The losses on Saturday are almost beyond words and my only hope is that some good can emerge, although if it were my family, I would at this time, not understand how.
It is with some irony that the plane which flew after the crash of the DH.110 in 52 was a Hunter. A truly different world.
However maybe the lesson we can take from '52 was at that time the display was entirely about the future. So many displays are now purely retrospective. Yes we all love the sound of a big P&W, a merlin or an avon...but my young son who accompanies me to airshows, loves the F16's, the Typhoons, the Mig-29's, the Reds and the Patrouille de France etc. The A400M display at Fairford was draw dropping.
Can anyone remember Biggin, circa 81/82 when the Luftwaffe Starfighters burst low level from behind the crowd line and scared the crap out of us all....and made us smile to this day?
It was frankly embarrassing to listen to the jingoistic commentary at Fairford this year...all battle of Britain, the few, darkest hour etc...when the Luftwaffe were flying a Tornado along side an RAF and Italian model.
At what point do we learn to respect and honour the past but not dwell on it. In that same commentary, despite a Buchon being airborne, not one word was spoken about the "brave Luftwaffe pilots"...and brave they surely were.
Maybe looking forwards and not backwards might secure a better UK airshow environment for the next 60 years.