EGCDI have visited the De Havilland Aviation web site several times in the interim, filled in an order leaving contact details and heard nothing.
Not surprising really. The DHA website has not been updated for nearly 4 years. Disregard it if I were you as regards information – the last updates were in summer 2003.
EGCDWell I can’t claim to be expert on Woodford’s weather before the 1990s, but having looked back at many photos from the old events and hearing anecdotes I think it’s fair to say Woodford’s weather was largely mixed down the years to the 1990s. There were some excellent years, some poor years -but I think most were somewhere in between.
EGCDThe Woodford show line-up for 1990, in programme order of appearance, was as follows:
Army Eagles
Jet Provost
BAe Jetstream 31
Tornado GR1
TNT Airways BAe 146
BBMF
BAe 125
Lynx
Tornado IDS (German Navy)
Gnat
Patrouille Martini (3x PC-7)
Hunter (FRADU)
BAe ATP
C130 Tac Demo
Mosquito
Proteus Aerobatic Team Extra 350 (Richard Goode)
Hawk
PT Flight (Bob Mitchell)
Phantom
RNHF Firefly
Team Toyota (2x Pitts + 1x Extra 300)
Vulcan
Paul – the Beriev A-40 ‘Mermaid’ amphibian appeared at the show in 1993. The Russian Test Pilots Su-27s/Su-30s were there in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, with solo displays by an Su-30 in 1996 and Su-27P in 1998. Woodford was a super show wasn’t it – my favourite!
Unfortunately, as people have already said on this thread, Woodford in 1990 was beset was some pretty poor conditions on the morning of the show. In fact, as I’m sure any fans of the event know, Woodford was hampered by poor weather most years during the 1990s when the show was in its prime. Indeed, the only years when it didn’t rain were 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996!!
Woodford was always a big event for us enthusiasts in the relative airshow desert that is the North of England – and many of us still miss it even now.
EGCDAh right, I’d missed the bit that RB were paying for the de-branding.
EGCDWith XP924 being painted in her proper colours we are hoping it will be more attractive to a potential sponsor
Just placing my Devil’s Advocate hat on for a moment, is that not counter-intuitive?
Would G-CVIX not be more appealing for a potential sponsor if it was not in FAA marks? Of course it would depend on the type of investment they were putting in to support the aeroplane, but surely a “clean” aircraft without any historical marks would be more appealing because then the potential sponsor could have the freedom to paint the aeroplane in its corporate scheme (a la Red Bull)?
After all, a sponsor (certainly a corporate company) would want a return in exposure terms from its support, surely?
(Devil’s Advocate hat off).
EGCDThe interesting, and crucial, question (in my view) is this – what other company would actually dip its hand its in pocket to support the Sea Vixen as Red Bull did?
To think about this question it’s worth considering the issue of “sponsorship” more generally. What I’m about to say is going to go into the realms of jargon, but bear with me. Whenever a company looks at prospective sponsorships, it looks at the thing it is going to sponsor (be it a sports team or public event or whatever) and it asks the question “would this sponsorship fit into our brand image and what we want to do with our brand?” I know this sounds a bit airy-fairy, but it is the way marketing tends to operate. Before sponsoring something, and therefore committing their money, companies have to be convinced it will fit into their brand.
Look at some of the sponsorships that have existed in the air display industry and you’ll see this working in action. For the best part of a decade Cadbury’s Crunchie sponsored Vic Norman’s wingwalking team. Why? Wingwalking has connotations of ‘fun’ – and of course Cadbury’s market the Crunchie bar with the notion of ‘fun’ (“Get that Friday feeling”) attached to it. Back in the mid-1990s the late lamented MG Rover sponsored Brian Lecomber’s Extra 300 aerobatic team for three seasons. Why? The high-tech engineering of the Extra aircraft complemented, in MG Rover’s view, the high-tech engineering of their new range of cars they were introducing at the time.
In short, when companies sponsor air display acts they look to see – just like they do in any other sponsorship arena – whether the thing they are sponsoring fits into their wider brand image. Marketing gobbledy-gook this may be, but it’s the way things operate. And the Sea Vixen was no different to the sponsorships mentioned above. Red Bull market themselves as “the drink that gives you wings”, and consequently they have embraced aviation as one way of promoting themselves – as can be seen with the support of the warbird collection at Hangar 7 in Austria, the Flying Bulls and Matadors aerobatic teams (in the Czech Republic and UK respectively), and of course the Red Bull Air Race Series. So with this background it wasn’t surprising Red Bull came in to support the Sea Vixen – the company has a culture of supporting aviation projects, and the Sea Vixen neatly fitted into that culture.
