RIAT Ramblings

I note on other forums that RIAT is getting some significant criticism for the booking of Ms Alexandra Burke for this year’s show. I suppose it was inevitable that in the absence of anything more suitable for enthusiasts, RIAT would start looking for other pseudo-attractions.

Of course, I’ve been saying for years now that RIAT was on a steady slope towards an inevitable end, but it has taken until now for many people to accept what most of us could see coming years ago. Whenever I ventured to criticise RIAT I was accused of being negative. Actually I was simply being realistic, as events are now proving. Clearly, when just about every military aircraft of any great interest has gone, a showcase for such exhibits seems a tad pointless.

I’ve often said that RIAT could still produce a show which would cater for the interests of enthusiasts, but to do this they would have to accept that the current show format is no longer valid. Problem is, RIAT seem to be more concerned with their income than the interests of many of the people that pay for the tickets. I suppose one can’t blame RIAT for their clear intention to cater for the masses, but this kind of approach seems to be a very long way from the aims and style of IAT when it first started.

I guess we would all wish RIAT well in raising money for a charity which we all support. But at the same time I think a lot of us are becoming more and more insulted by the way in which the show is becoming shamelessly geared towards money-making, to such an extent that the poor enthusiast seems to be the person who gets the poorest deal. Nothing of great interest to see, admission prices very high, and even more charges to get a decent view on arrivals/departure days, etc. Surely, the people who supported this show when it began (and for whom the event was presumably first created?) ought to be offered something better than a flypast of Air Cadet planes (I mean really come on, they’re having a larf?!), a pop singer, and various means of parting with even more money to get a closer look at er… very little.

RIAT will doubtless still be a good show. But really, is it that good? Nope, it’s over-priced, over-hyped and presented as something far more than it actually is. If one removed the “fluff” (the civilian aircraft, the acres of empty space, the ground displays, the concerts and so on), the show’s “core” list of military flying exhibits is hardly worth getting out of bed for. Okay, it’s not RIAT’s fault (they can’t turn back time) but they could accept what we can all clearly see – that the show is no longer viable. Yes, it still makes money, but that’s hardly the point. Or it wasn’t the point until more recently.

If they could resist the temptation to keep flogging the same dead horse, some “blue sky thinking” (in co-operation with the RAF, etc.) might produce something much more exciting. But RIAT evidently intend to carry-on catering for “the family” (whatever that is) with all manner of attractions, all of which offer the enthusiast absolutely nothing.

I fear the best we can do is sit-back and watch the show deteriorate still further. It’s a sad business, but until the RIAT folks have the guts to accept that they can’t keep peddling this show as if it was the same mega-event we used to know and love, it’s going to get even more tiresome. What will it be next year? BMX tracks? Stock cars? Horse racing?

I’ve seen a number of people suggest that enthusiasts simply stay away from this year’s show. I have to say that I would also encourage anyone to stay away. Not through any act of spite, but simply to try and encourage RIAT to wake-up and smell the proverbial coffee. Whilst we keep paying-up they will keep taking the money. It’s only when the money doesn’t come-in that RIAT will finally be forced to stop to consider that maybe they could do things very differently.