Duxford - End of Flying Legends airshows

[nohold]

https://www.air-shows.org.uk/2020/08...t-iwm-duxford/

Looking to relocate....

[treadigraph]

Bit of a shocker...

[Jhieminga]

Interesting, I would have thought that such an airshow would be financially rewarding for the IWM as well.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by Jhieminga

Interesting, I would have thought that such an airshow would be financially rewarding for the IWM as well.

I would guess that by IWM statement about funds shortfall, they likely wanted a bigger cut from TFC, and TFC have said foxtrot oscar.......

[Hueymeister]

North Weald as new venue?

[treadigraph]

Didn't NW have problems with being close to Stansted when Fighter Meet was held there in the 1980s and Stansted's traffic then was a fraction of what it is now.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by treadigraph

Didn't NW have problems with being close to Stansted when Fighter Meet was held there in the 1980s and Stansted's traffic then was a fraction of what it is now.

Yes, Stansted and M11 (and the new housing estate adjacent to the airfield) killed Fighter Meet..... (although the Stansted traffic at the moment is a mere fraction of what it was in the 80's since Covid of course!)

[DHfan]

I hope they can find somewhere where it's viable to hold the display but with their aircraft being kept literally a few yards from the flight line at Duxford, it's hard to think anywhere else could work financially.

IWM seem to be run by idiot accountants these days or possibly marketing "experts". A couple of years ago they trumpeted that Friends of Duxford was no more and it was under the umbrella of Friends of IWM. We went to Legends in 2018 with a still (just) current FoD membership. The cafe/restaurant, and presumably shop, discount had gone down from 20% to 15% which I could live with as I spent very little on site. We tried to enter the FoD enclosure which had always been member and guest and were sent off to a tent to pay £10 to get my other half in, and when we did get in, the previously free tea, coffee and biccies were at the special discounted member price of £1.95 for a teabag in a polystyrene cup.
If they hadn't changed things, they'd have continued getting 40-odd quid a year indefinitely. As it is, it will take a really inventive accountant to prove that a one-off payment of £17.80 (two cups of tea each) was a better deal.

I found somewhere on the 'net a while ago that somebody had put in a Freedom of Information request about things relating to the change. Out of around 5,500 Friends of Duxford members, somewhere under 900 had transferred to the new scheme. Needless to say, I wasn't one of them.

That was a roaring success then...

[Icare9]

Yep, a little from a lot beats a lot from a few, but not to accountants.
Same with car insurance, some still penalise renewals and look only for "new" business with higher discounts which they can't give to renewals, thus losing customers who have hand No Claims.....

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by DHfan

I hope they can find somewhere where it's viable to hold the display but with their aircraft being kept literally a few yards from the flight line at Duxford, it's hard to think anywhere else could work financially.

Exactly.
The financial and logistic advantages of TFC and IWM being based on the site that the show is held on, is enormous, and I just can't see it being viable for TFC to host the show elsewhere while they are based at Duxford.
Which begs the question, as to will they start to think of moving their operation elsewhere in time. I wouldn't blame them either if they did.

[Fareastdriver]

Travelling from London to Aberdeen I dropped in at Cosford to have a look around. I paid the entrance fee and went in. Trying to get to the Battle of Britain exhibition I was stopped. The hangar, and all its contents, had been rented out for a corporate lunch!. When I went back to the ticket desk I found there was no chance of getting my money back.

I am not going again.

[POBJOY]

BoB go South

Originally Posted by Fareastdriver

Travelling from London to Aberdeen I dropped in at Cosford to have a look around. I paid the entrance fee and went in. Trying to get to the Battle of Britain exhibition I was stopped. The hangar, and all its contents, had been rented out for a corporate lunch!. When I went back to the ticket desk I found there was no chance of getting my money back.

I am not going again.

