RAF Waddington International Airshow

Was there Sunday and Monday. Any one on this forum is already interested in aircraft so may/would be disappointed with the content of the show but the concerning thing that i heard was the amount of non enthusiasts saying that they had only come to see the Vulcan, how poor the toilets were, how bored they were………………………

I sat 3/4 of way along crowd line where jet display aircraft in the past have flown or carried out there landing run, hardly anything came down this end of the field. Watching helicopters half a mile away felt as if i was outside of the airfield. I should have got up and moved but didnt so that is my own fault.

What isnt is the lack of noise, as someone next to me put it, they had come to Waddington (1 of only 2 shows a year they went to) to hear and see fast jets. Unfortunately the cut backs by this government is now showing it self to ourselves, the RAF is over streched on deployment and there is nothing else left to show. At the begining of the year it was stated that there would only be the Typhoon fast jet display and that is what we got. Personnely i would rather the RAF (and all armed forces) be at home and attending airshows, not involved in conflict but due to world commitments the armed forces are away so, as has been mentioned the forces needs are greater than ours.

Someone also said to me that they sat in the Hurricane grandstand and as nearly crowd centre thought it was a really good show…………..

Well I’m not going to waste your time and mine by arguing pointlessly about this. It just seems very odd that a few of you on this site (and this site alone it seems) are under the impression that the show wasn’t all that bad, which seems quite bizarre as I’ve yet to speak to anyone who has so much as a good word to say about it. Maybe we live in different universes! Anyway, thanks for your childish sarcasm XF828 – if that’s going to be the standard of debate (as usual) I’ll let you get on with it!

Just for you then, is a link to some positive feedback on another website. I’m sure you could have found this yourself and indeed you mentioned this very website but here it is anyway.

http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=12536

Ah Chox.

“if that’s going to be the standard of debate (as usual) I’ll let you get on with it!”

Mind the door on the way out, but, before you go, why not just answer one of the questions asked by Rob Langham who is trying to engage you in debate. Where are all these sources of negative feedback you keep mentioning? Rob’s asked ad as always you choose not to answer.

You’re not really interested in debate, just being allowed to dictate.

Regards,

kev35

Well I’m not going to waste your time and mine by arguing pointlessly about this. It just seems very odd that a few of you on this site (and this site alone it seems) are under the impression that the show wasn’t all that bad, which seems quite bizarre as I’ve yet to speak to anyone who has so much as a good word to say about it. Maybe we live in different universes! Anyway, thanks for your childish sarcasm XF828 – if that’s going to be the standard of debate (as usual) I’ll let you get on with it!

I have spent the last four days at Waddington and did not come across a single disgruntled punter, my 5 yo daughter has had an amazing time and loved every second, i also saw many youngsters watch the Reds etc in awe, how anyone can claim that the vast majority were unhappy and felt ripp off is beyond me, clearly they are either making it up or simply deluded.

As for the Vulcan issue the vast majority of people who visited the Vulcan Village were disapointed but not angry and the village was busy the entire weekend. The displays werent what they used to be but the airshow was as good as you made it and i made the best of it and had one of the best weekends i have had in a very long time.

It would be a tad pointless to argue about who has said what and where. It would achieve nothing. As I said before, if you seriously think that the majority of enthusiasts and public were in any way satisfied with this year’s show, then I do seriously urge you to look around and talk to more people. I’m not suggesting that there was a small proportion of disappointed people – it would appear that the majority of show-goers thought it was, in short, a complete “rip-off” and an astonishing number of people are already saying that they will not be going next year.

But don’t take my word for it – you’re free to make your own judgements of course, however I would suggest you seek some wider sources of feedback before concluding that people were in any way happy with the show.

Chox,
I’m sorry, but you are not right in what you’re saying.

Were the majority of enthusiasts satisfied?… No, I doubt it very much.

Were the majority of the public (and therefore the majority of the show) satisfied?…. Yes, the majority most definatly were. I’m not sure what your sources are for saying that the majority of the public weren’t satisfied as you seem to be keeping that information to yourself, but take it from me, it’s wrong!

It wasn’t as good as last year, I thought, but it was still an enjoyable day out and my nephew enjoyed himself just as much. Vulcan very disappointing of course but I kind of expected that. The Typhoon display made us both forget about the Vulcan anyway.

I see Chox continues to live in his alternate reality where he’s in the RAF, the sky is green, everybody thought the show was rubbish despite the forums he’s pointing you at showing that most people thought it was a good day out, and the UK is at the height of an economic boom.

As I said further up this thread, I did enjoy what I saw, but there was also some considerable disappointment (besides the Vulcan ‘thing’).

I last went about 7 years ago, and there is no doubt to me that it is not as good a show as it was then, and on that occassion I was disappointed that it didn’t seem as worthwhile as the previous time I had been (which was for the first show in 1995).

The lack of variety of flying aircraft, and the lack of proper participation by different types from the RAF is a major disappiontment. I can understand and accept that they have more important commitments, but they could surely have made more of what was already there (Sentry, Nimrod, Sentinel).

The inference from that is; if the RAF are so stretched on overseas conflicts that they have no aircraft or aircrew to spare at home for what is supposed to be their top show, they would have insufficient resources here to defend our liberty if the need arose.

I find that profoundly worrying.

