RIAT FAIRFORD 2017 EXPERIENCE

Being the instigator of RIAT Fairford Experience 2017 and seeking answers to my questions .First thank for your response I have now read all of them a few times and my conclusion is that.
Diversity is a word that is much bandied about today and it very much I feel applies now to RIAT Fairford.
I.e. how so many of us set off to the airshow to seek our enjoyment there but for different reasons.
Most probably I am being nieve and it always been like that ,but for myself and family and going by what also has been said here this year those diverse reasons are unfortunately leading to a source of discord there, that I sincerely feel is going to manifest itself if something isn’t done to curtail it.
What is the question and for those who also agree.
Is it to due with Fairford becoming a victim of its own success? That the different reasons why we go to Fairford doesn’t allow us the room now to do so? I raise this point as just for that reason I mentioned earlier, we have always sat at the far far end of the runway so as to be removed from the main body. But this year that certainly did not work out followed by a miserable outcome . There also is a mention elsewhere about being unable to go where you normally prefer.
I would like for those in charge at Fairford to consider what examples have been raised here. I completed their feedback form but as you may be aware it was mainly a tick box exercise. So then I also wrote them – no reply as yet. I would actually go to RIAT HQ and put my concerns to them face to face also taking also your experiences with me. As an organisation after the show there appears to be a touch of Sir Percy Blakeney about them.
Anyhow I suppose at the end of the day someone could say ‘Terry this attitude is endemic in today’s society, accept it and move on’. Which to be honest is beginning to creep now unfortunately in to my mind-set. Hold on I think that’s been said to me here already.
I feel that I must also add that in my case with the wheelchair and other examples of which you have mentioned of rank bad manners also shown you, I wish I could have the answer to. I personally can live with what happened – I tried the polite request first- then when that was literally waved aside upwards – I just went for it.
So before his thread disappears into cyber space (who said I wish that I would) thank you all for allowing me to put my views and your replies to them.
For those who did have a great time at Fairford this year I am really pleased for you and may I wish you the same for next year. Terry

By David Cenciotti
The incident happened on arrival day at RIAT Cottesmore in 2001.
Some photographers and aircraft spotters were next to the perimeter fence on the northeastern side of the airport next to the runway 23 threshold. This spot provided a unique point-of-view as arriving and departing aircraft were pretty close.
A B-1B Lancer 86-0104, 34th Bomb Squadron, was preparing for his rehearsal: it taxied to the holding point of runway 23, entered the runway and lined-up, while many photographers thought that the Bone’s departure would provide the perfect opportunity to get an impressive shot.
However, as the pilot pushed the throttles to the stop, to full afterburner, exhaust gases reached the spotters assembled just a few meters behind the American bomber.
Heat haze hit the photographers, some of those barely manage to escape the jet blast: some were burnt, others slightly injured cuts and bruises, others simply shocked.
Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt.
Click on the image below to watch the video.

Nice pix TonyT

Might be many things but that’s not Waddo. And you’d have to be way inside the perimeter fence to get burnt by anything on take-off there, so I suspect a bit of an urban myth.

Reminds me of the Bone incident at Waddington. Never stand behind a jet in reheat, several treated for injuries including burns….. Muppets.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aAdZMa9_DYw

Some people seem to think they are permanently attached to the crowd fence. I remember one incident at Dx almost 30 years ago when the TFC P47 was backed up to the fence. It was about to fire up & depart for somewhere. This was a regular weekend, not an airshow. Woman was politely told that she really didn’t want to be standing directly behind it (in her white pantsuit) when it fired up. She had an instant strop & gave the “don’t you tell me where I can & can’t stand blah blah blah…” speech.

P47 fires up, departs, woman now standing there in a pale gray pantsuit with various size black spots…

Gee Whiz, wonderful sight, well caught.

I tend to take more pictures of Birds these days 🙂

Such as these, new to the UK and only 10 mins away… Bee Eaters of all things! though stretching it, as taken with a 500mm and x2 converter, then a near 100% crop!

Bee Eaters trio feeding by Tony Taylor, on Flickr

but I do do some aircraft stuff to keep my hand in 🙂

Pitts Special Cosford 2017 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr

click on them, then click again for bigger views…. sorry off topic.

