Spirit of Adventure
Perhaps the organisers should have trialled their 'Spirit of Misadventure' event at Kinross first. Then they could have ironed out any glitches before foisting it on a more receptive audience.
I would imagine the Scots will be far too canny to be conned into parting with £25 per head to watch a rather poor recruiting show.......
I wonder what the static display will consist of? Just Harriers and helicopters?
I wonder what the static display will consist of? Just Harriers and helicopters?
The catchment area for Abingdon would be Oxfordshire, but I'm still none the wiser at your remarks! However, Beagle is probably right.
I believe Kinross was chosen as the nearest location to Leuchars, which, if you've been to the airshow, attracts a huge audience of 30k -45k each year. That's mainly due to the fact that its the only large show north of the border, but as its not on this year, Kinross may well be better attended than Abingdon.
I believe Kinross was chosen as the nearest location to Leuchars, which, if you've been to the airshow, attracts a huge audience of 30k -45k each year. That's mainly due to the fact that its the only large show north of the border, but as its not on this year, Kinross may well be better attended than Abingdon.
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: South of Penge
Age: 74
Posts: 625
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Why should people spend good money to be patronised by idiots?
The combination of a Group Captain's perceptions of what would appeal with those of an imported and unproven "minority interest" pop-video enthusiast, would surely be hardly likely to be on the same wavelength as that of the educated kids the Service would wish to attract.
Obviously, first off, a survey of a cross-section of recent succesful entrants would have been done to ascertain:
"What had the biggest influence on your decision to join the RAF?".
I do wonder what the results were?
" Protecting the U.K. from UFO's " would apparently have been high on the list, judging by the reporting on this effort......
The combination of a Group Captain's perceptions of what would appeal with those of an imported and unproven "minority interest" pop-video enthusiast, would surely be hardly likely to be on the same wavelength as that of the educated kids the Service would wish to attract.
Obviously, first off, a survey of a cross-section of recent succesful entrants would have been done to ascertain:
"What had the biggest influence on your decision to join the RAF?".
I do wonder what the results were?
" Protecting the U.K. from UFO's " would apparently have been high on the list, judging by the reporting on this effort......
Last edited by RETDPI; 28th May 2007 at 17:16.
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Mostly here, but often there
Posts: 542
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Let me get this right....had this sort of unmitigated disaster happened in civvie street, the 'PR guru' responsible would no doubt have his P45 by now, non? So, what do we give him.....a front line station. Lord knows what next year's Summer Ball will be like.....all Burberry and K-Swiss trainers, no doubt.
As it happens, I was one of the hordes parked by the side of the road. Watched the tail end of the role demo...should be just fine when it's strung together as a set piece, rather than as an adjunct to some dross on the jumbotron. Popped to Homebase for the duty bank holiday shop. Back on the verge by 1600 in time for the Red Arrows. Mini bus driver was truly agog, even though it was the flat display (I assume, considerng they went IMC half way up the opening loop?).
I was also at the Abingdon Air Fayre (bloody hell, I'm really not a spotter!) 3 weeks ago and it's a lovely little show. £8 each for Mrs Driver and I and the wee ones are free, as is the parking. Suitable number of helos plus a Dak to crawl over plus a mixed display in the afternoon. As ever, a decent recruiting team on the ground was missing, though the Army were out in force as were the RAuxAF recruiters. It strikes me that there are probably enough aircrew, plus a smattering of other trades - but let's face it, we do recruit from the top down - willing to give up one or two weekend days a year to pop along to their local airshow. In flying suit, suitably briefed and tooled up with gizzits/info they would at least give the public a focal point on the day. We are at the stage where few front line force elements can commit suitably manned statics to each and every show, but a handful of willing volunteers should not be hard to find. Throw in a free ticket for the wife and kids and I'm sure the organisers would be inundated. Still, what do I know...
