Comments On Fairford 2003
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Busy, with lots of hardware, boatloads of spotters, and the longest flying display by the french aero team ever imaginable. They did it to a double album instead of a couple of select tracks! Timing and the french really didn't happen that well. Maybe they used the same watch that was used to say that Saddam could launch in 45mins.
The flight line seemed rather random, in no particular order, but I gather they had problems getting everyone in with the original slot time plan falling apart at the seams. That said, it was good to see a large presence from UK forces.
The only real problem for me was getting terribly burnt. If you saw a walking hirta, it was probably me.
And another thing: the beer tent closed early.
Have a word someone
The flight line seemed rather random, in no particular order, but I gather they had problems getting everyone in with the original slot time plan falling apart at the seams. That said, it was good to see a large presence from UK forces.
The only real problem for me was getting terribly burnt. If you saw a walking hirta, it was probably me.
And another thing: the beer tent closed early.
Have a word someone
Well done Paul & Tim (or whoever you gave the job to) for getting the traffic management sorted.....much, much better than last year, both in and out (at least Sun when I was there) - drove as we thought the P&R was a bit steep for a family of 4 though.
Thanks to the RAF Albert J crew for the detailed shuftie at all the flight deck gizmos.
Great to see the Typhoon flying like it was built to at last.
Well done Mike Whitehouse for getting in a wry comment re. Lyneham closure on the PA aswell (not representative of Air Force policy, I'm sure).
Thanks to the RAF Albert J crew for the detailed shuftie at all the flight deck gizmos.
Great to see the Typhoon flying like it was built to at last.
Well done Mike Whitehouse for getting in a wry comment re. Lyneham closure on the PA aswell (not representative of Air Force policy, I'm sure).
Last edited by Wycombe; 23rd Jul 2003 at 06:10.
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Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for having an awful flying display. Some great aircraft, but very scatty, with long gaps of a not a lot happening.
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for having no toilets open on the Friday despite there being (allegedly) 20,000 air cadets on site, 100’s of traders and however many spotters. Why weren’t they open?… Because RIAT wouldn’t pay for them to be open on the Friday.
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for having very few dustbins. Er… FOD?
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for having vehicle security checks. But tell me… a security check that involves some guy lifting your bonnet, and opening the back door of a trailer that the packed full of stuff… What is the point in that? If you are going to conduct security checks, you need to be using sniffer dogs. I didn’t see one. It just made the whole thing a farce… A total waste of time.
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for the 100 years of flight… That was fantastic… Well done!
All in all, I thought the static aircraft were very good, but the flying was poor, and there are still so many issues that RIAT need to address, despite being told every year! I think this year people showed their frustration with their feet… There was no one there!
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for having no toilets open on the Friday despite there being (allegedly) 20,000 air cadets on site, 100’s of traders and however many spotters. Why weren’t they open?… Because RIAT wouldn’t pay for them to be open on the Friday.
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for having very few dustbins. Er… FOD?
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for having vehicle security checks. But tell me… a security check that involves some guy lifting your bonnet, and opening the back door of a trailer that the packed full of stuff… What is the point in that? If you are going to conduct security checks, you need to be using sniffer dogs. I didn’t see one. It just made the whole thing a farce… A total waste of time.
Well done Paul and Tim (or whoever you are!) for the 100 years of flight… That was fantastic… Well done!
All in all, I thought the static aircraft were very good, but the flying was poor, and there are still so many issues that RIAT need to address, despite being told every year! I think this year people showed their frustration with their feet… There was no one there!
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It was also our first visit to RIAT...
Having heard about the dire traffic problems in the past and from AB's experience of Farnborough we decided to overnight in Swindon, ( took about 2 hrs on telephone to find vacancy anywhere....), and use the park and ride scheme. Unfortunately the pack and ride scheme wasn't sign posted at all from the town centre and we didn't notice any signs from the motorway on the Friday night - thank goodness for satnav! After the park and ride we had to walk approx 1 mile from the bus drop off to the actual show entrance. The dedicated route for the park and ride buses wasn't - several times we met opposing traffic and narrowly missed ending up in the ditch - even worse returning to the car park after the show.
