Farnborough Airshow - What Gives?
Beags
My experience was similar to yours, airshows in the late 50s and early 60s which I or Mum had to pay for, followed by a run of freebies.
'67 courtesy of fiancee's Dad, who worked there as a 'boffin' - he worked on trials with,among other things, the V Force moving map (Green Satin?),HUD and Laser Bomb technique.
'70 as the nav on the Red Arrows support Herc, brought the ground crew and stuff from the Cologne/Bonn show into Farnborough. the Red's boss was Dennis Hazell,sadly killed a couple of years later.
'72 as the nav on the lead Herc in the display.
'82 an ATC freebie
'90 a freebie via my wife's job
and lastly last Saturday a freebie from No1 son, taking part in his first session on the display committee.
Having not been for years I was disappointed with the size of the exhibition and of the flying display, obviously the weather had a part to play in the latter. There seemed to be far too many rip-off drinks and food outlets that gave the whole show a somewhat seedy air. The highlight for me was the A380, and grandson and I managed to be shown around it after it landed, with him promising to email the pilots a copy of a photo he had taken showing the machine producing it's own clouds.
Amusing sequel to my tale from No2 son who was on duty as a NATS London Terminal ATCO on Saturday afternoon. He had just returned from a break to be told that the guy he had relieved had refused a request from Farnborough to 'up the airspace'. He rang them and said 'Of course you can have the airspace,my Dad and brother are there!'.
'67 courtesy of fiancee's Dad, who worked there as a 'boffin' - he worked on trials with,among other things, the V Force moving map (Green Satin?),HUD and Laser Bomb technique.
'70 as the nav on the Red Arrows support Herc, brought the ground crew and stuff from the Cologne/Bonn show into Farnborough. the Red's boss was Dennis Hazell,sadly killed a couple of years later.
'72 as the nav on the lead Herc in the display.
'82 an ATC freebie
'90 a freebie via my wife's job
and lastly last Saturday a freebie from No1 son, taking part in his first session on the display committee.
Having not been for years I was disappointed with the size of the exhibition and of the flying display, obviously the weather had a part to play in the latter. There seemed to be far too many rip-off drinks and food outlets that gave the whole show a somewhat seedy air. The highlight for me was the A380, and grandson and I managed to be shown around it after it landed, with him promising to email the pilots a copy of a photo he had taken showing the machine producing it's own clouds.
Amusing sequel to my tale from No2 son who was on duty as a NATS London Terminal ATCO on Saturday afternoon. He had just returned from a break to be told that the guy he had relieved had refused a request from Farnborough to 'up the airspace'. He rang them and said 'Of course you can have the airspace,my Dad and brother are there!'.