For sure – and then enjoy all the terrific photos posted here and elsewhere.

I don’t go to air shows to peg myself at the barrier and take thousands of pictures. Find a space at the rear. Take a few snaps. Watch planes in the sky and enjoy the day.

Well we are not having a whip round for you Tony :rolleyes:

An odd one happened at Cosford, I was using an EF500mm mounted on a tripod and Gimbal, as I was on the crowd line I lifted one leg over the fence, thus allowing me to move close to the fence and letting people behind me to slot in better… some WAAF told me to remove it back behind the fence, it was protruding about 3 inches lol, not wanting to argue the point I lifted it back over then pushed it up against that orange barrier stuff they use, that promptly gave and bulged out the same distance… she was happy lol, asthe lens being the size it is, it protrudes more.

In the US, unattended chairs, wind breaks etc., are removed. If chained to the fences, they are cut off.

And so they should be, Terry I wasn’t having a go at you re seats, I have a stool I use sometimes, I was just saying those that put them up then disappear off expecting the place to be there when they return, it in my eyes is no different to someone standing, leaving a spot and coming back 3 hours later and expecting people to leave it empty for you. Maybe the crowd should have little markers like golfers, when you remove your ball you put a marker on the ground, then pick it up when you return the ball :rolleyes:

In the US, unattended chairs, wind breaks etc., are removed. If chained to the fences, they are cut off. I guess my pet hate is when people take up a big chunk of frontline real estate, then bog off. When they return, they stand up to take photos! The step ladder brigade seem to no be so prevalent. Panning was a terrible bore when stood behind them, especially in the days of 24 or 36 exp film when every phot counted. Also, the number of pix I took that had some bright orange permed head in the way!
Live and let live, TonyT said treat others the way you’d like to be – yep, not a bad life rule! Unless, of course, you are heavily into S&M, others might not be! I should point out…I’m not!

You’ll get all sorts in aviation hobby, some feel they have the right to do things above other, just like some people think they own the road!

Paul 1867 #5 thank you for reply, and at the risk of upsetting the historical geeks or the one who thinks we are just jealous, any further, if I may continue with what questions you are asking me are really the ones that I was seeking to get answers to. Anyhow Paul you did ask so I will try to answer.
1. We did no more differently this year than what we have done in previous years that was to position ourselves at the very very far end of the runway and adjacent to the guide ropes all to avoid the main group of spectators/enthusiast further down the runway. But this year on either side of us we were eventually sandwiched between photographers actually leaning over the rope standing like at a right angle contortion to get their shots, so the only proper view we all had this year really only was when the aircraft was in front of us .
2. Why on the next day the photographer should entrench himself with all his gear plus pedestal behind us and my wife’s wheelchair and then refuse to move (though asked politely to do so) when she had to go home this is the answer Iam seeking. Though if you’re that way inclined anyhow I think now I know the answer.
3. As for being made to feel 2nd class by this incident, I don’t mean to sound patronising but you are in other people’s hands as to what response from them you have when you cautiously approach them with a wheelchair. They can help or hinder it’s their choice, for both the carer and wheelchair occupant are powerless. – No violins here please.
4 As for a safer haven for the disabled? I think that you may have to book for such now. Can’t do it with a hospital timetable.
Anyhow we are not asking for sympathy or being sectioned off just plain and simple consideration and that’s it in a nutshell.
Thanks again for your reply paul 1867 #3 #12 and Tony T#5
Much Appreciated
Terry

Airshow Fan, there is no need to apologise to Brian as he is wrong on both accounts. The “General Discussion” forum is in fact the “General Discussion , for non-aviation topics” forum and the Airshow forum is actually the “Airshow Photos” forum within the “Photographic” section.

You will find there are a number of forumites on here, Brian is not one of them, who delight in pointing out and usually making fun of people who are perhaps not quite 100% literate. There is no harm in banter but some go beyond this. In my view if the meaning is clear then who cares about the spelling, punctuation and syntax. After all we are not here to learn English. My memory is starting to go and, especially when I am tired, I start having trouble spelling even the simplest words and mistakes go unnoticed until seen, with horror, the following day.