Suggest an email to the 'Boss' and a suitable entry on trip advisor if not a satifactory answer rcd. If you were not made aware of the limitation on ticket purchase i suspect they are obliged to refund as they have failed to deliver the goods as advertised. It is the local authority who cover such complaints.,but it is so petty that Cosford should deal with it internally without delay. No one likes a bad press on TA. Am i correct that many Hendon items there now.
As an alternative,visit Biggin Hill for the aircraft then pop over a couple of valleysto vist the most original Battle of Britain AF Kenley. Amazing place where for NOTHING you can walk around this historic location and even stroll down the runways when gliding is finished . In fact you could even get a glider flight from Kenley and get a feel for the area.From the Kenley circuit Biggin,Croydon, and London are visible. If you go there early morning and sit in anaircraft blast pen,close your eyes and listen to the Merlins warming up. Ok Treads give him the image!!!

[DHfan]

Cosford of course is RAF Museum, not IWM but they're all just as bad. I'm sure Hendon and Duxford have held auctions - classic cars? - in the past and I bet Joe Public isn't allowed in those areas. I suppose Hendon could say admission's free so what are you complaining about but Duxford costs a few bob to get in.
We had a similar experience on the SS Great Britain 8 or 9 years ago when a big chunk of it had been hired out for a wedding reception. Great venue and I hope they enjoyed it but what about Joe Public, which in that case included me, who'd paid for access.

I guess the excuse would be it generates valuable income, and I'm sure it does, but you can't just ignore the general paying public, especially without telling them in advance.

[treadigraph]

Originally Posted by POBJOY

Ok Treads give him the image!!!

The pen under the burning Dornier with Spitfire in it is intact, as are some of the others around the airfield, plus the one at roughly 1 o'clock in the painting is now the Kenley memorial. Well worth a visit. With Battle of Britain day coming up, hope the BBMF may also provide a flypast, they usually do.

Regarding a new location for Flying Legends, somewhere like RAF Wyton? Doubt MoD would be keen though...

[Herod]

Originally Posted by Fareastdriver

Travelling from London to Aberdeen I dropped in at Cosford to have a look around. I paid the entrance fee and went in. Trying to get to the Battle of Britain exhibition I was stopped. The hangar, and all its contents, had been rented out for a corporate lunch!. When I went back to the ticket desk I found there was no chance of getting my money back.

I am not going again.

Admission to Cosford is free.

[terrain safe]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

Yes, Stansted and M11 (and the new housing estate adjacent to the airfield) killed Fighter Meet..... (although the Stansted traffic at the moment is a mere fraction of what it was in the 80's since Covid of course!)

Stansted is moving about 340/350 a day at the moment. In the 80s and early 90s, it was about 200/220 on a busy day. So no chance these days even though the aircraft are a lot slower ( and don't just blast out of NW like the French Mirages did without talking to anyone!).

[Typhoon Tripacer]

Wroughton used to hold a few shows in the 90's and seemed to work well. Science Museum owns it I believe, could they be amenable.

[old10ge]

Originally Posted by POBJOY

Suggest an email to the 'Boss' and a suitable entry on trip advisor if not a satifactory answer rcd. If you were not made aware of the limitation on ticket purchase i suspect they are obliged to refund as they have failed to deliver the goods as advertised. It is the local authority who cover such complaints.,but it is so petty that Cosford should deal with it internally without delay. No one likes a bad press on TA. Am i correct that many Hendon items there now.
As an alternative,visit Biggin Hill for the aircraft then pop over a couple of valleysto vist the most original Battle of Britain AF Kenley. Amazing place where for NOTHING you can walk around this historic location and even stroll down the runways when gliding is finished . In fact you could even get a glider flight from Kenley and get a feel for the area.From the Kenley circuit Biggin,Croydon, and London are visible. If you go there early morning and sit in anaircraft blast pen,close your eyes and listen to the Merlins warming up. Ok Treads give him the image!!!

Thats disappointing. The last time I went to Cosford it was free entry and according to their website it still is. As far as I could establish the only IWM location that charges is Duxford!

[DHfan]

Cosford's not IWM, it's the RAF Museum.

Apart from Lambeth, I think all IWM sites charge admission. It's a few years since I visited the Cabinet War Rooms and even longer ago to HMS Belfast but I'm fairly confident we had to pay for both.

[treadigraph]

I think Wroughton took on the Great Warbirds Display from West Malling didn't it? Also the PFA Fly In a couple of times. Perhaps in John Bagley's day, if I recall he was an enthusiast rather than bean counting H&S adherent...