I was at Kemble as well and I was quite surprised that the great unwashed were allowed so close to all our machines, they were only a few feet away when I was landing (they obviously have a lot of confidence in me
) There were a lot of marshals around earlier on but these seemed to disperse and leave the spectators to their own means.
I have no problem with the way it was organised but I didn't expect my heli to be an exhibit and be touched etc,
I found the pitot tube bent when I pre flighted it and I am sure it was OK when I last looked at it and I am not accusing anybody of anything but some of the general public seemed really surprised how fragile these things are, I know this because I caught one bending in the engine cover panel!
Next time I go to a fly in, I would prefer to be left alone from the public, pilots are fine, they understand that these things are delicate (even plank drivers) but your average ham fisted thug could easily cause a lot of damage or worse!
Rant over
RB