Now, with Red Bull gone, the question is what other company out there will be prepared to support the Sea Vixen. Or, to put it more precisely and to follow-on from what I’ve sketched out above, does the Sea Vixen fit into the brand image of another company? As I’ve said, a company has to be satisfied that the thing they sponsor fits into their brand image and marketing objectives.
It’s obvious from all this, then, that if DH are to find another sponsor for the Sea Vixen they will need to find a company which would accept the Sea Vixen as part of their brand image. Companies do not just sponsor air display aircraft for the sake of it – there has to be a clear and definable link between the image they’re trying to promote, and the platform they are using to promote that image (in this case an aircraft).
EGCDLostock really developed their airshow from 1987 onwards.
1987 – RAF BBMF Spitfire; Red Devils Parachute Team; RAF Harrier GR3.
1988 – Royal Artillery Parachute Team; Marlboro Aerobatic Team; Catalina; Pilatus P2 G-BJAX; BAe Mosquito
1989 – Yugo Cars Flying Circus Stearman; Pilatus P2 G-BJAX; Vladivar Yak-50; Royal Signals Parachute Team; Tigercat
1990 – Catalina; Tigercat; Pilatus P2 G-BJAX; Team Toyota; DH Vampire (Vintage Aircraft Team)
1991 – Royal Signals Parachute Team; Proteus Sukhoi Su-26 (Richard Goode); BAe Mosquito; Team Toyota Aerobatics; Folland Gnat
1992 – RAF SAR Sea King; Flying Crusaders Extra/Stampe; Lazer Z200 (Mark Jefferies); Radial Pair Harvards; RAF BBMF Spitfire
1993 – Microlease Pitts Special; Black Lanyards Parachute Team; Crunchie Flying Circus wingwalkers; Slingsby Firefly (Pete Clark); Sukhoi Su-26 (Richard Goode); RAF Harrier GR7
1994 – RAF Tucano; ARCO Blenheim; Slingsby Firefly (Pete Clark); RAF Falcons Paras; Beech C45 Expeditor (Anthony Hodgson); Yak-18T (Paul Bonhomme); RAF BBMF Spitfire
1995 – see above
1996 – Pitts Special (Clive Watson); L-39 Albatros (Tony Smith); DH Dragon Rapide (Air Atlantique); Miles Magister (Real Aeroplane Company); Rover Aerobatic Team; RAF Red Arrows
1997 – Hawker Hunter (Jonathan Whaley); RAF Tornado GR1; Aerostars; TFC Spitfire ML417; Sky High Para Team
1998 – TFC Spitfire & Hurricane Duo; RAF Tucano; AAC Blue Eagles (show curtailed due to weather)
1999 – Canberra B2/6; Microlease Extra 300 (Brian Lecomber); Boeing Stearman; DH Vampire XE920; RAF BBMF Spitfire & Hurricane; Crusaders Parachute Team; Hunter T7 (Delta Jets).
EGCDLostock 1995
RAF Red Arrows, RAF Nimrod, RAF BBMF Spitfire P7350, Yak-18T (Richard Goode), Crunchie Flying Circus, Microlease Pitts Special.
Lostock held a Gala Day every year from the 1960s right the way up to 1999. The air show took place as part of the gala day, and was significantly expanded from the late 1980s onwards. I can provide details of all these events if you want?
Blackpool 1993
The airshow at Blackpool in 1993 featured the Red Arrows, BBMF, Nimrod, Bulldog, Hawk, Wessex SAR, Royal Netherlands AF F-27 Troopship, RN Sea King, RNHF Firefly, OFMC T-33, Radial Pair, Team Toyota, Flying Crusaders, Air Atlantique Dragon Rapide, Intrepid Aviation Gnat, Percival Provost.
The event, sadly, was a one-off. It was organised by Aviation Events Limited, and they were apparently set for expanding it in subsequent years, but nothing ever came of it.
EGCDI can’t help you with Southport 1991 and 1992 unfortunately – didn’t go to those events.
