RIAT - Sunday cancelled.
 

Err, that's it.
Shame...

Are they still having the Hangar party?

Well, what an unmitigated disaster. The met is supposed to be fine tomorrow as well. Have they not got contingency car parks on hardstandings on site and in the local area??
There will be a lot of hacked off punters that may not ever buy a ticket again. It takes years to wipe this sort of thing from the memory; they may suffer to come back from this??

They really should consider letting people on foot/campers into the show - just making clear the carparks are shut. Just seems a shame for the Brazilians and the raptors who have travelled along way to be the stars of the show!
I bet DBH are gutted right now....

from an email they sent me (includes monday departure day details)

The organisers of the Royal International Air Tattoo have announced that
the airshow on Sunday, 13 July will not go ahead.

Despite a huge effort by everyone involved to improve conditions of the
waterlogged car parks, it became clear by mid afternoon today (July 12)
that significant areas of the fields remained unusable.

Air Tattoo staff and volunteers have been working around the clock to
try and improve the conditions on the airfield and in the car parks but
have unfortunately run out of time.

Please do not travel to RAF Fairford tomorrow. For those seeking a
refund please see the details below. These cannot be obtained from the
base itself.

We appreciate that many people will be desperately disappointed but rest
assured we have done our utmost to try and ensure the show continued but
the safety of the public is paramount.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank those who had been
planning to attend the airshow, for the cooperation and understanding.

Questions and Answers:

What is the refund policy?
Please view our website Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises for details of our refund
policy. Those with Saturday tickets will be refunded but this will
take at least eight weeks due to the volume involved. Enquiries should
be directed to [email protected]

To obtain your refund please send the actual tickets with attached
stubs, together with your name, address, phone number, email address and
a note of where they were purchased to:

RIAT Refunds
The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises
Douglas Bader House
Horcott Hill
Fairford
Gloucestershire
GL7 4RB
UK

Will there be any refunds for additional costs incurred?
Unfortunately we are unable to cover any additional costs you have
incurred. A full refund will only be given for the cost of the tickets
and handling fee if applicable.

Will Park and View be open on Monday?
This will be reviewed tomorrow (Sunday 13 July) and is dependant on a
significant improvement to the designated car park. Please see
Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises for details.

Shame it was flyable today but obviously the carpark problem was not fixable,this means that RIAT needs a dry week for the show to take place in future or find a car park with a hard surface,Little Rissington?

Now that both showdays have been called off, is it still possible to attend departure day next Monday?? http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/ima...s/confused.gif
No word on this in the press release...

XH558 is now at Farnborough. She is due to display Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Farnborough week.

Let's hope that the organizers look after those who now have to wade through the mud taking it all down for bugger-all reward.

I'm particularly referring to the youngsters who all too frequently have missed being fed and watered in the past - while the 'grown-ups' in (and sometimes out of!) 'grow-bags'are in the p!$$ up!!!

A bit of a kick in the balls really.
got free tickets for tommorow and now the only thing im going to see is two weeks of tent and marquee dismantling in the mud hoorah.

I hate the good old british summer!!!!!

Just spoke on the phone with a friend who was supposed to run his aviation bookstall at Riat on both days....He's pretty pi##ed off right now...had travelled down from Manchester with a van load of stuff....has sold absolutely zilch and now getting ready to go home!! He mentioned that it was not so much a question of car parking being a problem in canx sunday,but more of a problem with the events "insurers",(or those involved in such matters),who thought the risk to spectators from "slip and fall" related accidents too risky!!
As for monday departures,he has said that several crews he has spoken to today,are now requesting sunday departures for home,so there may not be too much to see on monday if they get the go ahead.

It's a crying shame that the w/e has been washed out, especially for the hundreds of volunteers who have given up so much of their free time to make it happen. And then there are the funds for the RAFBF charitable works...

Sounds like an order for PSP might be a great idea for the future.

Me thinks I might be leaving earlier than usual for Duxford tommorow....

What shame, I am ex BBMF and know how much some people look forward to these shows. Im sure the decision wasnt taken lightly.

