A discussion about Airshow line ups in Northern Ireland

[greglloyd]

I wondered if anyone else shared the same feelings as me in relation to airshow line ups in Northern Ireland? I truely LOVE airshows, but can't help felling that we always tend to get much of the same each year - too many slow prop planes (e.g. Bird Dog, Catalina, etc and not enough fast jets for example. We don't need to see those types of planes over and over again do we?

The following would be the line up I would love to see at Newtownards in 2009 for a change - a fast jet heavy line up for a bit more excitement! (of course - it'll never happen!) :-

Red Arrows
Eurofighter Typhoon
Tornado F3
Harrier GR7
AH-64 Apache (Or as Blue Eagles display team)
Merlin
CH-47 Chinook
Ryanair 737 or Continental 757 flypast
Bell UH-1 Huey
One or two jets from European airforces (e.g. F-16)
A supercharged P-51 Mustang (haven't seen one for a while!)

I'd lvoe to know what the rest of you think? Maybe if organisers knew people's thoughts we could at least get them to add in a few of the above? 

[casper]

You read my mind greglloyd I was thinking of starting the same thread

I could also add
C-130
C-17
Nimrod
Catalina
Spitfire
Lancaster
B-25

Unfortunately the fast jets are at the mercy of the RAFs airshow policy next year.

[greglloyd]

Yes, would love to see those aircraft too!

What is the RAF Airshow policy next year? I haven't heard anything about this?

[casper]

I assuming that it will be similiar to this years Multi-Role Demonstrations were they put on a large display with around 8 aircraft. Unfortunately this only takes place at the bigger shows in England.

[String]

A friend of mine who is based at lossiemouth, has said that it may be possible for the organisers of smaller airshows to contact the RAF airshow fleet management to see if they can arrange certain aircraft to make SPECIAL appearances. as they did to get the nimrod to do a flypast at portrush.

[casper]

That would be great - I hope they know this

as they did to get the nimrod to do a flypast at portrush.

From what I know the RAF contacted the shows organisers and not the other way around.

[Angry Turnip]

Interesting thread this one-yes it would be nice to see more exotic types at shows here and more fast jets.
Unfortunatly regarding the RAF it`s that old operational commitments problem again.
Harriers and Tornado F.3 displays have all but stopped in the past two years-the F.3 is still seen in the Role demo but I feel the RAF need to offer this to other shows that have not seen this type of display.
The Role Demo will be in it`s 3rd year next season,and I feel it`s time we got to see it.

There are plenty of Private fast jet warbirds in Engalnd but we very rarely get to see them-Delta Jets at Kemble for example has multiple examples of Hunters,Gnats and Jet Provests.Hunter Flying Club again has multiple airworthy machines.

I think it takes the airshow organisers to use a bit more imagination with what they book-or even try to-of course budgets are limited but there are lots of civilian UK based aircraft that have display authority but you have to go and look for them.

There is a great variety of acts in the UK that have rarely or never been seen in Northern Ireland.

You can find a selection below:

http://www.airshows.org.uk/directory/military.html

http://www.airshows.org.uk/directory/historic.html

http://www.airshows.org.uk/directory/sports.html

[String]

That would be great - I hope they know this

as they did to get the nimrod to do a flypast at portrush.

From what I know the RAF contacted the shows organisers and not the other way around.

You maybe correct, my friend was not sure about that, but i think the budgets have alot to say about what they can book.

[casper]

of course budgets are limited but there are lots of civilian UK based aircraft that have display authority

This is so true. From what I hear it cost around £5000 to bring the Huey over for last years airshow weekend. I for one would gladly pay a higher entrance fee if it would cover the costs of bringing over something different.

[Dave]

To be honest, I quite like the older slower and larger aircraft. Now that I'm an amateur photographer, I realise slower aircraft are much easier to photograph However airshow's here are limited as in aircraft involved can land.

Personally I would like to see some commercial aircraft get involved in airshows and I surprised they likes of Ryanair and FlyBE have not got involved with flyover's.

So large aircraft get the vote from me;

Vulcan,
Lancaster (Battle of Britain),
Dakota,
B-25,
Shorts 360 would be fantastic to see one last time,
Catalina,
Obviously pushing it, but an Aer Lingus A330 any large commercial plane

In RIAT 2005 for example, they had a DHL 757 flying around gracefully which was pretty cool.

I'm not too fussed about the lack of jet fighters, they a pain to photograph in the air, and the Eurofighter is enough for me if it appears. The odd harrier would be nice though.