Security searching was dreadful - we both activated the scanner and I was carrying an airband transciever in my pocket - neither of us were searched.... nor was AB's large rucksack examined... There was also a stall selling crossbows on site!!!
There seemed to be no logical layout to the static line and therefore no easy way of walking around to avoid missing things. This accompanied with the appalling lack of signs meant finding a specific place was very difficult... especially the toilets - could have done with a few more too.
Flying display was very random and seemingly disorganised. Some seemed very poorly performed - being fairly new to airshows I was dissapointed with the standard - there were some noticible exceptions though. The lack of commentary was also noticable... unless you brought a RIAT radio, at £6.50 - guess the commentary was on there?
It clearly stated on the ticket that bicyles were not allowed on the base but we noticed numerous people riding them...
Distinct lack of general seating around the static display...
The shuttle buses were charging £3.00 a ride!! Unfortunately they told another passenger that it was free - until we got to the far end of the field and then a man got on and told us if we wanted to go back it would cost us £3.00 each! Later heard the photo bus was £10.00 a trip!
Distinct lack of 'marshals' for information around the field.
Food was as expected - edible and overpriced! Its seemed that water was being distributed for free but we only found one place that was...
Too many children!!!!
On the positive side...
We had a good day out - albeit rather expensive for what it was.
Weather was great.
Not too crowded that you couldn't move around easily.
Excellent range of static aircraft.
Good to see things like the stealth in flight.
Surprising lack of traffic problems.
Easy car parking and no delays at park and ride - when we found it.
All the air/ground crew we spoke to were knowledgeable, friendly and actually wanted to talk to the visitors. Including some 'extra' open cockpits on request.
Overall...
We'd go again but would like to see some changes...
Having heard about the dire traffic problems in the past and from AB's experience of Farnborough we decided to overnight in Swindon, ( took about 2 hrs on telephone to find vacancy anywhere....), and use the park and ride scheme. Unfortunately the pack and ride scheme wasn't sign posted at all from the town centre and we didn't notice any signs from the motorway on the Friday night - thank goodness for satnav! After the park and ride we had to walk approx 1 mile from the bus drop off to the actual show entrance. The dedicated route for the park and ride buses wasn't - several times we met opposing traffic and narrowly missed ending up in the ditch - even worse returning to the car park after the show.
Security searching was dreadful - we both activated the scanner and I was carrying an airband transciever in my pocket - neither of us were searched.... nor was AB's large rucksack examined... There was also a stall selling crossbows on site!!!
There seemed to be no logical layout to the static line and therefore no easy way of walking around to avoid missing things. This accompanied with the appalling lack of signs meant finding a specific place was very difficult... especially the toilets - could have done with a few more too.
Flying display was very random and seemingly disorganised. Some seemed very poorly performed - being fairly new to airshows I was dissapointed with the standard - there were some noticible exceptions though. The lack of commentary was also noticable... unless you brought a RIAT radio, at £6.50 - guess the commentary was on there?
It clearly stated on the ticket that bicyles were not allowed on the base but we noticed numerous people riding them...
Distinct lack of general seating around the static display...
The shuttle buses were charging £3.00 a ride!! Unfortunately they told another passenger that it was free - until we got to the far end of the field and then a man got on and told us if we wanted to go back it would cost us £3.00 each! Later heard the photo bus was £10.00 a trip!
Distinct lack of 'marshals' for information around the field.
Food was as expected - edible and overpriced! Its seemed that water was being distributed for free but we only found one place that was...
Too many children!!!!
On the positive side...
We had a good day out - albeit rather expensive for what it was.
Weather was great.
Not too crowded that you couldn't move around easily.
Excellent range of static aircraft.
Good to see things like the stealth in flight.
Surprising lack of traffic problems.
Easy car parking and no delays at park and ride - when we found it.
All the air/ground crew we spoke to were knowledgeable, friendly and actually wanted to talk to the visitors. Including some 'extra' open cockpits on request.
Overall...
We'd go again but would like to see some changes...
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I was only there Friday, and despite some fairly grotty weather first thing it was a good enough day for a warm-up. And no probs getting in - thanks entirely to Gulfstream's GV!
