New Zealand International Airshow - crowd numbers

[dudduddud]

Anyone head along for this? Any guesses as to how many people passed through the gates on Saturday, Sunday and Monday?

[slackie]

Not enough!! shame, 'cos they missed a great show with a high quality (if a little light on quantity) lineup that I believe will be the new benchmark for future airshows... use of technology was fantastic... Jetman was unbelievable... Squirrels were cool... Pembertons were awesome... aero racing was more spectacular than I expected with the Robins... trouble was the Aussies took home the trophy (well done Paul B!!).:ok:

[VH-UFO]

An airshow............in Nu Zeelan?
That would be the Cuzzy grttin ejected from the pub through a plate glass wundow.

[lilflyboy262...2]

I went on Saturday and was disappointed.
There were quite a few people there.

There was no real static display other than the NH90 and a few WW1 planes.
While the parachute guys and the Jet man was awesome and new, they are so high up that you can't really see them. Thankfully they had the big screens there with the camera crew doing an amazing job keeping them in view.

The strikemaster was ok. The highlight of the day was the RNZAF 757 doing a few passes.

The main event of saturday was just the air races. After watching the same guys duke it out all day, that too got a little tiresome.

Warbirds over Wairarapa was much much better.

[flyinkiwi]

Could someone who went comment on the access to the airfield? I chose not to attend because I didn't want to endure a repeat of what happened at Ohakea last year.

[NZFlyingKiwi]

I didn't attend but I believe the parking was away from the airfield with shuttles back and forth from the field. I heard from a couple of friends who did go that the transport ran pretty smoothly but the low crowd numbers would have helped with that.

[slackie]

And there in lies many of the problems... airshow organisers (or non-organisers like Hamilton!) have a responsibility to their customers to provide appropriate infrastructure. Ohakea didn't, Mossie Inaugural show didn't... punters then become reluctant to return or try a new show.... here's a wee rant of mine from another forum

I've remained pretty quite on this particular subject so far waiting to see what others thought, but now I feel compelled to have my 10c worth....

I must admit to being one of the sceptics early in the piece, and when asked to help as Assistant Director and Race Director for the air racing, I thought long and hard before agreeing. Having been associated with Warbirds Over Wanaka for over 10 years and considering myself a bit of an airshow junkie, I had seen the relatively recent failure of the Hamilton Airshow from the inside (as Senior ATCO at HN Twr) and wasn't confident that the airshow public of NZ were ready for another newcomer to the established kiwi airshow circuit.

However, the difference between the Hamilton non-show organiser and Mr Newport is that he brought an experienced team together and is passionate about what he does. As one of my colleagues kept saying, Peter Newport is a "glass half full" type guy. Many obstacles and barriers were raised (not the least of which was the late withdrawal of support from Ardmore Aiport Limited and Warbirds Association), but instead of admitting defeat he and show director Bob Henderson battled on, found an new location, and for my money put on an exceptional show.

Yes, it was light on performers - more dropped off the list late notice (including the SeaSprite only 2 days before the show), but you cannot fault those that were present. Jetman was astounding, the Squirrels were dynamic, Chuck Berry is just plain crazy, the Aussie race pilots were competitive (and took out the silverware), and the Pembertons (apart from being a genuinely nice couple) put on an amazing show. All the guest performers were positive, enthusiastic, and to be fair were all at the top of their international disciplines. A true international airshow.

Yes, there were lessons that need to be learned. The Aussie pilots should have also been given the opportunity to display, but this is difficult if no-one was willing to loan them an aircraft (as we did for Melissa). The cost of shipping their aircraft to NZ was prohibitive at short notice.

Yes, I believe the ticket pricing was too expensive. But I also believe that Aucklanders were also too apathetic to get out there and support the event... more inclined to spend the same if not more in an evening at a restaurant or nightclub!!

Support....now that's an interesting topic. There seems to be many people moaning that there weren't any warbirds there... they were invited, they were involved (at least until they withdrew), and the only one that turned up in a private capacity was the Blunty (nice display Andrew, particularly with the "distractions"!!). Had there been a full program of warbirds would the show have been a "success"?!?! I really hope they look at the footage of the 5 Robins with Jetman formating on them and think "Damn! That could have been me!"

The air racing (my baby!) was initially intended to be with high performance aerobatic aircraft... that became 3 Furios... then the Robins. I really had reservations that Robins would work and feared they would look pretty lame, but water down the aerobatics and add smoke plus 6 very skilled pilots (7 counting Giovanni!) and the racing was close and exciting. We couldn't have scripted the finish better - except perhaps if the Kiwi (Grant Benns) had retained the silver!

I believe the technology (that was only trialed for the first time on the Saturday) has set the benchmark for future airshows. I won't be satisfied at any future airshow unless it is present.... oh, and it wasn't just a few GoPro cameras scattered around a couple of aircraft, it was full on LIVE in cockpit, on wing, on skydiver helmet live links back to a full OB (outside broadcast) unit such as you see at a V8 Supercars event, and by Monday we had it all working pretty well.

Was the show a success? Was it worth going to? Would I do it again?

HELL YES!!

[Oakape]

I don't know if it wasn't well advertised or I am just blind & deaf, because I live in Auckland & didn't even know it was on!

[scroogee]

Don't you watch TV3 or listen to MoreFM Oakape? The show had some pretty serious sponsorship from Mediaworks who own those stations (actually like most of us you probably skip the ads by watching on MySky or just leaving the room).

For an earlier poster- no WWI aircraft- 2 Tigermoths and a Foxmoth on Saturday.

[27/09]

I don't listen to/watch those stations and there was nothing on any of the stations I listen too nor anything in the papers that I get to see, though I'm not in Auckland but not that far away.

It was a surprise to me when I heard about it a couple of weeks before it happened and even then I thought it was a small club type event as I was told about an airshow at North Shore (no mention of it being an international show) and couldn't imagine anything big being held there. I never really gave it too much more thought.

When I heard what the ticket prices were I was a bit shocked to be honest, especially as at that point I still didn't know of the International billing.

No disrespect to North Shore airfield but it's not exactly a place that can cater for any numbers of fly in patrons, has limited car parking options, nor a place for plenty of static displays or cater for high performance aircraft etc that might be expected to be at an International Airshow.

It's a pity that the organisers didn't manage to run it at Ardmore, though given the recent Mosquito event the locals around there probably wouldn't have been so keen to go to another airshow there in such quick succession. Hamilton might have been a good choice (ATC permitting) and the last fiasco is probably far enough back in history for it to have worked there.

[zulu_kilo]

Air show down in smoke - National - NZ Herald News (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10864433)

Hopefully the aero club pulls out of it ok

[Oakape]

Why was the aero club charging for the "hire of the property"? Tens of thousands of dollars the article said, althogh some of that was for other things.

I would have thought they would have welcomed the show onto the airfield free of charge, as a means of free advertising for their services & aviation in general.

Or was it just another case of let's milk the supposed cash cow?