Just managed to get through to RIAT by phone. Park and View for departure day next Monday has NOT been called off (yet)... :rolleyes:

"Slip and fall related injuries" :*

Well done everyone who has been tempted into make pathetic, fatuous claims for personal injury when you really should just have taken more care yourself. (Exasperated statement addressed to the wider audience).
Well done AmbulanceChasers4U for creating a greedy, quick buck compensation culture.
Well done all the insurers and courts who don't have the spine to tell claimants making claims that are largely a result of their own stupidity or inattention to :mad: off.

Just as an aside to this weekends RIAT "fiasco"...i wonder how long it will be before the climate change brigade come out with a "you reap what you sow" type statement......You know it's all you people flying in aeroplanes kicking out tons of carbon gasses thats caused this unseasonal weather!!!!
Any bets on such an article in tomorrows papers??

Not wishing to be wise after the event but............. knowing that the parking area is susceptible to heavy rainfall (not unknown during the British Summer) Pressed Steel Planking aka PSP might have saved the day.

Apparently (according to radio) the tried PSP, but the vehicles carrying it could not get into the fields, due to the conditions.

Stew

Car parks
 

Car parks are not on the base due to security of a USAF airbase (post 9/11) that is lent to RIAT =

Car parks have to use surrounding fields as loaned / supplied by local farmers / Landowners (Who may charge for the use??) and happens to be on the same flood plain as the Thames =

Unpaved land that with the addition of "ONE MONTHS RAIN IN 72 HOURS" + the churning action of wheels / feet = Quagmire!!:ok:

So thats the reason. Simple really!!:ugh::ugh:

PSP.. From who and who was going to lay the amount required to support 25,000+ cars in a day??

I based my question re. PSP on the fact that RIAT, having held this show for some 38 years, would have come up with a solution by now. Relying on farmers fields to park 1000s of vehicles is a bit chancy and so it has proved.

Giggedy giggedy...

:bored:

Don't call stores with your order - I keep telling you - it's Pierced Steel Plank (PSP)

Noticed that UKAR (AKA Spotters central) has crashed as well!!

[QUOTE]
it's Pierced Steel Plank
[/QUOTE
Of course you're right Forget, most remiss of me

:{

Royal International Air Tattoo

Another National Disgrace?
Put yourself on a pedestal and what do you expect. :D

I'm sure that last year there was loads of tarmac we we able to walk on and stands on which to sit. Must have gone green :rolleyes:


Well, at least we havethe Olympics to look forward to and be proud of! :eek:

Are some of you folks for real???????????

It's an outdoor event in the United Kingdom for gawds sake.

What do you expect????????

Oh yes, I see, you expect the entire might of the United States and Royal Air Forces, to drop everything they're doing, ship in tons of psp and the necessary personnel to lay it.

Just so you can enjoy an airshow?

Get a grip!

Edit: One more thing for all those talking about "disgrace" and RIAT F*ck-ups..................count yourselves lucky that RIAT has played the fair card and is willing to refund your money. They do not have to!

This from RIAT "terms and conditions";

"The Organisers reserve the right at any time to cancel or postpone RIAT 2008 or to cancel, postpone or vary any event comprising part of RIAT 2008"

"The Ticket Holder will not be entitled to a refund of any entrance fee paid if for any reason outside the Organisers’ control RIAT 2008 does not take place or is curtailed in any way or postponed or the Ticket Holder is prevented from attending RIAT 2008"

Stew

Rafair 7643 Well said.

Some of the comments here have just astounded me.


are you having a laugh, this is not a small village fete with parking for a few dozen vehicles.



It has never been cancelled before, why would they have a solution to a massive problem that has never occurred before.

What planet are some of you people on. If some of you are so called intelligent offices you embarrass the Royal Air Force.


Just feel sorry for all the people that have put their hearts and soles into trying to organise an event the size of this only to see it washed away by nature.

Spot on RAFAIR!:ok:

A lot of people that use this forum are not military!!

My only hope is that the loss of income to the Service Charities doesn't curtail the excellent service that they provide.

I better buy some more Raffle Tickets I suppose.

Also from RAFAIR .

So, PSP was in the contingency plan!

Because sh*t happens

I just feel so sorry for all the Organisers, Participants, Volunteers etc, all their hard work for nothing and THEN to have to put up with all the hassle that is being hurled their way. The only guilty party is the British Weather!!!

