PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Who actualy wants a Waddington Airshow to return?
Old 15th Sep 2015, 19:54
  #15 (permalink)  
Avtur
 
Join Date: Dec 1998
Location: Canada
Posts: 359
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Having worked the Waddington Air Show every year from 1996 to 2008, I can confirm that it was a complete pain in the a$$ for the station personnel: It was more than a weekend of work (with set-up and break-down) that was executed by a community who were regularly deployed away from home for extended periods. A leave ban was always in place to maximise the pain and inconvenience at a time when people were looking to go on leave.

I completely get the "good" that such shows do in terms of PR and fundraising, but the level of effort required to stage such an event outweighed the benefits (IMHO). The traffic burden on the surrounding area, where the road infrastructure is lacking at the best of times, was also intolerable.

Given the sensitivity of the base, and particularly with the controversy surrounding RPAS, Waddington is probably not the best place to have several hundred thousand people wondering around.

My vote would be to bin it at Waddington and use RIAT to inspire/impress.
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