A discussion about Airshow line ups in Northern Ireland

[casper]

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!!!

There used to be a very good show at Baldonnell (Casement Aerodrome) but it stopped a few years ago and from what I can make it it was for a very 'put rightable' reason - apparently the owners of the Aerodrome (IAC) complained about the state of the place of the show, litter, rubbish etc and never invited the organisers back.

[Angry Turnip]

Yeah Baldonnel had a big problem with litter during and after the shows-that is unfortunatly one of the BIG problems Joe Public don`t think about (FOD-Foreign Object Damage).

FOD is lethal to aircraft-plastic bags,cans and of course the wildlife that chippie vans attract can easily bring an aircraft down.

Regarding airshow organisers I have spoken to several pilots that will not display at Portrush because of the display director and the actual venue being unsuitable and dangerous.(their words not mine)

Portrush has always been a gap laden show and this year was no exception with no less than 10 different aircraft not turning up (that excludes the Vulcan).
Bad weather in England was blamed,but that is simply not the full story-the Blades,Tucano,Red Arrows all transited to Southport and did their displays and returned without difficulty so I simply don`t buy the "bad weather" excuse.

I have been to every show at Portrush since they started and they have had an exceptionally high amount of no-shows,which then leads to rumours of "were the aircraft even booked?"

I hear this might be the last year of Portrush and I feel a change of venue/organisers would be welcome.
Moving the show back to Eglington might be one idea but I think Ballykelly would be a great venue.nice big long runway there  as Eirjet can confirm 

I am also hearing concerns being raised about Newtownards as a venue because of all the construction going on around the airfield-I hope this isn`t true because Jeff Salter and the team down at Ards do a great job.

[String]

I know how people feel about this, take this years airshow if we could get our own line up instead of relying on other airshows on the same date we could see a better line-up of aircraft, in other words make the portrush airshow a stand alone one. We have plenty of landing areas so they could do this.

[casper]

With regards to the cost of a show here's a snippet from the minutes of the Fermanagh District Council (15th May 07)

The Committee was informed that Enniskillen Airport Limited proposed to organise the Enniskillen Air Show on Sunday 24 June 2007 and had requested financial assistance of £20,000 from the Council.

The Council agreed to give £15,000. So it would seem that even the gate receipts don't go very far.

[casper]

Yet the Portrush Show can get £73,000 in funding for this years show

http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-dcal-050908-northern-ireland-flying

Now what kind of a show could be put on at Enniskillen, Newtownards or Eglington with that sort of funding and gate receipts?

[iCardboardRobot]

greylord you completely read my mind.

To me i need big powerful fast aircraft ! The Jaguar done that perfectly for me for years, then the Tornado took the corwn, iam sorry but to me the slower aircraft we see every airshow do nothing, they almost perform the same routine year in year out, and iam sorry again but watching something quiet and slow just doesnt get my heart racing like the eurofighter did at the 07 portrush show. I know all my mates and family were gutted at the lack of big hardware over, for the leaflets you need something big and exciting to promote the showm yes the reds are fantastic, but nothing draws the crowds like a big angery jet, then simply blows you away.

rant over ha