Chox, what are your wide sources of feedback from the public and enthusiasts that inform you that the vast majority were dissapointed?

It would be a tad pointless to argue about who has said what and where. It would achieve nothing. As I said before, if you seriously think that the majority of enthusiasts and public were in any way satisfied with this year’s show, then I do seriously urge you to look around and talk to more people. I’m not suggesting that there was a small proportion of disappointed people – it would appear that the majority of show-goers thought it was, in short, a complete “rip-off” and an astonishing number of people are already saying that they will not be going next year.

But don’t take my word for it – you’re free to make your own judgements of course, however I would suggest you seek some wider sources of feedback before concluding that people were in any way happy with the show.

I have read plenty of feedback on least 4 different forums and I am not getting a hint of “a large majority” as you state. If you are right then next year we won’t have traffic problem will we? We’ll see.

It would be a tad pointless to argue about who has said what and where. It would achieve nothing. As I said before, if you seriously think that the majority of enthusiasts and public were in any way satisfied with this year’s show, then I do seriously urge you to look around and talk to more people. I’m not suggesting that there was a small proportion of disappointed people – it would appear that the majority of show-goers thought it was, in short, a complete “rip-off” and an astonishing number of people are already saying that they will not be going next year.

But don’t take my word for it – you’re free to make your own judgements of course, however I would suggest you seek some wider sources of feedback before concluding that people were in any way happy with the show.

Chox, as I previously mentioned, most of the reviews on UKAR are positive. When you say the vast majority thought it was rubbish, are you referring to the enthusiasts or the public as a whole?

I have to say that I was very disappointed and apart from the new Hawk in the static and the Buster UAV in the tent, there was little in the military contribution to excite me. I didn’t see all of the flying display on Saturday (thanks to accompanying child who was extremely bored – which probably says a lot in itself) but what I did see seemed to be punctuated by substantial gaps from time to time.

What was the best thing I saw flying? The fly through of the four Belgian Alpha Jets…

Well of course you’re free to think or say anything you like but I would urge you to be a little more honest.

A little more honest? Like basing an opinion on facts rather than hearsay?

vast majority evidently thought it was rubbish,

I would be interested as to how you came to this conclusion?

The main Waddington 2009 thread on UKAR has several positive reviews and the main review thread on UKAR has so far only 1 negative – not a large poll I grant you but at least they are based on opinions on those that were actually there. Unless of course you mean a different UKAR.

Chox, as I previously mentioned, most of the reviews on UKAR are positive. When you say the vast majority thought it was rubbish, are you referring to the enthusiasts or the public as a whole?

Well of course you’re free to think or say anything you like but I would urge you to be a little more honest. Take a look at Fightercontrol’s site or UKAR’s for example and you might get a clearer picture of how people are reacting. The show was doubtless enjoyed by some but the vast majority evidently thought it was rubbish, just as many of us predicted it would be for weeks and weeks.

But if you think it serves some sort of useful purpose to dwell upon the remaining individuals who are content with enjoying a glorified fete on a sunny afternoon, and imagine for a minute that this consitutes an annual “showcase” event for the RAF then good luck to you. I assure you that you’re in a very small minority!

Oh well, hate to say I told you so but Waddington’s non-event turned-out just as bad as predicted. From what I’ve seen on the various sites, almost everybody who went thought it was a waste of money. I’m just glad I restrcted myself to Thursday and saw 558 display, and ignored the rest of the festivities.

Point is, as I’ve said before, moaning is fine but ultimately it achieves nothing. Is there anything that we can actually do to make things better for next time?

So you didn’t go on Saturday or Sunday then? I would suggest that makes you rather badly placed to judge on how good the show was.

Anyone who didn’t go missed a great day out in excellent weather. Yes there were a few things missing but it was still a good airshow with many interesting items, in the air and on the ground. I hadn’t been to Waddington since 2002 but I will probably plan to go next year after yesterday’s events.
Unlike many, I go to airshows without preconceived notions on what it might be like but instead judge on actual events.

You carry on moaning – I’ll carry on enjoying.

‘almost everybody who went thought it was a waste of money’ – like who? I saw plenty of happy people at the airshow, and comments on here and the UK Airshow forum are mainly positive

Indeed.

‘almost everybody who went thought it was a waste of money’ – like who? I saw plenty of happy people at the airshow, and comments on here and the UK Airshow forum are mainly positive

Oh well, hate to say I told you so but Waddington’s non-event turned-out just as bad as predicted. From what I’ve seen on the various sites, almost everybody who went thought it was a waste of money. I’m just glad I restrcted myself to Thursday and saw 558 display, and ignored the rest of the festivities.

Point is, as I’ve said before, moaning is fine but ultimately it achieves nothing. Is there anything that we can actually do to make things better for next time?

Operational difficulties, costs, aircraft and crew shortages, battlefield commitments, very understandable that RAF representation was a little thin at Waddington.
However, it didn’t seem to be a problem for the RAF to provide 6 Typhoons, 8 Tornados, 1 Nimrod, 1 VC-10, 1 Sentinel, The Reds and the BBMF flight for the benefit of the Queen during the Trooping the Colour Flypast last month, but thats for the Royal Family and their traditional entourage, so it’s ok then.

The Polish as mentioned were great – personally my favourite aircraft of the show was their CASA 295 in static, had a good selection of merchandise and got to sit in the pilot seat, lovely!