You can look back through the thread titles and you will find a number in capitals which Brian has not complained about. I do not think they are shouting and once the first post has been made only the mods can change the title. I tend to use capitals for titles and subtitles and to emphasise a certain word so that they stand out and are easy to find. Quite frankly I find it ludicrous to suggest that this is interpreted as shouting. The intent on here is usually clear and is not like many of the purely social media.

The truly excellent thread “Duxford Diary” has been running for several years and is based mainly around photographs. We all greatly appreciate these excellent images being posted for our benefit. But hold on, just a minute there, do I see pictures of an aeroplane built just last year, do I see modern helicopters, do I see in service military helicopters, do I see fly-pasts by the Thunderbirds? Yes I do and is Brian complaining? No he is not. ( I would have used caps there to emphasise the words:D) Brian had a similar go at me last year for having the nerve to post a thread about RIAT on Historic, I had put the title in capitals and apparently it wasn’t Historic.

The best policy is just to ignore these sort of comments, if the mods think it is in the wrong place then they will move it, simples.

Another good policy is, if you don’t like the thread or the presentation just move on there is no obligation and certainly no need to leave a comment.

Airshows fan, A much more suitable forum would be UKAR …IE Uk air shows review. The points you bring up are discussed there in a passionate way .heres the link to get you started http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=19&sid=1876b06c481291ff3507e4f5c8dca5df

Sorry ‘Pen Pusher’ blame me first time and I didn’t know really where to go. Not much happening in General Discussion and being Non Aviation?
However is this article historical enough for you:-

To Be or Not to Be in Capitals: That Is the Question
It’s not as poetic as Shakespeare’s eternal question, but the choice of whether to capitalize the verb ‘to be’ in titles continues to be pondered through the years. For most people, difficulties with capitalization in titles started at around 9 years old. When your teacher was asked if you’re supposed to capitalize all the words in a title, he/she probably said to “capitalize the first and last words and then capitalize all the big words.” But what constitutes a big word? Is it the actual length? Now that we’re no longer 9 years old, is there a better way? And if so, why are people so inconsistent?

During the RIAT there were historic aircraft flying ,some were not as old as others and some were flying in formation with newer planes.Some were based at Duxford but heaven forbid it’s not been put in the Duxford thread either – – oh dear ,never mind .

There are always those who find anyone indulging in any hobby to be a target for derision. Be it aircraft spotting, stamp collecting, model making
bird watching, or hundreds of other pastimes. Maybe there is a degree of jealousy, that someone knows a lot more about a particular subject than yourself ?
I doubt though, that there’s anyone here who hasn’t mocked a group of people for indulging in their harmless passion.

Still nothing in the subject matter that is Historic, there is a thread for air shows, also the title is in capitals. That’s considered ‘SHOUTING’ on the internet.

Brian

Tony T, agree with everything you say in #5. I have found most photographers to be very considerate of others needs, whatever equipment they are using.

We bring chairs into DX as I can no longer stand for long periods and do not want to inconvenience people in the Friends enclosure. We place our chairs in the shade under the wing of a handy airliner so we can come and go as we please without disturbing anybody.

Obviously people come to airshows for different reasons and have every right to but it is frustrating when people who really have no real interest in the aeroplanes occupy prime positions. My wife is always next to me but she watches the show and takes photographs herself she doesn’t sit reading a book.

I am not sure why it is amusing to watch people indulging in their hobbies. I am not a number collector but some people are and often the information they have collected is of interest on this forum. I don’t actually need to take photographs, after all stunning photographs, much better than I can achieve, are now freely available on the net. I suppose it is like any hobby striving to get that perfect picture. No doubt the model makers and quilt makers are enjoying what they do that just doesn’t happen to be my hobby.

As to the thread police, why do they bother? Nothing constructive to say. This thread interested me and others, and I would not and did not see it in General. I never, well hardly ever, go to General. I see no harm in posting in Historic topics that are likely to interest the sort of people who frequent that section of the forum. If it is way out of line then the moderators can move it. I find it helps to put “Historic” in the title.:D