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RAF Scampton airshow.

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RAF Scampton airshow.

Old 20th Feb 2016, 14:49
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Pros/Cons, I had not recent experience of air shows let alone running one. I had less than 12 months to get the show on the road. My OC Ops from his display circuit knew lots oif contacts and gave me invaluable guidance; it was a first rate show.

The Reds will have lots of experience of the good and bad and no doubt toiurex team members will volunteer to run things 😊.

A friend of mine was commercial manager at Waddo, he told me that the aiur show manager and he had both retired, not sure if both had been replaced. IIRC when Finningley started to use an ex-RAF professional manager the salary was around £30k. From a standing start where does a station get the money to pay the modern equivalent for a manager.

RIAT may be able to run both air shows with minimal additional staff. Never-the-less there are infrastructure costs, toilets in particular, traffic management, insurance, tentage, barriers, and then buying in the civil aerobatics.

I don't know how we ran the account at Coningsby or Waddo (pre-Finningley) apart from fingers crossed and as cheaply as possible. One bright spot, the dead hand of NAAFI has gone.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 15:50
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RAF Charitable Trust Air Show Organization

If the RAF Charitable Trust organize the show using the same modus operandi as RIAT at RAF Fairford, very little organizational responsibility will actually fall upon the permanent staff at RAF Scampton. At Fairford, the following applies:

RIAT negotiate their use of permanent facilities and equipment on loan (eg aircraft GSE).

RIAT source all requisite temporary infrastructure eg barriers, traffic cones, toilets, catering facilities for volunteers.

RIAT take over operational responsibility for the airfield and provide their own ATC personnel.

RIAT source volunteer ground support staff eg flight line & GSE personnel.

RIAT source emergency services by obtaining fire and medical assets from a variety of agencies including DFRMO and local authorities.

High profile vehicles eg airfield management and "Follow Me" are provided by industry eg Range Rovers (I'm guessing perhaps on free loan in return for advertising).

The security force for volunteer and contractor vehicle checking in the weeks prior to, during and after the event come from RAF Cosford (actually programmed into the annual course task).

There are many other considerations but you get the picture.

I would anticipate that it will be run as a commercial venture using the same business model as RIAT with admission charges set at a level that covers all the costs - including insurance which is considerable - and allows for a contribution to charity.

The Fairford RIAT model is well-established and planning for the next event starts as soon as the last one has been cleared up. With Scampton, they have to start from scratch so hence the 2017 at earliest date.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 16:03
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RAFEngO74to09

I would anticipate that it will be run as a commercial venture using the same business model as RIAT with admission charges set at a level that covers all the costs - including insurance which is considerable - and allows for a contribution to charity.
A small contribution to charity.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 16:20
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airpolice,

True - and it would be even less if they got charged the going rate for everything they loan / get free by using "influence" and "precedent".

http://www.airtattoo.com/assets/page...201415_web.pdf

http://www.airtattoo.com/our-parent-...grants-2015-16

Last edited by RAFEngO74to09; 20th Feb 2016 at 16:32.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 16:22
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I think the people doing the best out of the Airshow are the organisers rather than the charities.

No wonder they are keen to take on Scampton.

RIAT 2009 figures They got over 8 Million pounds in and disbursed £196,997 to Charitable causes.

RIAT certainly makes money for some people.

Less than 20 pence out of every 8 quid was distributed to service charities.


Facts and figures about RIAT.

Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises
Accounts for 2008-2009

From an income of over 8 Million pounds, the charity got 300 thousand.

Of which, less than 200 thousand pounds was given to the people we all expect to be getting the money. Still, the expenses were right up there in the good figures, so nobody missed out.

Last edited by airpolice; 20th Feb 2016 at 16:28. Reason: To add in RIAT figures
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 16:53
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What were the ticket prices for RIAT and Waddo?

I don't imagine Scampton will attract the corporate hospitality brigade, but who knows.

