Hmmmm ......
Never been to the RIAT @ Fairford, but went to Cottesmore.
As much as I like The Flying Leg Ends show .....
I just kind of get the feeling that the organisers have realised that there is a finite number of enthusiasts who will attend these airshows & are now working to maximise their incomes whilst minimising their outgoings - nothing wrong with that, but it just leaves me feeling like a spectator & doesn't give me any sense of involvement, if you know what I mean?
So, this year I've decided to concentrate my efforts. As an SVAS Photo section member I have volunteered & now help out at Old Warden with conducting their flightline tours. I’m finding this far more rewarding than paying £30 "ish" to stand behind a wall of corporate enclosures, windbreaks, deckchairs & stepladders at Duxford. Don't get me wrong Duxford is a worthwhile resource that needs support, it has to make its money, and I just feel it's currently not for me. (never say never!) I feel that it’s just become too flash, smooth, corporate, call it what you will; however for me it just seems to have lost its soul.
Sorry, but I shall be attending neither this year.