Perhaps they want to build a larger catering area that they can lease it to KFC or somebody. 😡
mmitch.

Careful what you wish for 😮

“…..Of the 145 Sea Vixens built, 54 were lost in accidents and 55 crew members killed during the 13 years of frontline service with the Fleet Air Arm from 1959 to 1972.
This was a worse rate of attrition than the notorious F-104 Starfighter, which became known as the ‘Widowmaker’ in Cold War West Germany because 30 per cent
were lost to accidents….”

Was the Vixen a difficult airplane to fly, or was the loss rate due to the mission it flew ?

It might not be ticketing, or CAA rules, it might be that the Shoreham crash and it’s associated bad press may have put the general public off airshows?

I’m not sure about that. Shoreham may have put off a few casual airshow attendees, but not the regulars.
I imagine Legends will have more people attending, if not, I would guess that the pre-booked ticket only rule may be amended.

The two Lancasters and Vulcan farewell, were always going to be a hard acts to follow. Before we judge Duxford to harshly, it will
be interesting to see how numbers stack up at other airshows.

I am curious though……what prompted the implementation of the advance ticketing policy? Does it pertain to Shoreham or is it something else?

This has been talked about at length in the past, and I don’t remember the conclusions. It could be due partly to pressure from the
police in traffic management. It also guarantees an income for Duxford, if the weather takes a turn for the worse, and people stay away.

Perhaps with increasing costs, people are being more selective in which shows they go to ?

It will be interesting to see the official attendance figures. If they are made public.

We made our first trip of the year to Duxford on Friday. I said to my wife, don’t bother with taking a packed lunch, as there will be plenty of
burger and other concessions operating. That was my first mistake. They are no longer allowed to open on the Friday before a show.
No doubt a contractual thing with the on site Food outlets ?

We looked in at the “Armoury” (the Mess as was)… There was a bit of a queue for a small choice of fairly expensive dishes. We queued for
a few minutes without moving, so decided to try “The Workshop” (formerly Joe’s). Prices were equally expensive, so decided to give that
a miss too. As I think a lot of other people also did. In previous years, come lunchtime, there would be a long queue. My wife looked inside
and said it was less than half full. Desperate for something to eat, we went to the cafeteria in the AAM.
Two cardboard cups of tea, one pretty unappetizing egg and something bap, and a slice of cake= £12-45p. 🙁

Lovely looking aircraft !