I just wonder if families in the Midlands would pay top dollar. Not having ever paid for an air show I don't know.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 18:10
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Airpolice,

I would imagine that the losses incurred by the 2008 cancellation may have affected the 2009 accounts. The prediction for the 2015-16 donation is in excess of £700,000 so it's getting better!

FF
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 18:43
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One bright spot, the dead hand of NAAFI has gone.
Now that's a point, this is the first air show setup since the introduction of the ISS 'closed shop'.

PN, if you think the NAAFI was a dead hand, you should see ISS at work.

Last edited by Guernsey Girl II; 20th Feb 2016 at 18:53.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 19:10
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Job Title: Trust Director
Location: Fairford, Gloucestershire
Job Type: Permanent, Full Time
About Us:
We are a Charitable Trust that promotes the Royal Air Force, supporting its people now and into the future and encouraging air-mindedness and the aviation-related education of youth.

The Trustees award grants to those organisations and projects that they assess to be most worthy of financial support and most closely aligned to their charitable objectives.

About the role:
This is a strategic role which also includes the day to day management of the Trust's business. A key element of the role is to ensure that the Trust's activities are compliant with all relevant guidelines, including the Charity Commission and HMRC. The role will also involve acting as Secretary to the Board of Trustees and any sub-committees, whilst ensuring that Trustees are kept fully informed of Trust activity

What we offer:
We offer a competitive package of salary of £50,000 per annum, Company Pension, Death in Service cover, Private Medical Insurance and 20 days holiday (with additional days to cover the Christmas period and bank holidays).


Chairman
Mr Alan Smith FRAeS

Non-Executive Directors
Dr Jim Glover BSc DSc
Mr Colin Basnett CBE MA

Chief Executive
Mr Andy Armstrong

Directors
Mrs Caroline Rogers (Commercial Director)
Group Captain Chris Murray OBE (Director Operations and Company Secretary)
Mr Steve Gunyon (Director Finance)


So, over £350,00 a year in salaries for just the Directors.

Looks like a cushty number for some folk.


2011-12 2012-13
£ £
Incoming Resources
Commercial Trading Operations
Royal International Air Tattoo 6,152,663 5,982,202
Other Income 1,186,089 640,519
_________ _________
Total Incoming Resources 7,338,752 6,622,721
Resources Expended
Costs of Generating Funds
Promotional Costs (269,538) (251,658)
Commercial Trading Operations:
Royal International Air Tattoo (4,540,402) (4,076,465)
Other Expenses (2,546,866) (2,039,842)
Corporation Tax 9,781 0
Governance Costs: (53,723) (41,562)
Donation to Royal Air Force Charitable Trust 0 (213,194)
_________ _________
Total Resources Expended (7,400,748) (6,622,721)
Net Outgoing Resources for the Year (61,996) 0
Fund Balance Brought Forward 914,100 852,104
_________ _________
Fund Balance Carried Forward 852,104 852,104


Donation to Royal Air Force Charitable Trust £213,194.00
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 19:29
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RIAT Ticket Prices

PN,

Here is the tariff for tickets for RIAT Fairford 2016 - GBP 44.00 (Earlybird) - must be bought in advance - no tickets available at the gate.

Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises - Tickets and Upgrades

In the overall equation of the economics of RIAT Fairford, I imagine they rake in a huge amount for the marquee enclosures taken by industry for hospitality. I too cannot imagine much of a market for that at Scampton which might have a knock-on effect on the ticket price for normal punters.

Last edited by RAFEngO74to09; 20th Feb 2016 at 21:50.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 19:44
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When I first had an occasion to speak to RAFCTE about RIAT, I was somewhat surprised to discover they had a gucci HQ for their permanent staff just down the road from the RAF Fairford Main Gate - complete with dining room and chef. They certainly don't slum it.


