Airshow London 2019

[mstares]

A counterpoint to the frustration posts which are kinda feeding off each other.

I am among those who fly in for the show - have done it for the past three years. In each case I have made the call to book photo pit tickets, exorbitant air fare from the east coast, hotel and car rental primarily upon the announcing of the long lead time acts and the first few statics which grab my attention. Each time I have gambled that the 'more to come' would work out to some degree.

In each instance it has worked out (Spectacularly in the first two years though last year was married somewhat by weather). Sure, there have been hiccups - operational taskings, hurricanes, maintenance issues and just plain bad luck can impact excellent line ups. This is beyond the show's control, yet in the pile on we are already reading complaints about cancellations that haven't happened yet...

Any airshow has an element of 'trust me'. Each year I make my RIAT arrangements, well before any aircraft announcements, based on a track record of past good shows. I ignore RIAT's ‘own goal’ promotional gaffes for the same reason I am not terribly concerned by promotional errors here.

I am seeing a bit of RIAT whinging syndrome here. The show has not even run yet and we are essentially reading 'worst ASL ever' or 'last ASL ever for me'.

Whilst I am not advocating a 'ya pays yer money, ya takes yer chances’ attitude I do feel it is premature to condemn the show. The static line up is awesome and given that the ATC staff actively encourage arrivals to put on a show, arrivals days in and of themselves make the trip worthwhile. If you don't want to shell out for the photo pit, take in the show proper on a regular ticket and enjoy the arrivals from a couple excellent vantage points outside the fence. Similarly, departures are quite good outside the fence, though in inclement weather the photo pit offers shelter and burner.

Bottom line for me is that I primarily attend airshows for the photography. I have gotten some of my best shots at ASL and primarily they are not even part of the airshow proper... the swamp fox arrival, various pre/post show CF-18 and F-18E comings and goings and last but not least the LA/MI and OH ANG birds. I have no reason to expect anything different, the sun at your back, cancon and A-10 demo are just gravy for me.

If the show does not deliver this year I'll use it to assess my attendance next year. Right now I'll let past performance guide my expectations of future results.

[EricP]

A counterpoint to the frustration posts which are kinda feeding off each other.

I am among those who fly in for the show - have done it for the past three years. In each case I have made the call to book photo pit tickets, exorbitant air fare from the east coast, hotel and car rental primarily upon the announcing of the long lead time acts and the first few statics which grab my attention. Each time I have gambled that the 'more to come' would work out to some degree.

In each instance it has worked out (Spectacularly in the first two years though last year was married somewhat by weather). Sure, there have been hiccups - operational taskings, hurricanes, maintenance issues and just plain bad luck can impact excellent line ups. This is beyond the show's control, yet in the pile on we are already reading complaints about cancellations that haven't happened yet...

Any airshow has an element of 'trust me'. Each year I make my RIAT arrangements, well before any aircraft announcements, based on a track record of past good shows. I ignore RIAT's ‘own goal’ promotional gaffes for the same reason I am not terribly concerned by promotional errors here.

I am seeing a bit of RIAT whinging syndrome here. The show has not even run yet and we are essentially reading 'worst ASL ever' or 'last ASL ever for me'.

Whilst I am not advocating a 'ya pays yer money, ya takes yer chances’ attitude I do feel it is premature to condemn the show. The static line up is awesome and given that the ATC staff actively encourage arrivals to put on a show, arrivals days in and of themselves make the trip worthwhile. If you don't want to shell out for the photo pit, take in the show proper on a regular ticket and enjoy the arrivals from a couple excellent vantage points outside the fence. Similarly, departures are quite good outside the fence, though in inclement weather the photo pit offers shelter and burner.

Bottom line for me is that I primarily attend airshows for the photography. I have gotten some of my best shots at ASL and primarily they are not even part of the airshow proper... the swamp fox arrival, various pre/post show CF-18 and F-18E comings and goings and last but not least the LA/MI and OH ANG birds. I have no reason to expect anything different, the sun at your back, cancon and A-10 demo are just gravy for me.

If the show does not deliver this year I'll use it to assess my attendance next year. Right now I'll let past performance guide my expectations of future results.

My comment earlier should not be part of your blanket statement of "RIAT whining syndrome" as it was nothing of the sort. My comment was based on the fact that other shows had announced a significant portion of their lineups which included acts I really wanted to see and photograph. Whereas ASL at the time had only announced the CF-18, Snowbirds, and A-10 demo when I was planning things out.

The shows in competition with ASL announced their lineups several months in advance of their shows vs. weeks (and here we are a few weeks out and still don't know the full schedule/lineup for ASL). I personally can't hold out to wait and see what ASL announces in that short of a period of time to determine whether or not I will attend...especially when the other shows have acts that are unique or appeal to me. Travel accommodations would have been unreasonable or impossible to book at this point for those shows.

Some individuals, such as yourself, may be willing to roll the dice that they will have a great lineup this year and there certainly is no problem with that...to each their own. Who knows, they probably will have a good lineup, but that is still TBD with a little over 3 weeks out from the show which is pretty ridiculous. Right now, the flying portion is looking pretty lame. Statics look ok so far, but there is nothing that has been announced that I haven't seen at other air shows this year. I am in the US though, so those may be more rare in their appearances in Canada so I am glad those of you that don't get to see those will have the opportunity to.

It's just unfortunate because I have enjoyed ASL the past couple years which are the first years I have attended. Heck I would have even been inclined to pass on a different show that maybe had a performer I have not seen before (e.g. the F-35 full demo which I could see next year) to attend ASL if the fanatastic lineup they are advertising, but we are still waiting on was available sooner.

[Faust]

I'm a bit different.

