I agree there was a major lack of organisation and leadership regarding the parking. I had also pre-booked tickets and had an "A" parking badge, which served no purpose. Arriving to within 3 miles of the airfield by 11:15, to then not get to the display viewing area until 12:45 is not acceptable. The shambles trying to get out was worse and I found the experience offensive! To have that many people & cars, and have absolutely no system to gradually filter traffic out section by section was just the poorest piece of planning I have seen for a long time, not just at airshows. It showed a 'don't care' attitude from the event organisers of the day for the well being of a lot of paying people, including many, very warm, elderly and young people.
After nearly 2 hours of standing around our car, I approached a Police man & woman to indicate that things were ridiculous. They almost shrugged their shoulders and claimed a second gate was not being allowed to be opened by the airport, and that they and the organisers were "trying to convince the airport authorities to open the gate; other than this there was nothing else they could do."
Adding to our frustration, the event staff kept telling us all gates were open but because all of the local roads were blocked and nobody could reach the M25, there was nothing they could do...
Well guess what, we checked the traffic reports both online, on the mobile, and via the radio. No signs of trouble on the trunk roads to the motorway or back towards London, and once we eventually battled our way through the bottle neck(or at least waited our turn!! UNLIKE SOME!) all the roads were fine once clear of 1 mile from the airfield.
Once inside I had a great day, and well done to all those involved in the positive aspects of the day. But really, next time, SORT THE PARKING OUT!
I suspect a lot of B.Hill 1st timers who experienced the parking problems today will not hurry back next year. Sadly.