I have to agree with your comments (and also many others who expressed the same) that the show was very much about the Blue Angels plus a few opening acts this year. I was warned at Cleveland that it was a very thin lineup with lots of gaps, and that was pretty true. It was especially disappointing to see only one P-51, no Skyraider demo, no P-40, and no paradrop. Of course none of those (except the Skyraider?) were really within control.kalamazookid wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:32 pm Of the five airshows I've been to this year, TOM had the highest daily ticket price for the shortest flying program. Not much in the air this year. Perhaps some of that had to do with the wind, but from a ticket value standpoint, it was a very disappointing show. I doubt there was an hour and a half of actual flying before the Blues took to the air Sunday. Lots of down time with nothing in the air. Getting just a single pass from each C-47 was ... interesting ... for it being the "theme" aircraft. I was surprised that the show didn't even set up the typical double-carousel of warbirds flying during the battle. Even when the lineup has been a bit weaker in the past, that flight has always made up for it ... but nothing doing there this year.
There were still some highlights - seeing the P-40B was fantastic (even though it didn't fly the day I was there). The Heritage Flight was certainly unique, and the Skyraider and P-51C demos were both good pieces of flying. Overall though, the show left a lot to be desired.
Hopefully, next year will bring a more full flying program. I've been to TOM 13 times, and this was the only time I've ever left feeling like I didn't get close to what I paid for. Maybe it was just a "down" year.
Didn't take many pics, but here are a couple of my favorites.
However, it is important to step back and look at it from the show's perspective. They don't care about our feelings, they care about the ticket sales (and the likelihood of future ticket sales).
They seem to be flipping the normal script of a long schedule and cheap tickets, and they are proving that it can be done successfully. Despite what we all know is a short program and probably the highest prices in the country, they had record crowds. I didn't hear any complaints around me about the lack of flying. The main complaints online were about traffic, seating space, and food lines. All of those indicate they were TOO successful if anything.
Given the success of this year I don't see any motivation for them to shift back to a longer program or to lower ticket prices. We as enthusiasts will bitch and moan but at the end of the day they will make more money bt ignoring us because we are a small percentage of the crowd. As much as I want to see a full warbird lineup and a new layout aligned with the runway and lower ticket prices, the market is speaking clearly that those things are not important. All we can really do is hope that more shows don't go in this direction.