Southport 1993 featured: RAF Red Arrows, RAF BBMF, RAF Falcons paras, RAF Tornado GR1, RAF Harrier GR7, RAF Buccaneer, RAF Jaguar, RAF Hawk, RAF Tucano, RAF Nimrod MR2, RN Gazelle HT2 Duo, RN Lynx HAS3, RN Sea King HAS6, AAC Silver Eagles (4x Gazelle + Lynx AH7), Royal Marines Free Fall Parachute Display Team (jumping from the RN Lynx), Team Toyota (2x Pitts Special + Extra 300), Crunchie Flying Circus Wingwalkers, Microlease Pitts S2 Special.
Southport 2000 featured: RAF Red Arrows (Saturday only), RAF BBMF Dakota, RAF Falcons paras, RAF Tornado GR1, RAF Tornado F3, RAF Harrier GR7, RAF Tutor, RAF Tucano, RN Sea King HAS6, P-51D Mustang (Paul Morgan), Corsair (Paul Morgan), Hunter F6 (Classic Jets Exeter), Canberra B2/6 (Classic Aviation Projects), Utterly Butterly Wingwalkers, St Ivel Shape Skydivers, One2One Pitts Special, Power Aerobatics Extra 300/Yak-50 Duo, Cap 232 (Sunday only), DH Vampire FB6 (Scandinavian Historic Flight), Airtours International Boeing 757 (Saturday only).
EGCDIn programme order:
AAC Eagles Helicopter Team (Lynx, Gazelle, Sioux, Scout)
RAF Jet Provost
BAe Jetstream 31 (company demonstrator)
RAF Tornado GR1
BAe 146 (TNT Airways)
RAF BBMF
BAe 125 (company demonstrator)
RN Lynx
German Navy Tornado IDS
Folland Gnat
Patrouille Martini (3x PC-7)
Hunter GA11 (FRADU)
BAe ATP (company demonstrator)
RAF C130 Hercules Tactical Demo
Mosquito
Extra 300
RAF Hawk
PT Flight
RAF Phantom
RN Historic Flight Firefly
Team Toyota (2x Pitts/1x Extra 300)
RAF Vulcan
EGCDHi Eddy.
The Barton Airshow as you call it was actually called the “Manchester Air Show”. It was organised by the resident Lancashire Aero Club. The title “Manchester Air Show” was applied in 1976, and the last of these events was held in May 1994. Why did it stop? Well, as with all things the key factor was money – the Lancs Aero Club just couldn’t keep pace with affording the ever-increasing charges associated with putting on major air displays.
There are absolutely no plans to resurrect the show at all – they simply couldn’t afford it in this day and age. Also, there’s a lot of uncertainty over the future of Barton Airfield itself, so there’s absolutely no question of any air displays (even small ones) being staged.
As you say a guy called Clive Barron was the display director for this show, who was aided and abetted by a number of volunteers from the Lancs Aero Club. Two Air Traffic Controllers from Manchester, Tony Brown and Paul Eite, were drafted into the event to help run the operational side of things.
It really was a fantastic show in it’s day (did you ever attend?). The small, all-grass airfield gave it a certain ‘garden party’ and ‘country fair’ atmosphere even though it was actually a very well-organised event. The event built up a great reputation for the smooth running of its flying display, with one item following on from the next – no mean feat in the busy airspace around Manchester, and testament to the ATC team.
The event really did attract the cream of the crop as far as aircraft participants were concerned – down the years all these aircraft and items appeared: Red Arrows (four times – 1976, 1982, 1985 and 1994), BBMF, Falcons Paras, Tornado GR1, Tornado F3, Jaguar, Phantom, GR3, Sea Harrier, Tucano, Hawk, Bulldog, C130 Hercules, Vulcan, Shackleton, Whirlwind, Met Flight Hercules (the famous ‘Snoopy’ from Boscombe Down), E3 Sentry (both NATO and RAF), RN Sea King, RN Lynx, RN Sharks Gazelle team, USAF Starlifter, A10 Thunderbolt, F-111, F-5 Tiger, DC-3 Dakota, Tiger Moth, Hornet Moth, Sea Fury, Bearcat, Mustangs, Spitfires, P40 Kittyhawk, Marlboro/Toyota aerobatic teams, Richard Goode (Pitts Special/Pace Spirit/Sukhoi 26), Brian Lecomber Pitts Special/Extra 230, Fokker Triplane, Junkers Ju 52, Mosquito, Miles Messenger, Harvard Formation Team/Radial Pair, Grumman Ag-Cat, Boeing 757, BAC 1-11 and even Concorde!! And there’s much, much else I’ve not mentioned here that appeared besides.
