Cosford 2004

The 2006 Cosford Airshow went very well and ‘very’ hot indeed – because I was busy editing down interviews that i’d recorded and was recording through the display itself, I didn’t get to see much of the display itself until around 4 pm-ish.

Radio Cosford also went pretty well – our first year on FM (87.9), although again we had very little if any help on traffic information from around the airshow, Cosford and the local area from the on-site Police to both ourselves and also the RAF Cosford onsite Media Centre – we had to resort to recording and re-writing travel bulletins off-air from BBC Radio’s WM and Shropshire for most of the road/traffic information we gave out and broadcast due to lack of help from the local constabulary!!!

The main downer of the day for the airshow organisers was the appalling train service (and big lack of it) from Arriva trains!!! 22 special trains were supposed to have been laid on for the airshow, only 1 ran in the morning, and 1 only in the evening!!! The public were not told until 12.00 noon when most people had given up and gone home!!!

The local/regional press have covered the lack of train service from Arriva in more detail – some 6000 people did not get to the airshow because of this and were left very dissapointed and waiting for their money back from Arriva with no alternative contingency plains in place by Arriva on the day of the airshow – RAF Cosford are putting a claim in for compensation and the outcome on this from Arriva Trains is very poor regarding their lack of trains and driver/vehicle availability – Arriva sell joint train/airshow admission tickets up to some 6 months or so in advance of the airshow, so for this to happen on the day is just appalling!!!

My personal favourites are always the Red Arrows, and the Blades from 2Excel who are very new also put on a great display and I had a superb interview with them and the interview I recorded with a local 83 year old Spitfire veteran was also very special!!!

We now look forward to the 2007 RAF Cosford airshow and Radio Cosford for 2007…….

Radio Cosford – The thread is two years old ! How did it go this year?

Radio Cosford was an absolute shambles period. No real information for the people stuck in the traffic jams and merely served to increase my frustration.

Having only just seen this quote above for the first time today, I feel as a one of the presenters of Radio Cosford since 1995 I have to comment and put a few things across regarding traffic information broadcast on the Radio Cosford temporary RSL radio station each year.

On the Sunday/day of the actual airshow itself, we (as do the airshow organisers and management themselves) rely totally on the Police on and around the site for any traffic information we are able to broadcast.

Unfortunately over the last 3 or so years, co-operation of ourselves getting this information from the on-site police has become increasingly difficult, with the police seemingly unwilling to take time out to visit our studio to give us the information we desperately need, often seem not to answer our phone calls we give to them asking for traffic information and not return phone calls to messages we leave for them on the day of the airshow itself.

The RAF Cosford Media Centre is on the day of the airshow, based in the same building we broadcast from and have the same problems we do with lack of decent and correct traffic information from the onsite Police, with their phone calls being ignored or messages not returned……..

This year at Radio Cosford, to obtain what information we could, we had to sadly resort to recording travel bulletins from BBC Radio’s WM and Shropshire and re-writing that information for broadcast due to more or less nil information forthcoming from the onsite Police.

At the end of the day, we can only be as good as the information that the onsite Police and other people will give us.

Arriva did not contact us about their appalling lack of train service for this years airshow until around 11.30 a.m. – the airshow having been open since 8.30 a.m.!!!! We did broacast this information as soon as we received it and also broacast the infomation about their appalling minimal single train that ran between Shrewsbury – Cosford – Wolverhampton in the evening as well. The local regional press have since commented further about this…….

The organisers of the Airshow are aware that each year we complain about this and are aware of the lack of co-operation we get from the onsite Police each year – this is a situation we are far from happy about and as annoyed as the general public!!!

Radio Cosford itself is a heck of a lot of work for us each year and is basically operated by 6 people – 3 who work behind the scenes working to get the licence from Ofcom and other behind the scenes stuff many months before the airshow itself.

Over the airshow itself, Radio Cosford is operated by 3 broadcaster – radio/transmitter engineering/technical people who broadcast the programmes, do all the interviewing and broadcast of the commentary itself (c/o Shaun Maffatt etc) which on the day of the airshow itself, Radio Cosford is a considerable amount of work for 3 people, with our day at the airshow starting at 5 am and not ending much before 9.30 pm on the Sunday of the airshow itself, having been on air since the Friday afternoon and at the airshow over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We also build our own radio studio each year and installation of the Medium Wave or FM transmitter and aerials ourselves.

We do work very hard to put on a radio station that will hopefully appeal to a very wide age range with talk and music output programming.

Hopefully in the future we will get better co-operation from the onsite traffic Police regarding road/traffic information in the area, we can only ask, hope we get the information and co-operation we need from the onsite traffic Police!!!

Regards – PK (Radio Cosford 87.9 FM).

I don’t mind music at shows, it can add to the atmosphere but it was far too loud.

A couple of years or so ago the speakers were positioned behind the crowd line but couldn’t really be heard because of a strong on crowd wind. One speaker pole was blown over and finished not too far from our car.

Neal

Good commentary, both informative and entertaining

Good point – but far too loud on the display line – the high speaker cones completely ruined the view from time to time – and the music was both (again) too loud and often, in my view, inappropriate.

I would recommend putting speaker cones low – as I have seen elsewhere – forget where – or possibly behind the crowd line (pointing fore and aft – with a lower volume aft).

Radio Cosford was an absolute shambles period. No real information for the people stuck in the traffic jams and merely served to increase my frustration.

Im afraid I have to agree with Kodak, dull could not be used to describe the SU26 display. There may be better performers in the SU26 but dull it wasn’t.

As others have said above Paul Bonhomme is superb in his Su26, I think he’s the best aeros pilot in the UK.
The Cobra is good but not difficult to do in a Su26.

I would have preferred to see a professional act. Denny, PB, Lecomber (who has been forced out of the business) but they all charge a display fee.

Neal

Paul Bonhomme beats ’em all……Shame that he doesn’t do that many, although he excelled at Donington Park on Saturday. Best display item of the show IMHO.. There’s not many aerobatic displays today that come anywhere near him in terms of aerobatic skills..

I agree Paul is the best but i have enjoyed Will Curtis and his su26 in the past he was not at his best when i saw him at Southend a few weekends ago in my view having said that i think he is a very good show pilot and worth seeing display.
What was wrong with his Cosford show?

Paul Bonhomme beats ’em all……Shame that he doesn’t do that many, although he excelled at Donington Park on Saturday. Best display item of the show IMHO.. There’s not many aerobatic displays today that come anywhere near him in terms of aerobatic skills..

Aeros were a rather dull display from Team Honda Su-26( an aicraft that has so much capability). Anna Walker’s Jungmann, Piston Provost, Utterly Butterly’s x 4 and The Aerostars closed the show.

Neal

Dull SU26!? so you missed the stalled “parachuting” pass and the cobra into the “hovering” position then!?

Nice shots Neil. Having seen the SU-26 this year I have to agree that it does somewhat flatter to decieve.

Can anyone let me know who was flying the Meteor (and Vampire?) at the show please.

Ah, I thought maybe I knew you, In another thread you said you parked in Albrighton as you were near locals. I grew up there but moved away in 97 but my family and friends still live there.

I thought it was a good show, it appears that some people had trouble getting in, some didn’t but there was a lot of people there. No big gaps in the flying. Good commentary, both informative and entertaining. Ok, some small mistakes but thats ok, I like Shaun Maffet.

A shame the Canberra wasn’t displaying. I’m not really into helicopters but the Chinok display was great.

Neal

nope, but from those photos, and considering the display was ‘on’ you walked right past where I was standing

what did you think of the event?

coanda

Coanda, Do I know you then?

Neal

lol you walked right past me!!