There is no such thing as bad weather, only wrong clothing.

Tell that to the residents of New Orleans, or even Gloucestershire and Worcestershire last year...

Having looked at the long range forecast for next week,it looks like it is going to be reasonably fine and dry in the south!. Sods law then that the bigger and more important of the two shows had to suffer so badly!. Having been a long term Riat attendee i,ve got used to being "cooked to a cinder" on previous occassions and yet somehow always expected rain at Farnborough,especially when it used to be in Sept. Perhaps now having the two shows planned for consecutive weeks is not the best idea!

I think it was more a reaction to the events rather than a contingency. In any case there is no way they could PSP each and every field.

Cheers

Stew

SRENNAPS

Contingency car parks are not that far fetched. How about using hardstandings in the area and having shuttle buses. Knowing far well how bad the UK Met is (Bocastle/Glasto/Floods) you would have thought that there may have been a plan 'c'?? Such a shame that so much effort will result in a huge loss of money for all invloved. I suppose u could call this RIAT's ' Black Swan' event??

Wet weather plan
 

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, isn't the whole point of contingency planning er, anticipating the worse happening? Were there measures in place and were they inadequate or were no measures in place at all? Taken in context, these arrangements and timely announcements (or, lack of them) and the handling of the decision not to allow tickets on Saturday will only increase the perception that the organisers have got lazy and are out of touch.

The campers and traders anticipate bad weather, and so too, will arrangements for the corporate bigwigs have catered for the possibility of rain. But if something as obvious as car parking for the masses was not even considered, or considered and catered for badly, then its a big shame. Kemble is 20 minutes away, could that not have been considered and a shuttle service used? And look at Silverstone - do organisers not watch the news?

The Fairford farmers get a great deal out this event, year after year. But if they're to continue making a decent turn, they need to be able to play their part too and offer psp or some similar contingency (which might present a cost implication). Dispersing car parking would prevent fouling as would using local hard standings. Its a pity that something as glittering as this fell foul to something as obvious as the British weather, but hey ho - roll on 2009.

1987 was a tad wet as well but that still went ahead. Flying display was curtailed IIRC but as I couldn't get out of the tent that our Sqn display was in due to the crush of people sheltering from the rain.....

But suppose that was when parking was allowed in site

http://smileys.on-my-web.com/reposit...-irish-048.gif

Oh Al if only the RIAT organisers had listened to an ex rockape then all of this could have been avoided.:rolleyes:

The problem, as I said on another thread (I think) is that whether you PSP or not, you will still have mud being transferred onto the public road.

Not sure about English Law, but in Scotland that can lead to a charge under the Roads (Scotland) Act against the organisers (in the event of an accident).

Now I have never been down to Fairford, however from what I hear, the road infrastructure is pretty much swamped by RIAT crowds, even in good weather.

Many folks look at RIAT involving staff etc in or on the boundary of the venue. Unfortunately, Policing such an event extends some distance from the venue. With this years deluge (again whether using PSP or not) the delays in exiting from car parks would be compounded.

Such delays are, to the spectator, an embuggerance to say the least. From a Policing standpoint, it becomes a nightmare, and an expensive one. You've suddenly got officers on extended duty and the costs of that will eventually be bourne by the organisers, or if you like, the Charity.

Another point worth considering. At the moment the spectators roll up and park in fields, and I'm sure that they're are plenty of signs advising that they do so "at their own risk". However, the minute you PSP the entire field or part thereof, you can no longer dump the responsibility on the spectator. You (as an organiser) have provided a surface for them to drive/park on and you are liable for any damage which results from the surface you have provided.

Folks, I can understand the frustration you feel..............been there, seen it and bought the T Shirt. There is however, little point in lambasting RIAT or asking for hardstandings etc. Fairford is first and foremost an active base, the surrounding area is not built to cater for 100,000.......but by luck they somehow manage. You can have in place all contingency plans you can think of, and still be caught out.

As I said before, just be thankful that RIAT are not holding you all to the conditions of sale..............they're giving you all a refund, rather than sitting back and pointing at the small print.

Cheers

Stew

btw I'm not military - ex RAF/VR and as you might have guessed a retired cop, who spent a lot of time standing in the p*ssing rain at such events! :)