Ignoring Shoreham for a moment haven’t airshows been slowly dying out anyway?
We have lost Boscombe Down, Abingdon, Mildenhall, North Weald, Biggin Hill (to some extent), West Malling, Middle Wallop, not to mention Seaside Venues.
I bet we could add quite a few more to the list.
Mostly due to costs I suspect.
Interesting and valid point in my opinion with regards to modern Military Aircraft and the scale of airshows. The world was very much a different place in the 80’s/90’s when NATO was larger and we were in the latter stages of the cold war. I remember going to Fairford and seeing rows of Hercs and KC135’s. Modern warfare/cost cuts etc have certainly reduced Airshow scale as i see it.
However on a positive there are certainly more warbirds flying now then back then (which ofcourse on the whole bar sponsors are operated by passionate private operators). The new CAA changes challenge these operators due to the rising costs/regulations which inevitably will reduce the number of private operators i predict.
We all love aviation and im sure most of you like me appreciate the mere sight of a Jet or Warbird regardless of aerobatics or numbers of aircraft. However the world is now a different place so i guess we must accept the above, but continue to attend and support our Airshow community to ensure it does not reduce…reduce die forever. I will stay positive and hope that the CAA will see common sense after a season of exposure of the new regs and reduce costs/regs to support the operators and environment.
Sign In
