Any advice

[lindaweaver]

I'm planning to attend an upcoming airshow and I'm keen on getting some insider advice to enhance my experience. Could anyone share their recommendations on essential gear to bring for a day at the airshow? I'm particularly interested in advice on photography equipment, but also tips on comfort items that might not be obvious to a first-timer. Additionally, if there are any particular aircraft or aerobatic teams that are considered a 'must-see', I'd love to hear about them. Lastly, any advice on navigating the event to make the most of the exhibits and flying displays would be fantastic.

[passedgas46]

I'm planning to attend an upcoming airshow and I'm keen on getting some insider advice to enhance my experience. Could anyone share their recommendations on essential gear to bring for a day at the airshow? I'm particularly interested in advice on photography equipment, but also tips on comfort items that might not be obvious to a first-timer. Additionally, if there are any particular aircraft or aerobatic teams that are considered a 'must-see', I'd love to hear about them. Lastly, any advice on navigating the event to make the most of the exhibits and flying displays would be fantastic.

Here's 45+ years of experience going to airshows:

Essential gear? For the most part, a folding chair (the ones that fold into a bag are perfect), a refillable water bottle or sealed bottled water (as for sealed bottled water, freeze them overnight), put a cooler in your car with food and drinks (this'll help with when you leave), wear comfortable clothing based on the weather (sneakers, not flip flops or anything uncomfortable, you'll be putting in thousands of steps), hearing protection, sunglasses/hat/sunscreen, small umbrella. Get there early.

Photography? This is one where others will give you advice. Your smartphone can take some good photos and videos. I'm a binoculars only airshow fan. I've seen lots of DSLR cameras out there with large lenses and it seems like it's a balance of Canon and Nikon cameras. I've shared the crowd line with many videographers too... most with smallish handheld cameras and one with a giant handheld camera. I couldn't tell you what's what.

Must-see TV...I mean airplanes? Obviously the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds fit this. Other than that, in general, you'd have to be an airplane nut to answer this one.

Navigating the event? All airshows handle this part differently. The bigger ones will have either really nice drawn-out maps overlayed on Google Maps imagery or really nice art that is close to what you see at the airshow's location. At most airshows if you get there when the gates open to the public you could sit your chair down somewhere and walk the entire ramp and return in time for the flying display to begin.

I've only scratched the surface here. A lot of this was passed down from my father to me and I've passed it to my nephews.

Which airshow are you talking about? You might have some people here who will give you some insider tips on that particular airshow.

[timqu]

First, congratulations on attending your first airshow. Depending on which one you're going to, it's like nothing else.

Passedgas46 pretty much covered all the comfort items. Be sure to check ahead of time to see what items are not allowed to be brought in. Some allow backpacks, some don't. I was just at the airshow on Sheppard AFB and even bottled water was not allowed, but you could bring a reusable water bottle as they had stations to refill one. It's better to know ahead of time than to have to make a long trek back to the car to put something in it.

One random piece of advice that I learned at Sheppard was don't get in a rush when you go through the security checkpoint if there is one. I carry way too much stuff and felt bad holding up the line to re-load everything after emptying pockets and everything so I rushed to get out of the way. 90 minutes into walking around the static displays and a few minutes before the show began, I take out my phone to take one selfie and have an alert on it that my AirPods had been left behind. I looked to see where and it showed the checkpoint so I make a fast walk back there to hopefully retrieve them. I asked one of the MPs if they knew where they were and he asked one of the other Airmen. He said if they had been found, they'd be over there in a box. Someone had even left their keys. I thought what an idiot to leave keys behind. When we got to the box, turns out they were my keys too. Very glad I had my AirPods that day or I would've been in a huge mess when I got back to the car later.

Now to gear. If you're going to use something like a DSLR camera, I'd go with a zoom lens somewhere in the 100 to 300-400mm range. I use a 60-600mm lens but, as we've already established, I'm not the brightest. I have seen a lot of people using larger lenses and smaller lenses, even their cell phones, and seem to be very happy with the photos and videos they're getting. I would suggest for your first airshow, use what you already have. Unless you know for sure that you're going to use a camera/lens combo often or attend a lot of airshows, don't spend a lot just to find out you have no desire to attend another airshow or any use for the gear you bought. One option is renting also.

Passedgas46 said he is a binoculars-only guy. I am the opposite in all honestly. I spend most of an airshow with my glued to the back of a camera. You probably want to be more like him and not like me. I enjoy the sights and sounds but am always hunting for that one perfect photo. I believe it's impossible to be photographing something and truly experiencing it at the same time though. Take a few photos or videos of each act if it seems to be one you want to remember but then put the camera down and enjoy the experience. That may sound heresy to say on this forum but it is very important to enjoy your experience while you're there.

And please do let us know which airshow you will be attending or have attended by now and how it went.