Organisation
I spent several years on the organising committee of the Finningley Show and the 3 biggest problems, which arose year on year, were access / egress, toilet facilities and the display programme.
The display co-ord had to work on the basis of "promises" or " we'll have a look at that" and very few, particularly the new overseas visitors, would commit until the last minute. The returners would often be the first to put their names down as they had enjoyed it so much in the past.
The access, and egress problems were compounded by the weather: regardless of whether it rained and the airfield became a bog leaving vehicles and people stranded, or the sun blazed down and huge numbers turned up at the last minute blocking roads for miles around, the traffic people really struggled.
The toilet facilities are incredibly expensive to hire and install: at FY around 20% of the entire budget went on the toilet facilities. The balance between spending not enough and having inadequate numbers and spending too much and having an over abundance is tricky, as there is no real way to forecast the attendance other than working on the previous year figures.
Bearing in mind that the main attraction, 558, only got clearance the day before, the visitor numbers probably rocketed in the 12hours before the start and changes at that point are impossible.
£16 for 3 hotdogs? Even more expensive than Ryanair!
Excellent to see 558 back in the display. Last flew that airframe on 16 March 1982!