There’s so many good memories and stories from those events that I could regale – the touch and go of Air Atlantique’s DC-3 in 1982, the Junkers 52 taking off from Barton in ’84, Concorde sweeping low over the airfield in ’88, the display Harrier blasting a field of carrots away on the far side of the airfield, a zero-feet flypast over the airfield on press day by the Mosquito in ’84, Brian Lecomber bringing the airfield to a halt with his impromptu arrival aerobatics display in his Stampe…
Hope all this helps! 🙂
EGCD1988: Red Arrows, BBMF, Vulcan, Phantom, Tornado F3, Buccaneer, Harrier, Nimrod, Shackleton, German Navy Tornado, BAe Hawk 200, ATP, Jetstream 31, BAe 146, BAe 125, Skyhawks, Iveco Truck Top Landing, Yugo Cars Stearman and wingwalker, Vladivar Yak-50, Marlboro Aerobatic Team (Pitts x2), Toyota Pitts Special (Brian Lecomber), Mosquito, PC-9 (BAe), P47 Thunderbolt (TFC), P40 Kittyhawk.
1989: Red Arrows, BBMF, Vulcan, Tornado F3, Harrier, Jaguar, Buccaneer, Nimrod, Hawk T1A, Jet Provost, BAe ATP, BAe 748 Turbine Tanker water-drop, Jetstream 31, BAe 146, BAe 125, Skyhawks, Yugo Cars Stearman and wingwalker, Vladivar Yak-50, Diamond 9 Tiger Moths, Harvard Formation Team, Team Toyota, B17 Sally B.
EGCDUnfortunately I can’t help you with regard to 1985, as that’s a bit before my time.
However, in 1997 there were following in the flying display:
RAF Red Arrows, Nimrod, C130 Hercules, Hawk T1A, Harrier GR7, Jaguar GR1A (No 16 Sqn), Jaguar GR1A Recce Demo (No 41 Sqn), AAC Blue Eagles, USAF B-1B Lancer, Britanny Ferries Shuttle (Broussard/Cri-Cri double act), Mitsubishi Shogun Cri-Cri (Cri-Cri launched from the top of a Shogun), Spitfire TD248, Royal Netherlands AF Bell 412 SAR Demo.
The 1997 show was hit by absolutely appalling weather – it chucked it down all day and there was next to nothing in visibility. The following items either cancelled or didn’t make it to the show: B17 Sally B, OFMC Mustang, TFC P47 Thunderbolt, TFC B-25 Mitchell, Scandinavian Historic Flight A26 Invader, Golden Apple F-86 Sabre, USAF KC-135R, Irish Air Corps Silver Swallows, RAF BBMF, Tornado F3, Airtours Boeing 757, solo Fox Glider.
Even there were a few items which few in the display (listed above), even some of these were weather-affected. The Red Arrows were restricted to just one pass, and the Hercules and Nimrod didn’t fly their full display sequences – they were limited to ILS approaches. The other items I’ve listed which flew were able to complete their displays, although the B-1B Lancer was only scheduled to do a couple of overshoots anyway.
Thinking back on that day, it was actually a wonder anything flew at all! Probably the worst weather I’ve ever seen at an airshow.
BTW, if you’d like any other details about what appeared at Woodford in 1987-2000, I’ll be happy to oblige!
EGCDAh, good old Clophill. Used to get all sorts of stuff through down the years.
Most of the RAF’s solo display aircraft and teams appeared at the event, and as mentioned above the US military were pretty good supporters of the show too.
EGCDThanks for all the responses and the emergence of a debate.
However, you need to be very careful reading ANYTHING about von Richthofen as there is a LOT of rubbish out there written about him. ***
I’m well aware of the blurring between illusions and realities. That really is the point of my research – trying to unpick the differences between the realities and myths.
Are you sure the ‘Knights of the Air’ mythology was related to 19th century ideas? I would think it went further back
That’s what I’ll explain in my research which, hopefully, will be published. 😉
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