Kemble Air Day – £25 per head – is this expensive?

For a tad under £25 I get 90 minutes non-entertainment watching the Hatters!

£25 for an afternoon watching nice planes fly seems cheap, but nationally spare cash is at a premium.

The depressing thing is that £25 is less than half a tankful of fuel for my car. And I need to fill up almost every week.

Everything is getting more expensive and I’d guess that Legends 1987 was about the same cost as half a tank of fuel at that time.

Moggy

…………..and just to illustrate the point, here are a couple of images of some of the aircraft at last year’s fête aérienne at Rorthais – just like the local PFA fly-ins used to be in the days of yore!

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the admission fee – rien!

You have my sympathies, those of you who remain in the UK. Setting aside la Ferte Alais, things seem very different here in France. But then, maybe I don’t expect too much. I’m quite content with the portes ouvertes and fêtes aériennes at the local aerodromes. Nothing spectacular. A good collection of ultralights and historic aircraft flying in from the nearby fields. Very few barriers and good photos to be had without crowds of voyeurs ruining the shots. Fly-bys from whatever and whoever has decided to fly in. Pleasure flights for very little money (oh – but passenger aerobatics in the CAP.10B were a little more). Absolutely nothing happening between 12:00 and 14:00 except the barbeque in the aeroclub hangar. Now why am I not bothered by Kemble and a £25 entrance fee. A bientôt, mes amis!

…………..and just to illustrate the point, here are a couple of images of some of the aircraft at last year’s fête aérienne at Rorthais – just like the local PFA fly-ins used to be in the days of yore!

Shows are getting a bit expensive . in recent years i budget £25 max for Airshows. over that i do not go . with the wife and kid at £25 per head that’s £50 if the child is free, add the fuel and food it can grow over the £100 mark for a afternoon out ,

We go to Alton towers, Drayton manor park, Lego land for a full good day out for free . yes free just by shopping each week at Tesco, with the club points gained we get enough points for all the theme parks and a few meals out in some nice restaurants. plus 5p off a liter of fuel and there pump prices are pretty much the cheapest in the 1st place.

Suppose insurance costs and Police cover are the biggest money grabbers?
hurting the Airshow scene.

…..and there’s another country!

You have my sympathies, those of you who remain in the UK. Setting aside la Ferte Alais, things seem very different here in France. But then, maybe I don’t expect too much. I’m quite content with the portes ouvertes and fêtes aériennes at the local aerodromes. Nothing spectacular. A good collection of ultralights and historic aircraft flying in from the nearby fields. Very few barriers and good photos to be had without crowds of voyeurs ruining the shots. Fly-bys from whatever and whoever has decided to fly in. Pleasure flights for very little money (oh – but passenger aerobatics in the CAP.10B were a little more). Absolutely nothing happening between 12:00 and 14:00 except the barbeque in the aeroclub hangar. Now why am I not bothered by Kemble and a £25 entrance fee. A bientôt, mes amis!

does anyone think there are too many competing airshows and far to much similarity between them. The cost of going to an airshow as a day out is becoming ridiculous. Aswell as the cost of tickets, theres the cost of travel , parkingand then whilst on sight its difficult to get value for eating and any bits and peices you might want to pick up, paying for attractions-i’m talking static displays, not silly rides(although with kids….), then theres the temptation of pleasure flights etc. Per person your looking at gettting though £100 each for a really memorable day out. And with so much of the air time being the same displays as ‘free’ airshows its all getting a bit much.

I havn’t been to a proper airshow since biggin hill a good 5 years ago when the weekend was made un-enjoyable by the shocking loss of life by display pilots, that as well as costs put me off. So since then its just been the local displays at Margate for me. But i would be persueded to go to a true enthusiasts display, but it seems the big shows compete against each other for the big acts, just in the same way music festivals do. And there will always be things that are at other displays you wish were at the one you go to.

I’m rambling here, but i hope i have got my point across, but what is the solution?

Sadly, other aviation related non-flying events are finding it tough, too, to keep going at affordable prices for punters. The simple arithmetic, often, is that admission fees exceed what people are willing to pay and thus such events are no longer viable. I know! The up-side to that is that the organisers escape the howls of protest from those who have hitherto screamed “extortion” or “profiteer” at the organiser(s) without fully understanding the fiscal details and imagine they are getting rich. Oh…how I wish! 😀

Of course costs all round increase year on year but the cost of Kemble does seem rather steep – OTD price approaching that of Legends in fact (and DX has a very large on site museum!)

For a spiffing, and more economic alternative, have you considered attending the Sywell Show? I hear its rather good 😉 🙂

In advance On the day
Adults £12 £15
Children (under 12) £4 £5
Toddlers N/A FREE
Family (2 adults, 3 kids) £30 N/A
Flightline walk N/A £2

www.sywellairshow.co.uk

TT

………..or if you’re nearer the Glos/Oxon area why not come along to the Abingdon Air & Country Show on May 4th
Adult £10(£8 in advance)
Child 5-15yrs £5(£4 in advance)
Senior Citizens £5(£4 in advance)
Under-5s FREE
Car parking FREE

Proceeds to the Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance…advance tickets available NOW from www.abingdonfayre.com/tickets.php or various “over the counter” outlets in Abingdon and Didcot(details also on the web-site)

Colin

Have you looked at the cost of getting a 2+2 family into any other “all day” attractions – Legoland, Chessington World of Adventures, Alton Towers etc etc?

They’re expensive too! 😀

Dora Jar makes a fair point that it’s a show with something for everyone, which is true.