Policing was suitably visible of Friday, although not sure of the need for so many armed people around Rivet Joint, U-2 etc.
£7 seemed a lot for the programme (given that it was full of ads), so I'm glad I didn't have to pay for one. All in a good cause, I suppose.
The highlight for me was watching the pair of RN Lynx do some mad flying - never seen anything like it, so full marks to the crews involved. The AirTanker A330 also did a fine flyby with two German Tornados on Friday, which I know surprised a few people...
Whatever its limitations, RIAT still beats dour trade shows like Farnborough and Paris hands down, and I'll be back next year.
Policing was suitably visible of Friday, although not sure of the need for so many armed people around Rivet Joint, U-2 etc.
£7 seemed a lot for the programme (given that it was full of ads), so I'm glad I didn't have to pay for one. All in a good cause, I suppose.
The highlight for me was watching the pair of RN Lynx do some mad flying - never seen anything like it, so full marks to the crews involved. The AirTanker A330 also did a fine flyby with two German Tornados on Friday, which I know surprised a few people...
Whatever its limitations, RIAT still beats dour trade shows like Farnborough and Paris hands down, and I'll be back next year.
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I was all so there on the Friday (as one of the 20,000 cadets) and I had a great time!!!!! All though the weather was not great at times I thought that the flying displays were great, apart from the VERY long display by the French!!! I think that you need to look more carefully next time Grob driver as there were hundreds of bins. The two lynx’s were amazing; I never knew that helicopters could do any thing like that.
GD,
Paul (Bowen) & Tim (Prince) are the Directors of RIAT - I'm sure they'd be able to address some of your concerns, but also give an appreciation of the sheer scale and difficulty of putting on what is the Worlds Biggest Military Airshow (with 100,000 members of the public thrown in each day for good measure).
It is a huge feat of organisation, and, bear in mind, a large no. of the volunteers are just that - they are not paid for taking (up to 2 weeks in a lot of cases) away from their day jobs to make it happen.
Don't know which day you went, but it was heaving with people yesterday (Sunday)
Pilotwolf,
Yes, it's expensive, but has to be so that the Charities actually get something out of it at the end.
Some of those kids may be the Aircrew of tomorrow. Mine loved it!
Cheers
Paul (Bowen) & Tim (Prince) are the Directors of RIAT - I'm sure they'd be able to address some of your concerns, but also give an appreciation of the sheer scale and difficulty of putting on what is the Worlds Biggest Military Airshow (with 100,000 members of the public thrown in each day for good measure).
It is a huge feat of organisation, and, bear in mind, a large no. of the volunteers are just that - they are not paid for taking (up to 2 weeks in a lot of cases) away from their day jobs to make it happen.
Don't know which day you went, but it was heaving with people yesterday (Sunday)
Pilotwolf,
Yes, it's expensive, but has to be so that the Charities actually get something out of it at the end.
Some of those kids may be the Aircrew of tomorrow. Mine loved it!
Cheers
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Wycombe,
I can’t agree with you that it was “heaving with people yesterday (Sunday)”. I was there on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I’ve being going to IAT at Fairford, Boscome and Cottesmore for as many years as I can remember. I have NEVER seen it so empty. There were gaps in the crowd line watching the flying… That is normally unheard of. While I would agree that there were more people there on Sunday than there were on the Saturday, it was still very empty. I remember it when you had to fight your way through crowds to get to the aircraft on static. That just didn’t happen.
Ye, hats off Paul (Bowen) & Tim (Prince). They have pulled off a major event. All in all, it was good, but it’s the things like I mentioned in my previous post that are putting people off going to IAT. No toilets on Friday… That is just a joke. Security checks when they don’t actually check anything. They need to start concentrating on getting the little things right again.
I can’t agree with you that it was “heaving with people yesterday (Sunday)”. I was there on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I’ve being going to IAT at Fairford, Boscome and Cottesmore for as many years as I can remember. I have NEVER seen it so empty. There were gaps in the crowd line watching the flying… That is normally unheard of. While I would agree that there were more people there on Sunday than there were on the Saturday, it was still very empty. I remember it when you had to fight your way through crowds to get to the aircraft on static. That just didn’t happen.
