Re: Airshow London 2017
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 4:32 pm
I'm happy to say that Saturday and Sunday went much better for me than Friday did. Ultimately the lineup was (no surprise) the saving grace of the show. Had it been anything less I would be staying well clear.
I do need to give credit for that and for the traffic, which is always the worst part of a show. It seemed well handled with the buses and dispersed enough that we didn't really wait to get out at all. Maybe others had a different experience.
One thing that I ALWAYS appreciate at shows is combining elements to make new performances. To that effect I really loved the Harvard/Hawk formation and the CF-18/Vampire flight. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the CF-18/F-16 arrival if I had been able to see it...
I did like that the hot ramp was opened up in the morning, though the whole thing with roping off every static airplane is stupid. At least it was understandable on the hot ramp.
I am not a fan of the layout. The general admission fence line was small and the issues with the fence on 9-27 never seemed to be resolved. I saw one volunteer moving people's chairs from the front row to the fourth or fifth row in the grass to keep the pavement clear. There was nothing coming through, and they were behind the rope that was already behind the rest of the fence. That whole area was handled extremely poorly.
I can see how some would find having the planes parked out front to be cool, but for me it detracted from the photo ops significantly and their idling drowned out not only the speakers but also any attempt at conversation and even the aircraft flying overhead. It got annoying fast.
I wasn't too upset by the schedule changes, I know they happen but also there was no clear schedule for me to hold anyone to. I'll agree on the poor communication complaints, though I definitely appreciate the efforts to keep us informed here. Ultimately I just waited to be surprised.
I was extremely disappointed that all of the Sunday departures were one and done. That was really the whole point in going for me. I remember St. Thomas having like 8 or 9 sets of low approaches back in the day. Anyone going in the future should maybe plan to see arrivals instead of the actual show. I also wish the flying had started at noon, particularly with the heat. It seemed to drag on with a lot of gaps.
The airboss and tower situation was quite strange and it seemed like things were poorly run. I definitely understand coordinating with the tower for commercial ops but many other shows do that much more smoothly. Everything had to be repeated multiple times in a weird game of telephone and there were a number of testy exchanges that caught my attention. The Skyvan and Eagle both got some grief for their flybys, whether it was warranted or not I can't say but I am damn glad I saw the first pass from the Eagle!
Hopefully they can bring the rest of the organization up to the standard of air ops in the future, and give the pilots more gas to burn!
I do need to give credit for that and for the traffic, which is always the worst part of a show. It seemed well handled with the buses and dispersed enough that we didn't really wait to get out at all. Maybe others had a different experience.
One thing that I ALWAYS appreciate at shows is combining elements to make new performances. To that effect I really loved the Harvard/Hawk formation and the CF-18/Vampire flight. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the CF-18/F-16 arrival if I had been able to see it...
I did like that the hot ramp was opened up in the morning, though the whole thing with roping off every static airplane is stupid. At least it was understandable on the hot ramp.
I am not a fan of the layout. The general admission fence line was small and the issues with the fence on 9-27 never seemed to be resolved. I saw one volunteer moving people's chairs from the front row to the fourth or fifth row in the grass to keep the pavement clear. There was nothing coming through, and they were behind the rope that was already behind the rest of the fence. That whole area was handled extremely poorly.
I can see how some would find having the planes parked out front to be cool, but for me it detracted from the photo ops significantly and their idling drowned out not only the speakers but also any attempt at conversation and even the aircraft flying overhead. It got annoying fast.
I wasn't too upset by the schedule changes, I know they happen but also there was no clear schedule for me to hold anyone to. I'll agree on the poor communication complaints, though I definitely appreciate the efforts to keep us informed here. Ultimately I just waited to be surprised.
I was extremely disappointed that all of the Sunday departures were one and done. That was really the whole point in going for me. I remember St. Thomas having like 8 or 9 sets of low approaches back in the day. Anyone going in the future should maybe plan to see arrivals instead of the actual show. I also wish the flying had started at noon, particularly with the heat. It seemed to drag on with a lot of gaps.
The airboss and tower situation was quite strange and it seemed like things were poorly run. I definitely understand coordinating with the tower for commercial ops but many other shows do that much more smoothly. Everything had to be repeated multiple times in a weird game of telephone and there were a number of testy exchanges that caught my attention. The Skyvan and Eagle both got some grief for their flybys, whether it was warranted or not I can't say but I am damn glad I saw the first pass from the Eagle!
Hopefully they can bring the rest of the organization up to the standard of air ops in the future, and give the pilots more gas to burn!