Nice idea, but it’s pretty exhausting to go to two major venues back to back.
If I did, say Legends on the saturday, well thats fine, it’s only about half an hour from here, but I normally get back feeling pretty knackered, then its batteries to recharge, butties to make and to miss the traffic getting into RIAT, I’d have to leave at about 5:00am from here.
The last time I went to Fairford, I left here at 6:00 and had to make a very high speed run to get there before the traffic closed in, I only just made it too. Getting back from there wasn’t much fun either, trying to be clever and miss the traffic, I went off for an evening meal in a quiet Cotswold pub, but then I recall being stuck on the M25 at midnight and not getting home till 1:00am.
The other important item is the cost, if I took, say, Hungarian Solly and the father in law to both events, considering petrol, general payouts, grub, beers, souvenirs, programmes, I doubt whether I’d get much change out of £250!
I have to e-mail Hungary with all this information and at the moment, I’m considering that it might be better for Solly to come over during the Spring bank holiday period and take him off to the Military Pagent at OW instead, he’ll be knocked out by the Shuttleworth historics, he’s seen the DX Autumn Airshow, and that was pretty good last year, why not something different, he’s only been over to the UK once, and thought that what our country had to offer in all it’s forms was pretty fantastic.
He likes his steam trains too, last year I took him for a trip on the North Norfolk Railway and he was beside himself with that.
The Spring bank holiday weekend coincides with the 40th anniversary of the end of steam show at the NRM at York, he would pass out at the prospect of seeing 4 A-4 pacifics together, and having friends up north too, it wouldn’t be a problem as far as accomodation is concerned, apart from all that, railway events tend to be considerably cheaper too.
I just have a feeling that Legends won’t be the same this year, I will still go to it, but having told someone that, who is prepared to make an effort to get here from the other side of Europe, I don’t want him to be dissapointed, after all, he’s seen a spitfire tailchase.

I’ll tell you this much, living where you do I’d be on the road much earlier for RIAT. I only live just outside Oxford and I’d be on the road about 5.30, 6.00 at the latest. Still I guess that’s the advantage of local knowledge, I know what the traffic gets like around the are and when so I plan my departure timews accordingly.