RAF Leuchars air show, USAF no show?
 

Looking at the "What`s on?" schedules, what has happened to the USAF?
First time that I can recall no visitors flying or static. Good support from most of Europe though.

Sequestration?


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Disassociation?

Sequestration, Same as at RIAT !!

All sequestration cuts are equal, etc.

So how much does it cost for President Obama to golf? - Binghamton Political Buzz | Examiner.com

I remember going to airshows at RAF Finningley as a child. The static displays had so many different aircraft types that it seemed to fill the entire length of the taxiway / unused runway. It seemed not just every aircraft type had a static but every squadron turned up! I remember line after line of the same aircraft type in different markings.
The flying programme was constant non-stop all day, every type of aircraft in the RAF with a display team...the original Vulcan display, Jag, Harrier, Nimrod, Tornado Air Display Variant, maybe Buccaneer and Phantom? Several other nations also sent display aircraft. Lots of static displays such as Rapier and the hangars were full of stuff.

Today, airshows or families day seem a sorry state of affairs, with hardly anything there.

So now Obama's golf is to blame for the USAF no-show.

I don't recall anyone ever making an issue about the cost of Reagan's golf rounds or either of the Bush's for that matter.

As ever, the Right will resort to anything to divert attention from the sequestration mess their obstructionism has helped to create.

Maybe they looked at the weather forecast.....

Such a shame , always good to see the buff there , plus usually a few F15's and tanker , and usually the airmen/woman dress up for the crowd a few years ago they was in Star Wars uniforms , kids loved it

USAF Participation
 

The various British Empire air shows, during the first half of the 20th century, were impressive, to say the least! Even up to 1962 there were huge numbers of exciting aircraft and massive formations (or so I'm told). I'd be interested to learn if the USAF were invited to participate in those.

My own experience of air shows between 1970 and 1989, at Finningley, Leuchars, Church Fenton and Abingdon (I never made it to a Biggin Hill air show, more's the pity) was that lots of European air forces and the USAF all contributed flying and static displays. Lots and lots of people turned up and traffic clogged up all the access roads for miles around, both on the way in and on the way out. Nonetheless, everyone seemed to enjoy and have fun.

The yanks were great on the ground and in the air (and in the mess). Lets hope the RAF and the USAF don't lose touch with each other.

Rgds SOS

I'll not be lamenting their absence. I'm apathetic towards their presence on the ground (though the odd F15 adds some variety) and always considered their airborne contributions to be a waste of programme time.

The static display will certainly have a huge gap in it, normally a few US aircraft taking up space there.
My last memory of the USAF last year was the B-52 disappearing into the early evening sky . B-52 FSC_8621 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Always the drag on a good party are you Incubus?

You lot have to bring half your Air Force to put on a show these days so I assume it shall be more like a Club Open Day than an Air Show.

You will have a Black Jet, a Tornado, and a Typhoon putting on the same routine....perhaps a Turbo Prop fly over head and the Chinook putting on a smashing good routine....then call it a day unless the Red show up then you will consider a Great Day.

Now when all the Europeans show up....and the Americans with their craft...added to the Home Team....now that is a Show.

Shame our Politicians cannot get the bills paid and our folks have to sit at home....granted this time they are probably briefing for some cross country flying to Syria.

Ah the good old days.

I remember one of the most impressive, and eerie moments from the Finningley airshow used to be the Vulcan scamble. A few minutes silence followed by the message coming over the tannoy, 'This is the bomber controller, B flight Finningley, scramble, scramble, scramble.' Then 16 Olympus engines started simultaneously and 4 Vulcans thundered off down the runway to disappear off into the blue (or more often grey). Wonderful, just thank god it never happend for real.

Effects of Sequestration
 

Sequestration is the cause - USAF participation in public events was cut in March 2013 for the remainder of the FY:

Budget Cuts Ground USAF Thunderbirds And Eliminates Support To Air Shows | Ottawa Citizen

MCAS Yuma still managed to put on a very worthwhile event with USMC assets, including MV-22, AV-8B, F-5E and privately owned classic fighters flying and all current inventory types in the static display including F-35B, UH-1Y and AH-1Z.

However, Aviation Nation 2013 at Nellis AFB, normally an excellent free show with flawless organization from which RIAT could learn a lot (free parking at the Speedway and a fleet of 50+ x 50-PAX coaches for shuttle - no queues to approach and park - on the base within 15 minutes of parking including security check and shuttle) is cancelled. As Las Vegas loses about $18M in business due to the cancellation, a consortium of business owners was trying to come up with some kind of sponsorship deal but it was obvious from the outset that the DoD bureaucracy could never be overcome in the 8 months available.

Maybe the USAF will turn up if Mr President makes the draw fae getting a place playing on St Andrews Old Course?

........and ,unfortunately, no Vulcan this year :ooh:

I remember going to airshows at RAF Finningley as a child. The static displays had so many different aircraft types that it seemed to fill the entire length of the taxiway

Memory does play tricks on us. I attended every Finningley show from about 1965 onwards and if one looks at the number of aircraft that were on display, it was often surprisingly small. It was only in latter years that the numbers swelled, but even then it wasn't much. I think the problem is that there is no longer the variety that used to give the impression of size. Sadly, all the great aircraft are gone and costs/operations prevent what is left from being on display.

Leuchars must have been struggling from the start with this year's show with no USAF, hardly any RAF and not much from Nato either. The weather forecast, combined with the Vulcan's no-show seem to suggest it will be quite a damp squib.

Unfortunately it's just the way it is these days. Even the mighty RIAT is a feeble shadow of its former self now. Enthusiasts still drool with delight over the "exciting" line-up but in reality it's mostly a (small) line-up of static aircraft, most of which are transports and tankers. All very nice but hardly worth walking down the street for, never mind a cross-country drive. The days of Phantom or Hunter line-ups, SR-71s, Russian machines and all the rest are long gone.

I'm surprised that many die-hard enthusiasts still get excited by shows, but I guess they don't know what they've missed. If they did, they'd probably stay in bed!

WH904, I can bet you never paid £30 on the day, for entry either !!!
(small print, pensioners £15) :D

Indeed, most shows used to be free.

I don't think anyone objected to paying for the likes of Greenham Common or Mildenhall, but back then one got something for one's money. These days it's a very different matter. For example, I went to Waddington's show to see the Viggen and Vulcan and I was astonished to see how little there was to see. The static line-up was virtually nil, and this was supposed to be the RAF's "flagship" show of the year. The flying display was tame, and livened-up only by the Viggen. Even the Vulcan was a bit of a disappointment, performing somewhere closer to Metheringham than Waddington.

I've carped about this before, and the response is usually that I should accept that everybody loves these shows, as demonstrated by the attendance figures. It's spurious nonsense of course, as nobody has calculated how many people just don't go to shows any more because they're so poor.

I sympathise with the organisers for having to struggle with dwindling numbers of potential attendees and the ever-rising costs, plus absurd safety rules that make watching the show a better idea outside the airfield than in it. But my sympathy goes only so far. I see no attempt from anyone to make shows better, given the resources that remain. They seem to think that soldiering-on with the same old format is the way to go, even though it's gasping its last breath.