As it happens, I was one of the hordes parked by the side of the road. Watched the tail end of the role demo...should be just fine when it's strung together as a set piece, rather than as an adjunct to some dross on the jumbotron. Popped to Homebase for the duty bank holiday shop. Back on the verge by 1600 in time for the Red Arrows. Mini bus driver was truly agog, even though it was the flat display (I assume, considerng they went IMC half way up the opening loop?).
I was also at the Abingdon Air Fayre (bloody hell, I'm really not a spotter!) 3 weeks ago and it's a lovely little show. £8 each for Mrs Driver and I and the wee ones are free, as is the parking. Suitable number of helos plus a Dak to crawl over plus a mixed display in the afternoon. As ever, a decent recruiting team on the ground was missing, though the Army were out in force as were the RAuxAF recruiters. It strikes me that there are probably enough aircrew, plus a smattering of other trades - but let's face it, we do recruit from the top down - willing to give up one or two weekend days a year to pop along to their local airshow. In flying suit, suitably briefed and tooled up with gizzits/info they would at least give the public a focal point on the day. We are at the stage where few front line force elements can commit suitably manned statics to each and every show, but a handful of willing volunteers should not be hard to find. Throw in a free ticket for the wife and kids and I'm sure the organisers would be inundated. Still, what do I know...
Fly-Friendly
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Around the middle
Posts: 141
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
BBD
Agree..... however do you not think the front line aircrew work that many weekends why would they want to waste another one at a poorly organised recruiting display??
Agree..... however do you not think the front line aircrew work that many weekends why would they want to waste another one at a poorly organised recruiting display??
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Mostly here, but often there
Posts: 542
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Absolutely not. But, at events such as Cosford, Kemble, RIAT, Duxford, Biggin etc etc where there will be a large public presence but limited UK mil hardware on the ground should be rich pickings. I think that the ' we don't need to engage the airshow market as they're not the target audience' argument is flawed. Spotters bring their kids. After the footie, airshows are the number 2 event for the British public. If we are not in amongst the public at these events, extoling the virtues of the RAF and our relevance, we deserve everything we get.
Join Date: May 2000
Location: door or ramp, don't mind.
Posts: 961
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In flying suit, suitably briefed and tooled up with gizzits/info they would at least give the public a focal point on the day.
It's lest some spotty oik gets to OASC, gets turned down on Day One then pipes up "But some bloke told me......"
Apparently we're all too stupid to include the caveat "...but ideally you'd need to check with your local AFCO" with the reply to any enquiries.
Last edited by Talking Radalt; 28th May 2007 at 22:30.
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Mostly here, but often there
Posts: 542
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My point exactly Radalt. I was stopped in the street last summer, in uniform (blues), and was quizzed as to the virtues of joining the RAF Regiment. Obviously I said 'I'm terribly sorry, but I think you'll find there's a perfectly good AFCO in the next town where they will be able to provide you with ample literature pertaining to your chosen career aspirations'. Or maybe I gave him my opinion (well, obviously not my real opinion of the RAF Reg! 
), he left thoroughly enthused, and my olives got slightly warmer than they should have done (and no, that's not a euphemism!!). Lord knowshow I managed to provide a balanced opinion without having done the course....
), he left thoroughly enthused, and my olives got slightly warmer than they should have done (and no, that's not a euphemism!!). Lord knowshow I managed to provide a balanced opinion without having done the course....
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Oxon
Age: 66
Posts: 1,942
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For me the saddest thing is I knew the young Mr Turner as a Flt Lt and he was a thoroughly nice chap and, whilst I suspect he still is, how the heck was he mugged into his current predicament 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: uk
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I went to this Sprit of Adventure thing IN SPITE OF it being called 'Spirit of Adventure." I mean, the poster I saw showed planes and pilots and it was an RAF promotion so I thought it MUST BE some sort of air show. But if I wasn't so incredibly bright and deductive I just might have thought it had something to do with adventure training or something, and gone shopping instead.
Which, it appears, is what most of Oxfordshire did on Saturday. At least I couldn't reckon on more than 2,500 people there - if that. And most of them were at least 30 years old - apparently air show fans from the looks of their gear. Very few kids, which again wasn't surprising given the price of tickets.
