Helitech to move away from Duxford???
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whilst at trip to HAI in the states i met a guy who was at the time "mr bond" he was there looking to purchase a 900 for a contract.
Personally i bought a new 480 and 600 from expo shows i find them a better place to look at all other models and types ,you can usually get some good [or bad] feedback from other owners ,and its relaxed not lke putting your head in the lions den by visiting the dealer and playing whats like a top trumps game with specifications
i do however like visting fly in type shows especially Helitech for other reasons than rotor rookie mentioned
Ease it getting there less than a hour by heli 3 to 4 hours by road
i like to see other aircraft arriving and departing it adds to the flavour of the show
Chance to meet up with other owners and get their take on helimatters
its a lot easyier to say hi i am fred i flew in with xyz over there did you have problems with the so and so ad about blades, how did you get on the other person knows you are likely a fellow owner not some water mitty
and will open up more also you make new friends
Personally i bought a new 480 and 600 from expo shows i find them a better place to look at all other models and types ,you can usually get some good [or bad] feedback from other owners ,and its relaxed not lke putting your head in the lions den by visiting the dealer and playing whats like a top trumps game with specifications
i do however like visting fly in type shows especially Helitech for other reasons than rotor rookie mentioned
Ease it getting there less than a hour by heli 3 to 4 hours by road
i like to see other aircraft arriving and departing it adds to the flavour of the show
Chance to meet up with other owners and get their take on helimatters
its a lot easyier to say hi i am fred i flew in with xyz over there did you have problems with the so and so ad about blades, how did you get on the other person knows you are likely a fellow owner not some water mitty
and will open up more also you make new friends
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Originally Posted by PANews
Now if behind all those secretive handles here on Rotorheads there is a 'Mr Bond' [or even two] there may well be a need for a declaration of their identities! 
I/C
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Cannot see how a show at which exhibitors are unable to fly potential customers (either on demonstration flights or on flights bringing guests into the event) can exceed one which does not have this capability.
Seem to recall they had an aviation show at Earl's Court once - maybe the new improved Helitech will be something like that?
Seem to recall they had an aviation show at Earl's Court once - maybe the new improved Helitech will be something like that?
Ahb yes the nostalgia wells up ..... the Earles Court Aviation Show... half a dozen Piper's, a dunker tANK and 40 PC pilot set ups!
The public voted with their feet.
The public voted with their feet.
Just received my Helitech invite card just now in the post 
Helitech International offers you and down the 5th out of 7th 'carrots' it says
"A static display inside and outside the exhibition hall"
Its the 'outside' bit gets me, maybe we can all fly there
Helitech International offers you and down the 5th out of 7th 'carrots' it says
"A static display inside and outside the exhibition hall"
Its the 'outside' bit gets me, maybe we can all fly there
Avoid imitations
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Unfortunately, the "personal" invite I received says: "A static aircraft display inside and outside the exhibition hall".
Nope - I still won't be going. I have never flown into the previous venues, only driven. But for me, London is a place too far.
Nope - I still won't be going. I have never flown into the previous venues, only driven. But for me, London is a place too far.
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So why the big negatives against HeliTech, is it just because you cant fly in or out on the day or what. Heli Expo and other shows like HAC in Canada etc are all proper events and they dont allow people to fly in and out.
Paco - I would have thought that targeting propert customers would have been the basis of your decision, isnt that what exhibiting the shows is all about ?
Just curious.
Paco - I would have thought that targeting propert customers would have been the basis of your decision, isnt that what exhibiting the shows is all about ?
Just curious.
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Maybe we just want a show on our shores which is a little different to the rest, a bit more homely and where people have the freedom to fly in and out and be a bit casual.
The corporates don't always have to call the shots and by feeding reasoned defences for "going with the flow" you only encourage them to continue ruling the roost with scant regard for anything other than their own often pre-conceived ideas as to what they believe constitutes "success".
I've already joined the growing number of those who are saying "Not me at Helitech 2013" and hope many others will grow a good set of British b*lls and do the same.
Let's see something different and let's see something that we the operators, pilots, mechanics and other working in the industry actually want!
The corporates don't always have to call the shots and by feeding reasoned defences for "going with the flow" you only encourage them to continue ruling the roost with scant regard for anything other than their own often pre-conceived ideas as to what they believe constitutes "success".
I've already joined the growing number of those who are saying "Not me at Helitech 2013" and hope many others will grow a good set of British b*lls and do the same.
Let's see something different and let's see something that we the operators, pilots, mechanics and other working in the industry actually want!
It is unfair to knock Helitech at Excel on the grounds of access by potential visitors.
Been there a number of times [mainly for DSEi the month before the Helitech slot] and its very easy to get to using public transport. Main route is by the Docklands Light Railway but buses are another option. Cars are a nightmare and the cost of the [ample] car parking high but I guess the intention is that you will arrive by public transport having dumped the car on the edges of London.
Standing back from the event as a potential foreigner attending..... fly into London City ...... just a short train ride away on DLR.... and many attending Duxford have to fly into Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted and drive/travel many miles to Duxford via London to then find one of the scarce hotels in Cambridge. Thats a long drive every day. Even from Central London Excel is just 20 minutes by tube/DLR.
Overall London stays in a hotel might be expensive but these days there are cheap alternatives close by in the Travel lodge bracket [get in quick] and the location is just down the road from the Olympic site and quite a few people got there easily.
Do not get me wrong, I am against the move from Duxford, but fight the fight using the truth..... Excel is not hard to get to or even an unpleasant experience...... not much grass about though. My main negative in all this is the intention to move Helitech out of the UK from 2014, will it ever return?
