WH904

"and the response is usually that I should accept that everybody loves these shows, as demonstrated by the attendance figures."

This applies to everything in this world "we are successful, lot at the figures,
look how many walk through the door" as opposed to
"how can we make this better, how can we improve, who are we missing out on,
who doesn't come that would like to" etc etc.

Wot no Vulcan?

I could swear last time I checked the website it was listed as flying.

I see the Belgians and Danes arent showing face either, cant remember a show without them.

Last chance to see the VC-10 though. Makes spending 50 quid to stand in the rain all day worth it alone.

Vulcan cancelled couple of days ago after suffering a fuel leak on Sunday. The VC10 will indeed be nice though, although it's not a C1 - sadly they've all gone now.

I can't imagine there's going to be much at Leuchars to create much interest for anyone who has any great interest in aircraft. Viggen has got to be the star of the show - it certainly was at Waddington by a mile!

Let's be a little bit upbeat here WH904. I'm not mad about Airshows but the Leuchars' show has always been well received by the community that attend it. I'm sure it will be the same this year. Regards to all those who are presently working their nuts off and putting up with all sorts of nonsense to make the day go well and put a smile on the faces of those who visit on Sat. Your efforts are all the more appreciated given that you working under the transition programme. Good luck for Sat.:ok:

Tom

We all have our views of course. I simply look at the way these shows are presented. They're not a free day out to showcase the RAF or anything else. They're commercial events now. We don't have to thank anybody for them. If shows want our money then they are obliged to provide a show worth paying for. Same applies to any other kind of spectator event. Anyone is entitled to point-out how poor they are, surely? I really don't get this notion that we should somehow be thankful or grateful for an air show. Why?

Yes you are right WH, in life you do not need to thank anyone for anything - particularly if it's something you have paid for. That's what makes the act special, worthwhile and appreciated. Hey Ho, each to their own.:=

The servicemen/women who make the Airshow happen do not undertake it on a commercial footing nor do they receive any financial gain for it. I'm not going to tell you how many of them get "buggered" about in the run-up to the Airshow, the attention which it attracts from stn Execs is wholly disproportionate and hence the triv factor filters downward. But, hey at the end of the day. they are service personnel so they should just get on with it aye. Like I said, I agree you do not need to say thanks - some just choose to. Anyway, looking forward to Sat, taking the kids to see what may well be the last BB Airshow at Leuchars. Should be a good one:ok:

Don't get me wrong, the folks who actually do the job of physically putting on the show should be given due credit. I'm really talking about the organisers more than anyone else. It's their "commercial" attitude that sets the tone and style of each show and that's fine, but I never quite get how we're then somehow obliged to be grateful that they've deigned to put on a show for us. That's really not how it should be.

Enjoy what's there, if you can. Its going to be the last.

Last Leuchars Airshow

Think it was already widely assumed that this would be the last show. It's a very sad business. It was tragic to see the very last Finningley show, and that was one of the last of a long line of stations that held annual BofB At Home days (even though it wasn't billed as such towards the end). Abingdon, St.Athan, and many others all disappeared and Leuchars was the last of the traditional annual events. It's particularly sad that they're ending on such a lack-lustre note, with little of interest to see and gloomy weather by the looks of it. But there's not much that the organisers could do about either issue!

I guess the only attitude is to enjoy what there is for one last time. It's hard to see how the event could be replicated elsewhere (I mean, how many people would go all the way to Lossiemouth?!) so Leuchars is simply going the same way as so many other stations, and taking its show with it. One would imagine that for the future, the air show scene is going to become little more than a series of small events, mostly held at the seaside. One hopes that the RAF will strive to present some sort of annual event, but if they do, let's hope it's significantly better than this year's Waddington show. If it hadn't been for the Vulcan and particularly the Viggen, it would have been pretty grim.

I think the problem is that organisers try to carry-on replicating the same kind of show that's been staged for decades. It seems clear that this kind of event is no longer sustainable. It needs some "blue sky thinking" and a new attitude towards the concept of public relations. Problem is, I don't think there's any sign of that happening - just yet ;)

Indeed. I recall many a show in the 80s at Fairford and Greenham when the field was packed to the gunnels with a/c, one in particular when they were celebrating some Herc anniversary or other, when perhaps 30+* variants of the type were on show.

* If memory serves - either way, it seemed a lot to me.

...that said, the principal (summer) shows at Duxford seem still to be going strong. Haven't been to leg-ends for a while, but that always seems to be pretty well attended. I know it helps when it is the home airfield for a fair few warbirds.

Can totally understand it being the last as all the infrastructure to support flying will have gone.

Deadpan it was the 25th, went there in a Puma, someone (NOT ME) has pics on line, it amused me at the time because they put the Saudi one next to the Israeli one.. I know it was a bloody long walk, being a mile long line of them

Lockheed C130 Hercules 25th Anniversary Line Up IAT 79 Greenham common - a set on Flickr

That was like 5 days ago. Wish we could take that long over a snag. What happened to repairing the required number of aircraft for the following days flying programme? We (well, the stackers) have even found spares and couriered them from Marhell to ice station Lossie and we still got the jet fixed quicker than that.

Theres a joke that "When it stops leaking, then there is a problem :} ".

The difference is you have spares available, all be it in another place, they may not, hence the parts need repairing and the time factor comes into play.

I could chisel a new widget out of stone quicker.

Maybe the could do a visit to one of the other static Vulcans with an adjustable spanner a swag bag.

With this being the final year at Leuchars I can see the inhabitants of Inverness and Aberdeen, and all points inbetween, being up for the event being moved to Lossie, but only the uber-keen would make the journey up from the central-belt conurbations I'd imagine.

Perhaps an enhanced beat-up programme for East Fortune might be the best the Edinburgers etc. can hope for.

Lossie
 

Quote: "I mean, how many people would go all the way to Lossiemouth?"

I'm sure I remember attending an excellent display at Lossie some time in the 1980s. One distinct benefit over Leuchars is that at Lossie the logical arrangement of the crowd and display line has the crowd facing North, not squinting into the sun as at Leuchars

RIAT this year was definitely a shadow of its former self. The static park was pretty empty and well s p r e a d out (which was good in a way, as you never felt hemmed in by people, despite the Sat being a sell out) and the flying display was definitely well s p a c e d out as opposed to the shows of the 90s where there was something displaying almost continuously.

Not entirely convinced by the Lossie crowd direction, certainly better than Leuchars which is entirely in to sun, but the sun still gets into the eyes at Lossie after about midday. Kinloss had the best layout up there, with the crowd on the south-side and an east-west runway.

Sadly costs, ever shrinking militaries and, for the US this year, sequestration have taken a serious toll on static and flying displays - will airshows involving the regular military survive much longer? Will we be just left with those specialist shows, such as Duxford and maybe the big trade shows, in the not too distant future? :{

Thanks for posting the link to the photos NL. That was my first and only visit to Greenham Common. Great to see the photos of Snoopy as I got a chance to have a look inside it as the Capt was (and still is) a family friend.

I gave-up on RIAT some years ago. I marvel at how some enthusiasts still whip themselves into a frenzy on some forum sites over RIAT but I really don't understand why. I suspect it's simply because they've not seen anything better. It is a pity we can't go back in time... :)