Thunder Over Michigan 2022

Discussion relating to 2022 airshows/fly-ins/exercises/other events. Post news before the event and post your photos afterwards! Please create only one thread per event.
Xray
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:59 pm

Post by Xray » Wed Jul 20, 2022 1:58 am

Any youtube link for this video, can't see anything here and I am pretty much anti facebook
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Laskow2
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:54 pm

Post by Laskow2 » Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:39 am

I will be surprised if they don't change back to the older way, they even limited comments on Facebook if that gives an example of how things went for them. I firmly believe if it wasn't for the blues they would not have sold out. Also they completely gave the middle finger to the die hard fan that comes up alone charging him/her 395 for the day....besides Thunder is defiantly not what it used to be warbird wise and the future doesn't look promising....
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BruceK
Posts: 141
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 6:39 am

Post by BruceK » Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:19 am

JBavaition wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 10:17 pm If I recall, in 2021 before the format change, I bought 2 tickets and parking for just $25.

After giving away a many freebies to people who bought tickets in 2020 and to people who had Wild Wednesday tickets, they did not even come close to selling out on any show besides Saturday Afternoon.

I hope this will be a wake up call to them for future shows. Especially next year (August 5th and 6th) given there is no jet team. According to a recent Facebook post, the theme will be along the lines of the 25th Anniversary of Thunder.
If they continue the Drive-in format and ridiculous price next year neither I nor my friends will be going, period end of story. The only way we were able to go this year and last is we got free passes for buying 2020 tickets. That's done, so we can't justify close to a thousand dollars to go both days, on top of hotel rooms, gas, & food. Since it's a 8 hour trip one way it makes no since to go one day. I've been to every TOM since 2010 and love the show but they aren't the only game going anymore. Other shows have stepped up and I will spend my money and a lot less of it there instead. I went to St Louis and that show was everything Thunder was suppose to be and more and I paid $40/day and that was because I waited until the last minute to make sure the weather was good. I could have got in for something like $25 had I bought tickets earlier. Can you imagine how angry people would be if the show got rained out and all that money they spent was for nothing?

As noted above, any long time Thunder attendees know the crowds are noticeably smaller when there is no jet team. They have their work cut out for them next year. The Sunday morning show was only two rows deep where we were, close to show center. Anyway, I off to Airventure this weekend where the format and price are the same as they were pre-covid.
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rbartnik
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:11 pm

Post by rbartnik » Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:21 am

RyanS wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 9:00 pmTOM is 400 dollars for a day, but Selfridge on the other side of town was free and Battle Creek 1.5 hours away was 13 dollars a day. Some shows will always be free (military base mandate) so you will always have this price disparity and competition within the industry.
Traverse City was free and I didn't have to choose between the Blue Angels or the Viper Demo.
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itsnotreddit
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 11:32 pm

Post by itsnotreddit » Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:00 pm

I don't know if that was even particularly true about Selfridge.

I haven't been for a few years now, but I remember having pretty good ramp access, and I remember the show being pretty good.

I feel like the per vehicle thing is an interesting twist to all this. The per human cost for some of us is $400, for others it's $67 or so.
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Iamwiz82
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2021 6:01 pm

Post by Iamwiz82 » Thu Jul 21, 2022 3:23 am

Honestly I cannot complain about the cost for the full day pass. We filled a minivan and brought an entire picnic with us. We spent next to nothing on concessions as compared to what we spent at Selfridge the week before.

I, personally, like the drive-in format. It gives disabled people a real chance to be close and makes it so much easier to setup a nice camp.

I will also say that the 2021 TOM show was amazing and was a really high bar to attain, as a jet fan. They tried to keep that level of pricing while not being able to come up with the same lineup.
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archaic34
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:44 pm

Post by archaic34 » Thu Jul 21, 2022 6:16 pm

I have not finished going through all of my images. Here are a couple of my favorites from Sunday though, despite the gloomy skies:
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dzirzow
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:27 am
Location: cleveland

Post by dzirzow » Sat Jul 23, 2022 3:09 am

Well, finally replying since my iphone will not let me log in to the board.

Wound up getting hotel for 2 nights with my single Sat afternoon ticket. Buff cancelled. UGH

Highlight was seeing the Blues practice on Friday. AMAZING at end of runway. Talked to a couple people there. Saved weekend for me. (we know where you could not park again after Friday lol)

My free Sat show tic from my 2 year ago purchase only made me feel bad for those who actually paid full price!

As already mentioned a week long pass to the world's largest airshow including 7 full days plus arrival days and 2 night shows is less expensive than the 2 hours of flying for your car ticket.

This show got mismanaged in a heartbeat. Mad and upset.. of course. But only because I have attended an amazing event for years, only to be torn apart by self inflicted decisions. I think sadness is a more appropriate emotion for what it was, to what it is now.

Please don't tell us how the show organizers tried extremely hard to fill in cancellation time slots. TOM's B-17 and Huey rides were fighting for time for paid rides during the weekend. Let them take up another group and actually do flyover in front of the crowd during down time. TOMs own aircraft didn't even do flyovers for the show. SMH.
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Xray
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:59 pm

Post by Xray » Sat Jul 23, 2022 4:23 am

I stopped going into shows after 9/11 when they denied entry to folks with coolers - At the time had young kids and no way was I going to pay $20 for a bottle of water and a couple frizzled hotdogs. Last time I went in it was scorching hot, no shade to be had unless under an airplane wing and people were nearly passing out on the tarmac, not my idea of a good time. The more I stayed off airbases the more I liked it, much more laid back, no restrictions, better view of flying aircraft with the only downside being no statics.

Since then I have been watching the shows at Ypsi from outside but always bought a ticket anyhow as a token of support, but with the predatory pandemic pricing structure being stretched to its limit, that option has been taken away.

Tyler was open last year for both show days, I am led to the conclusion that if the show is sold out [like last year] then they don't care and are not going to waste any manpower keeping people out. Was open both days the year before that too, and the year before that, they charged $20 per vehicle to watch from the field, which I thought was pretty reasonable, but that was back in the days of $35 tickets.

So the status of the field remains to be seen from year to year, I found another spot comparable just a bit further back but no view of the actual field. Kinda like being surprised by jets over the tree tops, reminds me of when I was a kid being buzzed by Phantoms, quite a rush.
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GRNDP51
Posts: 256
Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2017 2:47 am

Post by GRNDP51 » Sat Jul 23, 2022 7:15 pm

Xray wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 4:23 am
So the status of the field remains to be seen from year to year, I found another spot comparable just a bit further back but no view of the actual field. Kinda like being surprised by jets over the tree tops, reminds me of when I was a kid being buzzed by Phantoms, quite a rush.
On Friday Tyler had folding barricades ever 5-10 feet lining the field entrance, but once one person thought to go in, most of us followed. We didn't get bothered all day. Saturday morning they put police line do not cross tape connecting the barricades, so that was a sign of what was going on. On Sunday we went to cruise around the airport, and you couldn't even get on Tyler Road itself without showing a ticket, and the show was definitely not sold out Sunday.
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