Been there a number of times [mainly for DSEi the month before the Helitech slot] and its very easy to get to using public transport. Main route is by the Docklands Light Railway but buses are another option. Cars are a nightmare and the cost of the [ample] car parking high but I guess the intention is that you will arrive by public transport having dumped the car on the edges of London.
Standing back from the event as a potential foreigner attending..... fly into London City ...... just a short train ride away on DLR.... and many attending Duxford have to fly into Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted and drive/travel many miles to Duxford via London to then find one of the scarce hotels in Cambridge. Thats a long drive every day. Even from Central London Excel is just 20 minutes by tube/DLR.
Overall London stays in a hotel might be expensive but these days there are cheap alternatives close by in the Travel lodge bracket [get in quick] and the location is just down the road from the Olympic site and quite a few people got there easily.
Do not get me wrong, I am against the move from Duxford, but fight the fight using the truth..... Excel is not hard to get to or even an unpleasant experience...... not much grass about though. My main negative in all this is the intention to move Helitech out of the UK from 2014, will it ever return?
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It is not an easy place to get to, and if my customers are not there, what's the point in us going? My target market is not professionals who know where we are anyway!
Anthony - you kind of hit the nail on the head - it was more of a family show at Duxford and under the previous management. I distinctly didn't get that feeling at the last show.
Phil
Anthony - you kind of hit the nail on the head - it was more of a family show at Duxford and under the previous management. I distinctly didn't get that feeling at the last show.
Phil
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London City I thought are only for business people with business prices. Isn't the train going to be a tad busy with all those people especially during the week where all of Canary Wharf are using them? Heathrow to Excel is a long slog on the train......
Car is easy ish to get to excel but you have the M25 to contend with.....
You really want the exhibition to happen on the M4/M3/M40 ....
Anywho I will only be going if there is a good enough reason but not for a jolly and going by past experience where my mate went in order to do some research in regards what products to buy then I won't bother, that's what PPrune is for.
Car is easy ish to get to excel but you have the M25 to contend with.....
You really want the exhibition to happen on the M4/M3/M40 ....
Anywho I will only be going if there is a good enough reason but not for a jolly and going by past experience where my mate went in order to do some research in regards what products to buy then I won't bother, that's what PPrune is for.
All I can say is that for a handful of years the World has been going to DSEi [in the face of a detrimental high seurity presence by police etc against the anti-war factions protesting against the event] and getting there has been fairly easy and not too crowded.
The City is the other way, and you have to travel M25 to ExCel and Duxford if you are driving from Heathrow. No the M25 is not pleasant but I still have to use it to go to Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted to get to Berlin, Paris or the city hosting the Heli-Expo so I am well aware of its problems.
There must be others out there on Rotorheads that have been to DSEi and other events there and therefore have an opinion based upon the actual travel experience through having actually done it rather than guessing.
If you leave home territory its going to be nasty so its a matter of degree.
The City is the other way, and you have to travel M25 to ExCel and Duxford if you are driving from Heathrow. No the M25 is not pleasant but I still have to use it to go to Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted to get to Berlin, Paris or the city hosting the Heli-Expo so I am well aware of its problems.
There must be others out there on Rotorheads that have been to DSEi and other events there and therefore have an opinion based upon the actual travel experience through having actually done it rather than guessing.
If you leave home territory its going to be nasty so its a matter of degree.
Just checked the Helitech website... currently 68 exhibitors
The last Duxford show had 260....
I would also imagine that hiring the Excel Centre is going to be rather more expensive than putting a tent up at Duxford.
The organisers will need to be getting a few more exhibitors signed up pretty quickly to make the event viable.
The last Duxford show had 260....
I would also imagine that hiring the Excel Centre is going to be rather more expensive than putting a tent up at Duxford.
The organisers will need to be getting a few more exhibitors signed up pretty quickly to make the event viable.
Funding Helitech presence
The number of exhibitors seems at the moment to reflect the feelings on this forum.
From my understanding of the costs involved in going to Duxford I suspect that ExCel may have been cheaper overall. The IWM may have priced themselves out of the deal.
It was never put down in black and white but the way Duxford worked was that the organisers of Helitech had to pay the IWM an entry fee for every exhibitor , their staff and every likely visitor and then add the cost of 'the tent' on top.
Even as I wrote the above I fondly thought 'a tenner a head' because I have not been there as a paying punter [because of Helitech] in years..... so I just checked the entry fees posted on their website for next year...... £17.50 a head for simple adult entry this year. That includes a voluntary surcharge -whatever that is - over the base price of £15.90.
Helitech is not a giant show in terms of numbers but it does attract a lot of people to times that £17.50 [or £15.90] by.......
From my understanding of the costs involved in going to Duxford I suspect that ExCel may have been cheaper overall. The IWM may have priced themselves out of the deal.
It was never put down in black and white but the way Duxford worked was that the organisers of Helitech had to pay the IWM an entry fee for every exhibitor , their staff and every likely visitor and then add the cost of 'the tent' on top.
Even as I wrote the above I fondly thought 'a tenner a head' because I have not been there as a paying punter [because of Helitech] in years..... so I just checked the entry fees posted on their website for next year...... £17.50 a head for simple adult entry this year. That includes a voluntary surcharge -whatever that is - over the base price of £15.90.
Helitech is not a giant show in terms of numbers but it does attract a lot of people to times that £17.50 [or £15.90] by.......
Last edited by PANews; 2nd Jan 2013 at 06:29. Reason: prices
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Some of us have become anti-Helitech because we don't want to visit a show in an exhibition hall on the edges of London but wish to be at an airfield which you can fly into, preferably grass (but tarmac will do) with the odd Spitfire around!
This is our prerogative as visitors and we are entitled to hold this view.
This is our prerogative as visitors and we are entitled to hold this view.