WADDINGTON 1 JULY 2006

I have seen a lot of comments about the airshow on this forum in the last few days and I have to agree it was somewhat on the light side.

It use to be quite a common complaint up to ten years ago that there were to many aerobatic displays at airshows. Genaraly since then organisers havbe had a better sense of keeping everything in proper proportian.

I was therefore disapointed that the Waddington airshow had somehow suffered a relapse. There were six civilian aerobatic displays which to me is two or three too many for a 7 hour airshow. They also display for significantly longer than other acts.

It was evident to me that people were leaving the show earlier than normal. Yes there was a football match but the croudline where I stood was not heaving with people in the first place. Most of the earnest footbal fans probably were not presemt anyway .

It was quite clear to me that through the afternoon half the people in the crowdline were no longer looking at the display. I myself became increasingly bored. It seemed to me that it was the military displays that were giving light relief to the aerobatics raher than the other way round.

I have nothing against aerobatic displays. I will still phtograph them if they are close by at the time in a large airfield. There was just too many of hem.

Now there were of course two other airshows in Eurpe competing for display aircraft which did reduce participation international participation in the flying display but of course we did have the 757, the Orion and the Saab 105 so I supposs it was not too bad.

Now what I think is he crux of the issue. I remember not long ago going to the airshow on the Saturday. It was a grey day and the internationl participation was a bit on the low side. I also went on the Sunday but in addition the croud was treated by a flypast of a Tristar and VC10 with trailing booms and a gaggle of Tornados not flying too high. That turned things around.

Waddington is meant to be the premiere RAF airshow of the year. In reality in the flying display, with the exception of the AWAC, you did not get much more RAF than you would at a large non military orgnised show.

In the programe for Sunday the Canberra was listed as coming after the Reds. The Queens birthday flypast came to mind but I guess a flypast of the Reds and PR9 together never happened at the show.

In future perhaps if there is lack of jets in the flying display a rather more varied civilian component could be added.

As a suggestion perhaps they could also display or demo aircraft at the RAF shows that would not normaly be allocated each year for the the display circuit. This would make RAF airshows rather more unique. Perhaps a Tornado F3 and Jag or or flypast of RAF support planes. I believe there may have been attempts to get more RAF acts in but I think the very top quasi military/political bods need to rise above the rest.

I guess it is all down to money!

Anyway here are my pics