, its ability to turn fuel into noise is legendary, and I was expecting a delayed departure from the East airfield, but I gather I didn't miss anything I haven't seen before.
I was disappointed at the lack of British and Russian hardware, the solitary Nimrod quietly sneaking in to park was a telling story, to me. It may well be that they were invited, but declined for whatever reason, but I was looking forward to a re-awakening of memories of the Tornado display of a couple of years ago.
In summary, will I be there in '07? On balance, considering what I saw, I don't think so.
That, in itself, is a revelation to me, I have been an aircraft nut all my life and can't quite accept that I was, unbelievably, quite bored with the display. If the success of the overall event is measured by the Trade days, then I'm sure the claim of success is valid but, if they are claiming the flying display a success then, with one notable exception, I would disagree.
Kind regards,
TheNightOwl.