I thought it must be an air show when the Typhoon did its bit, but then they put on some sort of fake race with NASCAR sort of cars. What was that about? And kite flying? And I felt sorry for all the fairground people who came with their rides and £5 beef burgers. What shops? If there was a band I didn't see it.
The heart of it really was this movie/live air/ground action, which is what I've hoped the RAF would do at air shows for years 'cos the boom! zoom! whizz! is what stirs the blood. Takes me back to At Home days with my Dad up at the camp, and why I wanted to join up. And the movie is a good idea that links up actions you can't see in front of you. (What's this 'interactive' bit then?) But who needs this Jervis bloke interviewing Andy Turner?
The film should have shown troops under attack on the ground and a FAC calling out "we need CAS NOW!" and then the GR4s would have rolled in. Crump! Boom Bang! RAF saves the day!
Anyway, that 60 minutes, whatever, was what the day was really all about - but you'd never have known it from what publicity there was. And it could have been fitted in nicely into a proper air show. Why is it not being offered for RIAT? Instead of this vague Spirit of Adventure concept it ought to have been called something like "Air strike! Come and see the RAF in action! You've seen and read what the RAF is doing overseas. Now come and see and FEEL close up what its like at an airfield at home!" "Live" bombing! Strafing runs! Aerial Dogfights! Mortars! Machine guns!
I'll guarantee if the RAF gets that message out, and beefs up the show with helos dropping off troops and door gunners blasting away at a much more visible 'enemy' , the kids will drag their parents in.
So get with it, RAF!
,
Which, it appears, is what most of Oxfordshire did on Saturday. At least I couldn't reckon on more than 2,500 people there - if that. And most of them were at least 30 years old - apparently air show fans from the looks of their gear. Very few kids, which again wasn't surprising given the price of tickets.
I thought it must be an air show when the Typhoon did its bit, but then they put on some sort of fake race with NASCAR sort of cars. What was that about? And kite flying? And I felt sorry for all the fairground people who came with their rides and £5 beef burgers. What shops? If there was a band I didn't see it.
The heart of it really was this movie/live air/ground action, which is what I've hoped the RAF would do at air shows for years 'cos the boom! zoom! whizz! is what stirs the blood. Takes me back to At Home days with my Dad up at the camp, and why I wanted to join up. And the movie is a good idea that links up actions you can't see in front of you. (What's this 'interactive' bit then?) But who needs this Jervis bloke interviewing Andy Turner?
The film should have shown troops under attack on the ground and a FAC calling out "we need CAS NOW!" and then the GR4s would have rolled in. Crump! Boom Bang! RAF saves the day!
Anyway, that 60 minutes, whatever, was what the day was really all about - but you'd never have known it from what publicity there was. And it could have been fitted in nicely into a proper air show. Why is it not being offered for RIAT? Instead of this vague Spirit of Adventure concept it ought to have been called something like "Air strike! Come and see the RAF in action! You've seen and read what the RAF is doing overseas. Now come and see and FEEL close up what its like at an airfield at home!" "Live" bombing! Strafing runs! Aerial Dogfights! Mortars! Machine guns!
I'll guarantee if the RAF gets that message out, and beefs up the show with helos dropping off troops and door gunners blasting away at a much more visible 'enemy' , the kids will drag their parents in.
So get with it, RAF!
,
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 806
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
And I felt sorry for all the fairground people who came with their rides and £5 beef burgers
So take it I didn't miss much then
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
I reckon what did the Air Force for me was my uncle giving me all his WW2 aircraft recce cards but also going to Hooton Park on Battle of Britain Day.
A young friend said lets go the the airfield and see the show. We go on out bikes and cycled 15 miles of so. I had no idea there was an airfield there and even less what an air show was.
When we got there there was no show but about 1200-1500 people. If you peered to the north you might just see the odd aircraft at Speke.
Anyway the RAuxAF guys there, slightly bemused, and not wanting to disappoint, laid on an air show. They had some aircraft, can't remember what, but they called in loads of RAF aircraft that were in transit from one show to another. I distinctly remember the Shackleton roaring in.
