ACMS, I do not criticise the volunteers or the huge amount of work that goes into staging the event. My advice for people who want entertainment is to go this weekend, but take hats and sunscreen.
What I said was that there was little of value at the show that is going to be of value to a GA pilot. By that I mean things that are going to make you a better pilot and enhance your aviation experience that can not be found outside Avalon without the $65 fee. I put in a total of Seven hours of driving yesterday to see the show and it was a waste of time I could have used elsewhere.
I like to be engaged with what entertains me. I don't need to see the latest military hardware since I played with that stuff as a youngster. Big Iron doesn't interest me much since I worked in the engineering division of an airline as well as an aerospace/defence company. I used to eat my lunch in the cockpit of a B767 (with the admonition not to touch anything!).
SAAA were just setting up, as was RAA. No Bert Flood imports stand, had a look at some homebuilts which were nice. Looked in the Antonov, I am always impressed by its superb Russian engineering. DO I need to listen to fast noisy jets and get more sunburn? Not really, home I went.