Airshow options
So the public still want to see the military hardware their taxes pay for, have a good day out, be inspired to want to join up, etc, but the RAF struggle to find bases to host airshows, hard pressed servicemen to work them, and the whole infrastructure needed to run them.
Surely one of the answers must be to look at the popularity of the shows held at coastal towns such as Scarborough, Cleethorpes and many others. Here the public get to see an airshow but without all the problems of hosting an event like the show at Waddington has become. The towns can have the fun fairs and the whole host of stalls selling stuff, you could even add in the military ground displays to some extent, but this would be achieved without the burden on the individual station resources. Of course the airshow itself is reduced in size and complexity by a number of factors, and would be unlikely to attract the 70,000 plus that flock to Waddo each day, but potentially more of them could actually reach a wider audience.
Main thing missing I can see would be the experience of getting close up to the hardware itself, and for those of you who like me have spent many years working in and around them don’t forget the impact of your first experience of getting up close to real aircraft you have only ever seen flying in the distance. We took a couple of my sons mates with him to Waddo this year and their comments as we arrived and walked through the static on Alpha Dispersal made it all worthwhile.