[Angry Turnip]

Not likely that Flybe or Ryanair would do a flypast at an airshow-don`t forget they are carring passengers and time is money-so any change of flightpath would be a big no no.
True at some of the big airshows you get flybys of large commercial aircraft but not very often-the DHL 757 was a of course a cargo version so no passengers to scare the bejesus ou of.

Would be nice to see some Shorts aircraft again-still some UK registered 330`s 360`s and Skyvans on the go.

Some of the smaller types paired up information with similar types would be good.
I would love to see the Diamond Nine team that fly nine Tiger Moths-got a video of them and they are very good-heard a rumour they might have disbanded or changed their name.

[vortex003]

The Tiger Moths are still active,possibly as you say under a new name.I saw a few pics recently on another forum.I must try and find them again.

[greglloyd]

of course budgets are limited but there are lots of civilian UK based aircraft that have display authority

This is so true. From what I hear it cost around £5000 to bring the Huey over for last years airshow weekend. I for one would gladly pay a higher entrance fee if it would cover the costs of bringing over something different.

Yes, I would agree. I'd be happy to pay a higher entrance fee in return for fresher line ups / better aircraft. The organisers should also remember that in order to attract the more general public in larger numbers, they need to create an exciting flying display and unfortunately, we get the same thing here in NI year in - year out. Just the usual line up of AN2, Bird Dog, Tucano, Team Guinnot, Sukoi, etc. There's nothing wrong with these aircraft, but we've seem them too many times and they frankly do not excite the general public enough to attract huge numbers.

I also think the organisers should think very carefully about when they stage their displays. The best year I can remember in recent times at Newtownards was when they decided to stage it in May rather than the usual June. That was a great display with a fantastic Blue Eagles display (remember the Lynx doing a back flip?) and a great Harrier GR7 display. The sun blazed for the entire display. May is always a good month here weather wise, but June is usually dodgy. It always surprises me that Newtownards go for a June date based on this. There's nothing more that puts off the public than a not so great line up combined with poor weather.

Re: Aircraft not being able to land. It's a pity that Aldergrove never ran any more airshows. Remember the two they had back in the 80's? It could stage a great display with that long runway for them all to land on.

[casper]

It's a pity that Aldergrove never ran any more airshows. Remember the two they had back in the 80's? It could stage a great display with that long runway for them all to land on.

Unfortunately I didn't get to any of them Didn't they bring Concorde over for one of them? I seem to remember a story about the shuttle service from Heathrow was due to fly over using a 737 or 757 but they transferred all the passengers to Concorde because it was heading over to the show.

One place that seems to have been overlooked for airshows in recent years is the City of Derry airport. Any that I attended there were always very enjoyable, although I can't ever remember the static display being anything to write home about. But there is a long runway and loved the sight of two Tornados taking off together.

[vortex003]

Who saw the Tiger scheme Puma at a show here in 2005??

[vortex003]

To be fair,show organisers did manage to get RAF fast jets over here a few years ago,but with two 'wars',lack of airframes,reduced funding,blah blah blah,they are no longer available.
Seems to me the new Role Demo was introduced because of this.

I'm sure the health and safety brigade don't do anyone any favours when it comes to staging the pyrotechnic show that goes with it - you probably need more space than is available at any of our airfields.

I imagine display dates for our shows are determined by whenever the Red Arrows can fit us in to their schedule - again out of the organisers hands

We enthusiasts wouldn't mind paying a bit extra to help pay for foreign visitors,but i do recall the guy on the PA system at Portrush practically begging joe public to part with a fiver for a programme ,never mind a ticket.

I'd too would like to see the Wokka at Ekn/'Ards or the new Blue Eagles line up,or as AT mentioned,the Hunters etc.Something a little different.

 

[Angry Turnip]

Pricing at Airshows is always going to be an issue-the general public here won`t pay too much to see an airshow partly because they may have been to Portrush which is free.
To pull a good general crowd you need a display team like the Red Arrows,but often you find that is the only reason the public come.
I remember a number of times at Enniskillen there was an attempted mass evacuation after the Reds had done their thing-at one particular show John Romain and Anthony Hodgson were closing the show in two Spitfires and could see the crowd trying to leave-not good.

To be honest I would rather attend a show that is more enthusiast based and doesn`t lean towards Joe-Public too much.
However finding the right balance between getting a good show and a good attendence is tricky.
My main gripe would be as I stated earlier there is loads of UK based acts that have never displayed here and we begin to get the same old same old.