However what I personally don’t like to pay for a show that is predominantly filled with any combination of the following:
-Tornado display
-Hawk display
-Tucano display
-Harrier display
-Eurfighter
-Chinook display
-Blue Eagles
-Red Arrows
Unless I am mistaken, these display are mostly paid for by our defence tax money and I don’t fancy paying for them twice. So I am not keen to pay £25 show that contains a substantial amount of the above and the last time I went to Kemble at least half of these displays were present, if I remember correctly. If I want to see this stuff (and most of it I do enjoy!), I’ll just go to one of the sea side displays, which are free.

That said, I am fully prepared to pay a fair sum for truly expensive displays, like historic jets and warbird shows. But for those I prefer to go to the more dedicated shows. For example when I see 30+ warbirds idling before me in the Duxford grass, ready to take off for a Balbo, then I realise I’m getting my 30-quid’s worth.

I hope it all makes a little sense 🙂

Have you looked at the cost of getting a 2+2 family into any other “all day” attractions – Legoland, Chessington World of Adventures, Alton Towers etc etc?

If you can find anything that gives a full day out for much less than £100 for mum , dad and two kids then you’re doing well these days. And then you’ve got the travelling costs on top, plus the inevitable snacks, drinks and “souvenirs”.

£25 on the gate doesn’t sound too bad to me, even for someone who is not an aviation fanatic. No doubt the eventual “bums on seats” figures will prove whether the paying public thought it was a fair price (or not).

I just wonder how anyone with two kids, living on the “average wage” can afford to take them to any of the major attractions anywhere these days? And how many of todays kids would enjoy a simple day trip to the countryside or seaside these days – having to make your own entertainment at such places is probably “seriously not cool” to the computer-console generation I suspect.

Paul F

Seems a bit high to me at first but then taking a look at what you get for the money and factoring in the cost of fuel and insurance it is not too bad..

Yes, I guess you’re right. We all have our own opinions on what is value for money.

For me, the ‘something for everybody’ event is great – although I’m equally as happy at Legends or RIAT or Old Warden.

I’m just happy some airfields choose to offer family visitors the variety of aircraft in the same show. If it enthuses ‘Little Johnnie’ into a life of aviation (as a job or hobby) it will have done it’s job.

You certainly seem to see more children in teh audience at Sywell and Kemble (other shows are available…) than you do at DX or Fairford. They must be doing ‘something’ right…

Kemble has got to be one of the best displays around these days hasn’t it?

Warbirds, aerobatics, classic jets, modern jets – even model aeroplanes…

… it’s like airshows of old – i.e. something for everybody.

I’ve been to Kemble a few years ago but didn’t find it a particularly exciting event. Some nice classic jets, yes, but also a lot of things I don’t care for. Just another mass entertainment airshow, I reckon.

This beautifully sums up the way enthusiasts differ doesn’t it!!

To give another example, many enthusiasts are prepared to pay a lot to attend RIAT through the Friends of RIAT package (in spite of continuing price rises), others don’t.

I guess whether people think it’s expensive or not is tied-up with whether they feel it’s worth it to satisfy their interests. If you think it is, then you’re likely to pay it.

Kemble has got to be one of the best displays around these days hasn’t it?

Warbirds, aerobatics, classic jets, modern jets – even model aeroplanes…

… it’s like airshows of old – i.e. something for everybody.

You also seem to see lots of families and kids at the show – which has got to be a good thing.

No, I don’t think £25 is exessive when you look at what’s on offer.

Although I’m a warbird fan through and through I have to admit that my favourite shows in recent years have been Kemble and the last Sywell show. IMHO they are what airshows should be like. A real blast from the past, from a time before organisers got fixated on ‘themes’ in an attempt to drag enthusiasts through the gate.

Yes it’s expensive. I guess I’ve been spoiled as a kid though, as I used to go to the Dutch Air Force open days and they’re totally free and offer superb quality and variety.
I’ve been to Kemble a few years ago but didn’t find it a particularly exciting event. Some nice classic jets, yes, but also a lot of things I don’t care for. Just another mass entertainment airshow, I reckon.
You’ll find me on Old Warden this summer 😀 😉

Of course costs all round increase year on year but the cost of Kemble does seem rather steep – OTD price approaching that of Legends in fact (and DX has a very large on site museum!)

For a spiffing, and more economic alternative, have you considered attending the Sywell Show? I hear its rather good 😉 🙂

In advance On the day
Adults £12 £15
Children (under 12) £4 £5
Toddlers N/A FREE
Family (2 adults, 3 kids) £30 N/A
Flightline walk N/A £2

www.sywellairshow.co.uk

TT

Ask yourself how much the cost of filing your car up at the pumps has gone up in the last few months. Imagine what the cost of filling those A/c has gone up to?? its only gona get more expesive to see these Machines im afraid.

And Moggy, don’t forget to factor in the travel expenses for the average Man U fan…………quite a journey from South London:dev2:

That is quite a steep ticket price for Kemble though, sign of the times.

It is always sad when expense start to preclude people from what they enjoy. We are however all on a budget and as people have said it boils down to ‘you pays your money and takes your choice.’

However perhaps there is another option – Volanteer.

All air displays need people to make them run, be it collecting money on the gate, acting as stewards or any one of a multitude of other jobs. So why not contact the organisers and find out if they need volanteers, then in exchange for a bit of work you’ll get in for free.

I know people who get to see all our local football team’s home games for free and others who act as stewards at Wembley & O2 arenas;one of whom actually got to see the Led Zep gig for free! So it has to be worth considering.

Steve