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Old 20th Feb 2016, 19:58
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Originally Posted by RAFEngO74to09
When I first had an occasion to speak to RAFCTE about RIAT, I was somewhat surprised to discover they had a gucci HQ for their permanent staff just down the road from the RAF Fairford Main Gate - complete with dining room and chef. They certainly don't slum it.
I guess they have to entertain guests during the organisational phase, and it would prove economical (in cost and time) to do this in-house rather than going out to hotels/restaurants - better for security, too.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 20:35
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Only about one third of RIAT parking is now in a field. The rest is on airfield concrete.
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Old 20th Feb 2016, 20:40
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They can pay themselves as much as they want, they can also provide all the required on site manning but as a local, Scampton village, it is painfully obvious that no thought has been given to what happens outside the airfield boundaries. The police make the best of a bad job when it comes to major events on the show ground but when you extend the area further north to cover Scampton you cannot use the same traffic pattern. In addition, 3 sides of the airfield boundary are open to the non paying fraternity via tracks across open fields, non of which have public footpath status. This means cars parked up on B road verges whilst their occupants cram round the fences leaving tons of rubbish when they leave. In short, too many "naughty areas" and all the problems involved. I really don't see the point of it all. In it's later years, Waddington was a large, cheap and nasty fun fair/boot sale with a hand full of aircraft thrown in. I saw F117, B1 and B2 in the past but nothing interesting for years.
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Old 21st Feb 2016, 10:56
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Originally Posted by The Oberon
In it's later years, Waddington was a large, cheap and nasty fun fair/boot sale with a hand full of aircraft thrown in. I saw F117, B1 and B2 in the past but nothing interesting for years.


Sadly, Leuchars was going the same way before it all folded. The flying displays (with some notable exceptions) became almost a sideshow.
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Old 21st Feb 2016, 12:18
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Originally Posted by Courtney Mil
When I read the comments:

That the Station Commander would, "welcome an airshow on the base."

and, "this will not be possible until 2017..."

I had to wonder how long the current Staish had to run - yes, I'm an old cynic. But it looks like Mike Harrop only took over from Richard Turner last autumn - that's just from the dates on a few newspaper articles, so could be wrong.

I just wondered if it may have been a lovely leaving gift to the next poor bugger that would have to organise it.
Mike has been CO since summer 14.
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Old 21st Feb 2016, 14:54
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RAFEngO, thank you. That is one huge expense for an open air event subject to weather. As I said, I have never paid to attend an air show as I have either participated, worked at, or organised.

As Oberon has said, the shows are becoming pretty flat with fewer and fewer military types to call on and stretched budgets fior the international display teams. September might be a bonus if the dates tie in with hosting a major NATO exercise.

The Reds might also be able to call in some favours.
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Old 21st Feb 2016, 17:00
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" this will not be possible until 2017 "

I suppose it's just one of those "happy coincidences " then, that the first event is scheduled to take place..... one year prior to a certain centenary year.

Hence the chance to get the bugs sorted out before the celebrations commence .
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Old 21st Feb 2016, 20:02
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Money is made round to go round.

I guess they have to entertain guests during the organisational phase, and it would prove economical (in cost and time) to do this in-house rather than going out to hotels/restaurants - better for security, too.
That sounds very familiar.

We can spend a load of money on marketing and charitable donations, and if we do it through this lot, we can have a few slap up lunches and some entertainment thrown in. That's a good deal for us, and it's much more tax efficient than taking the PAYE & NI hit on the money and spending our own cash on lunches.

Let's just start a huge business, allegedly to make money for a charity, but spend almost all of the revenue on ourselves.

I wonder how much less, if any, would be collected by asking spotters to pay for limited access at the remaining airfields. All year round airshows, no manning costs and no traffic issues for the locals.

Are there 2,000 serious spotters in the UK? Including terrorists and foreign spies?

We could knock up an access area at each airfield. Like Waddo has but better, and sell annual memberships for £100 which allows you into any site.

Same money for the Charity, without the hangers on getting a nose in the trough.
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Old 21st Feb 2016, 21:10
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AP, and for the rest s huge car boot sale flogging off bits of aircraft, out of date maps etc

Oh, forgot, that's what we didv at Finningley, grot bag £1, contents free.
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