As I say, BofB Day so the whole RAF was up displaying somewhere.
Years later I remember the BofB Day in 1969. The whole 'operation' was planned down to the last minute at Bentley Priory. We took the Lancaster to Finningley, Coltishall, Gaydon, Benson and Biggin Hill. As was our want in those days we flew in local time, GKW, and all through the London Zone as priority traffic.
Five shows in one day. In those days the shows were obviously smaller, the catchment areas tighter, and peoples ability and willingness to travel much less. Would a non-air audience really travel one hour out of London to see a show? There may be 10 millions in London but out there where it is all green with wild animals - scarey.
A young friend said lets go the the airfield and see the show. We go on out bikes and cycled 15 miles of so. I had no idea there was an airfield there and even less what an air show was.
When we got there there was no show but about 1200-1500 people. If you peered to the north you might just see the odd aircraft at Speke.
Anyway the RAuxAF guys there, slightly bemused, and not wanting to disappoint, laid on an air show. They had some aircraft, can't remember what, but they called in loads of RAF aircraft that were in transit from one show to another. I distinctly remember the Shackleton roaring in.
As I say, BofB Day so the whole RAF was up displaying somewhere.
Years later I remember the BofB Day in 1969. The whole 'operation' was planned down to the last minute at Bentley Priory. We took the Lancaster to Finningley, Coltishall, Gaydon, Benson and Biggin Hill. As was our want in those days we flew in local time, GKW, and all through the London Zone as priority traffic.
Five shows in one day. In those days the shows were obviously smaller, the catchment areas tighter, and peoples ability and willingness to travel much less. Would a non-air audience really travel one hour out of London to see a show? There may be 10 millions in London but out there where it is all green with wild animals - scarey.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Nr. Edinburgh
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Don't forget the large Scottish airshow held by the Museum of Flight at East Fortune. This year it is being held on the 28 July. Last year it attracted several thousand spectactors and will probably eclipse Kinross.
(Strange that no-one has mentioned it yet.............)
(Mods - edited to remove commercial links - I should have read the rules!)
(Strange that no-one has mentioned it yet.............)
(Mods - edited to remove commercial links - I should have read the rules!)
Perhaps the organisers could include a crack den and White Lightning stalls to entice a few more punters into the Kinross event.
Just a thought, but if the event does go ahead, and you want to see a free flying display, with almost unlimited view of the skies over the venue, decent toilet facilities, and catering at reasonable prices, and the thought of missing the interactive film doesn't put you off, you could save a few quid by sitting in the car park at Kinross services.
If......
Just a thought, but if the event does go ahead, and you want to see a free flying display, with almost unlimited view of the skies over the venue, decent toilet facilities, and catering at reasonable prices, and the thought of missing the interactive film doesn't put you off, you could save a few quid by sitting in the car park at Kinross services.
If......
Last edited by diginagain; 29th May 2007 at 09:36.
High Flying Bird
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Old Sarum ish
Posts: 2,297
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
AerBabe, are you saying you all go in for free nothwithstanding the circular that said cadets would pay £10?
Also, as the cadets were clearly targeted, I wonder how many ATC cadets there are within striking distance of Abingdon? Certainly Lincolnshire was too far.
Also, as the cadets were clearly targeted, I wonder how many ATC cadets there are within striking distance of Abingdon? Certainly Lincolnshire was too far.
AFAIK, my ATC squadron didn't get a circular offering cut price tickets for cadets. However, that may have been due to lack of communication between staff! The only correspondence I saw was asking from Wing, asking for volunteers to help man stands.
As for how many cadets are within striking distance... Tricky one to answer. Given that most squadrons will travel for an hour(ish) and Abingdon is fairly central... 5-10,000?
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Emptying the litter bin
Age: 65
Posts: 409
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Jervis might want to look at this.
http://www.ukar.co.uk/cgi-bin/ukarbo...ST;f=1;t=32588
http://www.ukar.co.uk/cgi-bin/ukarbo...ST;f=1;t=32588