A “Theatre of the Air” like any form of theatre would depend on the cast actually showing up.

The serviceability record, or perhaps more accurately the attendance record, of booked aircraft at British airshows had reached an unacceptably dire state of late. Let’s start with a full cast first, then maybe we can think about getting a performance out of them when we’ve managed that.

I would disagree with that and it’s that outlook that keeps resurecting the type, sure it has come to represent a moment in the dwindling of the British aviation industry, but many events before and after have all played there part.

Speaking as someone who ejected safely at the time I can assure you the British aircraft industry did not “dwindle”.

It died fighting, as a result of a number of savage blows – but TSR2 was the one that pierced the heart.

Conservation Manager.
Management titles being what they are these days, I guess we are about to see the RAF Museum follow other national museums and start “deaccessioning” most of their aircraft to replace them with “interactive” digital displays.

In my former professional flying career, which I survived without a scratch either to me, any aircraft, or any passenger, I lost a number of professional pilot friends, all of whom were exeptionally gifted, experienced, skilled and qualified, to flying accidents.
In every single case the accident occurred not during professional military or airline flying but while hobby-flying light or vintage aircraft. In several cases unaccountable mistakes or loss of concentration were contributory.

I regard this experience as evidence there is truth in this saying.
Complete safety is entirely achievable by maintaining professional standards but let them slip even the tiniest degree and the results are likely to be severe.

Several instances of V1s landing intact. One in Southborough, Kent ended up in an allotment and was taken away almost complete.

Just Google…

Is there a need for change? I certainly don’t know and neither does anyone else here today. It will take a lot of skilled work by investigators before we can say.

My suggestion is, from a safety point of view probably not. It was a freak accident, the first since before the Farnborough incident. The number of people who died will be surpassed by ‘everyday’ road casualties by the end of today, nobody will launch a huge investigation into those and conclude that anyone driving over 30mph has to pass an advanced driving test.

But from a public opinion point of view, probably yes. Something will have to be seen to be done, let’s just hope and pray it isn’t too draconian.

Moggy

We have reached the current level of air safety by questioning every incident no matter how small the loss of life, or none at all.

Before every accident you will find an near-miss which, had lessons been learned could have prevented it.
All of these could be called “freaks” – until it happens again.

Like it or not, experienced, intelligent, aviation people have been questioning airshow “near-misses” as well as accidents for some years now. It’s not just the “uninformed public” or the “clueless media”. Some display pilots themselves are unhappy with what is happening.

Cold War jets are a whole different category to today’s fast jets. They must be displayed with due respect to their limited capability compared to current FJs. Sometimes this does not appear to be the case. Experience on the latter does not necessarily qualify as experience on the former. That is not a comment on this accident but a comment on the general display scene.

We need to look again at airshow locations. Sorry, but Shoreham, by its very limited size, with towns both ends, and Lancing College on a hill next door (even ignoring the main road), has to be questioned as a suitable location for display of all types, when there is an open sea-front almost adjacent where total safety to spectators and passers-by alike could be assured.

There will be a major investigation – and in my view it is overdue.

There were plenty of airfields to the north and north east of London had the south-eastern ones been closed. The battle would have shifted from over the Channel to over Kent, which it did, then to overhead London, which though less desirable was still winnable.

Regarding pilots, we had already reached the stage of putting newly trained pilots straight into the thick of it with the consequent large rise in casualties. There was never a shortage of volunteers. So long as sufficient experienced pilots were held back as trainers, there were places to train and there were new aircraft to fly, we could have continued on that costly, in terms of human life, but sustainable path.

Regarding morale, Churchill was right: “We shall never surrender”.
My mother, alone with her children, simply refused to move from Kent, directly under the BofB and in the direct path of the expected invasion, despite many pleas and offers of accommodation from relatives well away from danger. Her attitude, and she re-affirmed it all her long life was: Over my dead body.
That was the prevailing mood among those who watched the battle overhead and I think, in the country.

Wars are as much about a battle of spirit as a battle of weapons.