Portrush is particularly bad for this:One thing that really made me angry this year at Portrush was the Nimrod being told to hold for 15mins while the Skybolt displayed .
The Nimrod could have done a number of passes instead of the single pass it got to make as they were low on fuel.I know a lot of people missed the Nimrod,because when the Skybolt displayed they went for food or a loo break-no disrespect to the Skybolt pilot but we have all seen it many times before and I think HE should have been told to wait will the Nimrod did it`s bit.

Airshow organisers need to use a bit more imagination-and chance their arm a little-if you don`t ask you don`t get and look beyond the obvious.

Sermon over

[vortex003]

You hit a few nails on the head with that one

[casper]

Might just email a link to this thread to the organisers of the Portrush show and see if they can give any input. Not being involved in the organising we don't really see the big picture. Yes budget is one thing but there may be other restrictions that joe public don't know about.

[vortex003]

As far as Portrush is concerned i'd say budget has everything to do with it - there is only so much you can get even with the money generously provided by the sponsors.Sharing the cost with another show nearly got us the Vulcan - but that fell through when the other show pulled out.

Dropping two or three smaller acts for one larger one means a shorter show (and joe public going home early,parting with less £££) - not that i would mind but it's about £££ at the end of the day.

Enniskillen and N'Ards could try for something a little different as they have some revenue coming in from ticket sales etc.

I enjoy the shows no matter what - it's nice to see something up close rather than just listening on the scanner

[casper]

Would a shorter show not be better? The Salthill show only lasts 3 hours and there's very few, if any breaks in the show. This would appeal to the wives/girlfriends/children that are dragged along for the day.

[Dave]

I feel the portrush organisers did well this year in minimising the gaps during the displays despite all the cancellations which was beyond their control. I was just extremely disappointed about the lack of Vulcan.

As regards to a FlyBE or Ryanair flypast, they would only have to spare an aircraft for an hour or two (without passengers), and for the £3000 to £5000 fee, it wouldn't be too much of a loss in revenue for them.

A shorter more action filled display wouldn't be too bad. I just remembered, last year we had the DC-3 and DC-6 at Portrush which really was fantastic. More of the similar things would be good.

The Northern Ireland airshow was often held in Eglington which I had the opportunity to go to each year as a kid with all my cousins so I only have good memories from there. I believe the Northern Ireland Airshow is now held at Portrush now. Perhaps they should consider going back to an airfield display in order to start charging fee's again. I fail to see how they can make a profit from the weekend.

[greglloyd]

It's a pity that Aldergrove never ran any more airshows. Remember the two they had back in the 80's? It could stage a great display with that long runway for them all to land on.

Unfortunately I didn't get to any of them Didn't they bring Concorde over for one of them? I seem to remember a story about the shuttle service from Heathrow was due to fly over using a 737 or 757 but they transferred all the passengers to Concorde because it was heading over to the show.

One place that seems to have been overlooked for airshows in recent years is the City of Derry airport. Any that I attended there were always very enjoyable, although I can't ever remember the static display being anything to write home about. But there is a long runway and loved the sight of two Tornados taking off together.

Yes, they did. They had Concorde, a Vulcan, A10 Tankbusters, etc. I remember standing by the runway with Concorde turning around right in front of me after it had landed. You where right about passengers being onboard the Concorde. Some lucky peeps also paid for a quick 30 minute subsonic cruise if I remember. Others got to fly on it as it headed back to London.

The big problem as I recall was trying to fit the display in with the main air traffic. I remember the crowds cheering the regular airliners taking off thinking they were part of the display!

[greglloyd]

One place that seems to have been overlooked for airshows in recent years is the City of Derry airport. Any that I attended there were always very enjoyable, although I can't ever remember the static display being anything to write home about. But there is a long runway and loved the sight of two Tornados taking off together.

I remember the last City of Derry airshow well. They had one or two Tornado's and a Jaguar the year I was was there. Great watching them start up and take off!

[greglloyd]

A lot of us seem to be in general agreement. I guess my nose was severely put out of joint this year when there was no Typhoon appearance, etc. At the end of the day, we pay the same taxes as everywhere else in the UK. Don't we deserve to see the same aircraft in action?

Anyway, I'd happily pay a fee of £20 to see some better aircraft over here.

At the end of the day, maybe what is needed is one display for the whole of Ireland (say in Dublin) where aviation enthusiasts can gather - pay a decent fee - a see a proper line up!!! (rant over!)