Ye, hats off Paul (Bowen) & Tim (Prince). They have pulled off a major event. All in all, it was good, but it’s the things like I mentioned in my previous post that are putting people off going to IAT. No toilets on Friday… That is just a joke. Security checks when they don’t actually check anything. They need to start concentrating on getting the little things right again.
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Went on Saturday, arrived at 08.00 via M4 - my observations were:
From M4 the Park and Ride (P&R) pretty well signposted, however, field used for parking was deeply rutted and some people with buggy's and elderly people nearly had some nasty accidents.
There was a very long walk from the P&R to the show entrance, again the surface was pretty poor. However, little queues at the entrance and in without a delay.
Static display was good, however, copious Ice cream vans were parked in the way of what would have been some good photos e.g VC10 XV106. 100 years of flying was the highlight for me, well laid out and very interesting.
Biggest issue was the lack of toilets, there were long queues and awful scenes of people thumping the doors and pushing in through desperation - this shouldn't happen at such a civilised event. I spoke to the First Aid staff who said they were inundated with people asking where more toilets were. Come on RIAT, buck your ideas ideas
I thought the flying display was patchy, with many long gaps and was generally disappointing. Its difficult to explain why, but it just seemed rather predictable and unexciting.
I saw many gaps along the public lawn flightline....and I did pay £7.00 for a programme and although its for charity, I thought it was extreme having flicked through it.
The return P&R was somewhat shambolic due no bus stop sign in place and traffic suddenly coming head on towards the bus!!
In general, I was disappointed, however, I appreciate that many people gave up their time to provide the event which had plus's - the traffic, lack of queues and static dispaly but several major minus's - No.1 being lack of toilet facilities and poor flying programme. I know that the RAF have been 'busy' lately, in fact my wife is still flying 'overseas' with them and their participation was better than expected.
So 6 out of 10.
From M4 the Park and Ride (P&R) pretty well signposted, however, field used for parking was deeply rutted and some people with buggy's and elderly people nearly had some nasty accidents.
There was a very long walk from the P&R to the show entrance, again the surface was pretty poor. However, little queues at the entrance and in without a delay.
Static display was good, however, copious Ice cream vans were parked in the way of what would have been some good photos e.g VC10 XV106. 100 years of flying was the highlight for me, well laid out and very interesting.
Biggest issue was the lack of toilets, there were long queues and awful scenes of people thumping the doors and pushing in through desperation - this shouldn't happen at such a civilised event. I spoke to the First Aid staff who said they were inundated with people asking where more toilets were. Come on RIAT, buck your ideas ideas
I thought the flying display was patchy, with many long gaps and was generally disappointing. Its difficult to explain why, but it just seemed rather predictable and unexciting.
I saw many gaps along the public lawn flightline....and I did pay £7.00 for a programme and although its for charity, I thought it was extreme having flicked through it.
The return P&R was somewhat shambolic due no bus stop sign in place and traffic suddenly coming head on towards the bus!!
In general, I was disappointed, however, I appreciate that many people gave up their time to provide the event which had plus's - the traffic, lack of queues and static dispaly but several major minus's - No.1 being lack of toilet facilities and poor flying programme. I know that the RAF have been 'busy' lately, in fact my wife is still flying 'overseas' with them and their participation was better than expected.
So 6 out of 10.
Good that AirTanker's Future STRATEGIC Tanker Aircraft gave a good fly-by - and showed that there's no problem for a Tornado to fly in formation with the A330. Nice public proximity demo!
Err - what of the opposition's old ex-BA767s. Or were they stuck at LHR due to the BA strike? Bit of a faux pas not to have one at the last big airshow before the FSTA downselect......
!Err - what of the opposition's old ex-BA767s. Or were they stuck at LHR due to the BA strike? Bit of a faux pas not to have one at the last big airshow before the FSTA downselect......
Well yes. First you crawl, then you walk, then you run....
But this was an excellent piece of PR and a good confidence builder for AirTanker's A330 FSTA contender - especially in such a public arena!
But this was an excellent piece of PR and a good confidence builder for AirTanker's A330 FSTA contender - especially in such a public arena!
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A way to beat the traffic.....