I don't attend a show for photography purposes. Sure, I take pictures, but it's just with my little point and shoot, and rarely during flying. I'm a modeller, so static shots of details are what I want, picture wise.

I attend the show to see modern military hardware, particularly in the air. I like to see the odd Warbird, too, but there are other shows for that.

In the old days, the London International Air Show was renowned for its ability to put a lot of iron in the sky. We've had that the first two years of ASL, and they did a great job.

This year just isn't as good. I'm not going to skip it, nor am I going to call it the "worst ASL ever" until I see it. Even so, having any airshow in town again is great and deserves support.

I thing that the "RIAT Whining" isn't quite fair. Most of us are complaining about the marketing tactics, which we complained about last year, too. Clearly, they don't consider our opinion valuable or in the the direction they want to go, since this year's marketing is even more "last minute" than last year's!

What it boils down to is trepedation and a lack of trust because we've been told "we're going to blow you away" and so far, we haven't been. If there was no hype, there'd be no disappointment.

I really feel that those in charge of the marketing need to listen up and listen well: Get your acts finalized as soon as you can, and get them up on the website and in social media AS SOON AS YOU CAN. Sure, there will be cancellations. It's an airshow. If you aren't ready for that, nothing's going to help you. But when you're trying to make a decision on whether to go to an airshow or not, it helps to have some idea of what is actually going to be there. The sooner, the better.

[Brian]

A counterpoint to the frustration posts which are kinda feeding off each other.

I am among those who fly in for the show - have done it for the past three years. In each case I have made the call to book photo pit tickets, exorbitant air fare from the east coast, hotel and car rental primarily upon the announcing of the long lead time acts and the first few statics which grab my attention. Each time I have gambled that the 'more to come' would work out to some degree.

In each instance it has worked out (Spectacularly in the first two years though last year was married somewhat by weather). Sure, there have been hiccups - operational taskings, hurricanes, maintenance issues and just plain bad luck can impact excellent line ups. This is beyond the show's control, yet in the pile on we are already reading complaints about cancellations that haven't happened yet...

Any airshow has an element of 'trust me'. Each year I make my RIAT arrangements, well before any aircraft announcements, based on a track record of past good shows. I ignore RIAT's ‘own goal’ promotional gaffes for the same reason I am not terribly concerned by promotional errors here.

I am seeing a bit of RIAT whinging syndrome here. The show has not even run yet and we are essentially reading 'worst ASL ever' or 'last ASL ever for me'.

Whilst I am not advocating a 'ya pays yer money, ya takes yer chances’ attitude I do feel it is premature to condemn the show. The static line up is awesome and given that the ATC staff actively encourage arrivals to put on a show, arrivals days in and of themselves make the trip worthwhile. If you don't want to shell out for the photo pit, take in the show proper on a regular ticket and enjoy the arrivals from a couple excellent vantage points outside the fence. Similarly, departures are quite good outside the fence, though in inclement weather the photo pit offers shelter and burner.

Bottom line for me is that I primarily attend airshows for the photography. I have gotten some of my best shots at ASL and primarily they are not even part of the airshow proper... the swamp fox arrival, various pre/post show CF-18 and F-18E comings and goings and last but not least the LA/MI and OH ANG birds. I have no reason to expect anything different, the sun at your back, cancon and A-10 demo are just gravy for me.

If the show does not deliver this year I'll use it to assess my attendance next year. Right now I'll let past performance guide my expectations of future results.

oh well, good for you, i am sure we are all happy that you don't mind throwing your money around
as for cancellations, we all know they are part of every airshow, so whether you want to face it or not it does happen
and definitely, this will be my last asl, i'll go elsewhere that doesn't worry about "letting everyone else have their day in the sun"

[FlyRed]

oh well, good for you, i am sure we are all happy that you don't mind throwing your money around
as for cancellations, we all know they are part of every airshow, so whether you want to face it or not it does happen
and definitely, this will be my last asl, i'll go elsewhere that doesn't worry about "letting everyone else have their day in the sun"

[Brian]

oh well, good for you, i am sure we are all happy that you don't mind throwing your money around
as for cancellations, we all know they are part of every airshow, so whether you want to face it or not it does happen
and definitely, this will be my last asl, i'll go elsewhere that doesn't worry about "letting everyone else have their day in the sun"

Thanks, seems in last years asl thread you showed the same ignorance towards people, you must be proud of yourself

[Zoooomboom]

Any further scuttlebutt on performers? Long range weather forecast looks great for practice Friday!

[Faust]

We may as well dump any acrimony; we're getting what we're getting, whether we like it, or the marketing, or not.

So, looking forward to the show...

Does anyone have a Thursday arrival schedule? I'd love to see one if I can. I'm thinking about taking the day off, but I want to know if it's worth it, and would like to see when I want to be at the airfield.

Thanks!

[Dan Gagnon]

We may as well dump any acrimony; we're getting what we're getting, whether we like it, or the marketing, or not.

So, looking forward to the show...

Does anyone have a Thursday arrival schedule? I'd love to see one if I can. I'm thinking about taking the day off, but I want to know if it's worth it, and would like to see when I want to be at the airfield.

Thanks!

Thursday arrivals last year was awesome! Not sure if there really is a set schedule, but B-52 and C-5 makes it worth it already. I definately reccommend it!

[Faust]

I hear ya, Dan!

I definitely want to see the Buff, but I don't want to wait out there all day and then see nothing, leave and have missed it all. Arrivals have to be scheduled somehow - it's an airport, so I'd have thought they'd all have arrival times.

Anybody out there at the Airport have any info you can give us?

It's been a long time since I saw a Buff flying, so I'm pretty pumped!