I always thought the twilight display at Old Warden, with a picnic and jazz atmosphere, was a stunning idea. I might add that I live in Australia and have never seen it!
I have always found the commentators at airshows here in the colonies to be truly awful. Unknowledgable (not their fault, of course), not knowing when to shut the hell up (ie: when 7 Mustangs are making a low, fast pass) and the greatest fault of all: playing music over the PA while flying displays are on.
Avalon Airshow, a bi-yearly effort here in Melbourne, has in the last 4 years shown the utmost contempt for the paying spectator. Myself and a friend, both 30-year veterans of dedicated aviation-worshipping, have agreed that we won’t be attending Avalon again.
The second-last show, 4 years ago, saw fit to repeat the flying display on both days: ie, if you missed Saturday, you could see the exact same thing on Sunday.
The last show (which we did not attend) repeated the morning display in the afternoon for both days…..so if you saw the flying on Saturday morning, then you had effectively seen the entire show. And don’t get me started on the entry prices, the cost of deep-fried food and the over-zealous security guards…
Now, Avalon started out as a trade show. Then it was opened to the public. Then it was marketed as an airshow. As I said to my friend at the time, they have to make up their minds what it is: trade or public display. I personally think it has run its course, purely on what I see as indifference to the enthusiasts they claim to cater for, and old time greed.
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