And of course if you want to:
Beat the traffic,
Not pay for a ticket,
Help a charity,
Have a good time,
Get close to the aircraft,
Be part of a team
BECOME A VOLUNTEER!!!
Beat the traffic,
Not pay for a ticket,
Help a charity,
Have a good time,
Get close to the aircraft,
Be part of a team
BECOME A VOLUNTEER!!!
AlanM,
Quite right, now you've got me lamenting that I no longer can.
Trust that all went ok with the Sunday night festivities and that the omelettes were up to their usual high standards
GD,
Have been to loads too, but mostly on the "live" side, so probably missed some of the busiest years on the public side.
Take your point. It was busy where we were on Sunday, but I didn't cover the whole airfield (too far for 2 little ones to walk), so you may have had a better overall view than me.
Darkstar,
Agree about the display....hard to put a finger on it, but it did seem to lack "something" this year. Even Sean (commentator) Maffett was losing the plot a bit as to what was to happen next at about 5pm on Sun.
Again, where we were, no real queues for the loos (my kids went about 5 times during the day and never had to queue for more than 5 mins).
All goes to prove that, at such a massive event, the circumstances can be completely different at one end of the crowd line to what they are 2 miles away at the other.
Quite right, now you've got me lamenting that I no longer can.
Trust that all went ok with the Sunday night festivities and that the omelettes were up to their usual high standards
GD,
Have been to loads too, but mostly on the "live" side, so probably missed some of the busiest years on the public side.
Take your point. It was busy where we were on Sunday, but I didn't cover the whole airfield (too far for 2 little ones to walk), so you may have had a better overall view than me.
Darkstar,
Agree about the display....hard to put a finger on it, but it did seem to lack "something" this year. Even Sean (commentator) Maffett was losing the plot a bit as to what was to happen next at about 5pm on Sun.
Again, where we were, no real queues for the loos (my kids went about 5 times during the day and never had to queue for more than 5 mins).
All goes to prove that, at such a massive event, the circumstances can be completely different at one end of the crowd line to what they are 2 miles away at the other.
Champagne anyone...?
J model static was, of course, magnificent. Glad you liked it Mr Wycombe
Party was pretty good - largest omlette in history.
Gala Dinner on Friday also good
Also achieved strange new levels of sunburn
Party was pretty good - largest omlette in history.
Gala Dinner on Friday also good
Also achieved strange new levels of sunburn
First of all let me say I DID NOT GO THIS YEAR. I have been going to the display along with some friends since the Greenham Common days but the prices are getting stupid. My mates did go this year and they all say the same thing, NEVER AGAIN since there it no airfield parking and the display seems much the same now,but there is now no such thing as value for the money you pay?? Myself and all my mates would far rather go to The Waddington Displays now ( it has its faults but you do get good Value For Money there and you seem to get a better selection of equipment there.
Helicopter Pilots Get It Up Quicker
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WYCOMBE
I sure they may...
I m sure yours were well behaved... unfortunately many weren't. After the umpteenth time I m barged out of the way or trodden on or can't hear my conversation due to one screaming I get a little p*ssed off - I was brought up proper you know...
I sure they may...
- If they learn to behave properly.
- Learn some discipline and manners.
- Don't rely on their parents as an example of how to behave in public.
I m sure yours were well behaved... unfortunately many weren't. After the umpteenth time I m barged out of the way or trodden on or can't hear my conversation due to one screaming I get a little p*ssed off - I was brought up proper you know...
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Wycombe...
Was a very busy party in the Hangar - LOADS of people bopping away to two great bands. Get yourself back in the fold matey!
StopStart...
Glad you enjoyed the Dinner on Friday as well - what table No were you on? I was under the nose of the GR7. Can't tell you what hassle it is getting 5 real aircraft into a carpetted hangar and to have 570 people eating there!
Was a very busy party in the Hangar - LOADS of people bopping away to two great bands. Get yourself back in the fold matey!
StopStart...
Glad you enjoyed the Dinner on Friday as well - what table No were you on? I was under the nose of the GR7. Can't tell you what hassle it is getting 5 real aircraft into a carpetted hangar and to have 570 people eating there!