Which Airshow 2013

[Andy H]

I think the time has come for me to jump across the pond to view an airshow on the mainland but my question is what is the best airshow to attend and which is easiest to get to from Northern Ireland.  With RIAT, Waddington, duxford and cosford all having noteable events which do you think is the best value and easy enough to get to.

Andy

[Xair]

Looks like I'm in the same boat/plane Andy. Is there a one day show that can be attended? I'm going to give Portrush a miss for a while .
Xair

[Merlin]

Would definitely recommend RIAT even though I've only been once. There are spectator packs available that'll get you in on the rehearsal days as well as the show days. The ideal package would be at least 4 days (arrival, show, departure). I for one certainly intend to go again.

Waddington and Duxford are two shows that I would like to see, Duxford especially for the WWII stuff.

Don't know much about Cosford.

At the end of the day it depends on what you want to see, modern, pre-modern, or vintage?

[Andy H]

I was looking at the RIAT website and must admit the mix of modern day and WWII stuff excite me.  How did you get over and how much did it set you back for the four day pass?

[ni_gaz]

Hi Andy
Not sure of the package prices but theyll be on each airshow website later in the year.

Getting there !  [weve done most of the "biggies" except cosford.]

Duxford .. we booked a day return flight to Stansted , got a train from the airport into Cambridge then the show bus from the railway station.[same in return]

RIAT .. Swindon is the best place to stay but beds get booked up pretty early on in the year.Best to stay somewhere close to Swindon that has direct train link.We stayed one year in the Travelodge Swindon and another in Bristol[plenty of London trains from there to Swindon]Fly into Bristol airport[£8 return on the bus into the city]

Waddington .. We were over for a long period that year so we flew into East Midlands,hired a car and stayed in the airport Hilton.We drove to Newark and got a train into Lincoln rather than try and park and find our way round a city.Did Waddo on the Saturday and on the Sunday we did East Kirkby and Conningsby [got a great pic at east kirkby of 2 ! Lancs in the same pic , one flying over t,other].Lincoln is the same .. beds sell up pretty early.

Farnborough .. we did it twice and both times we flew into Heathrow then train to hotel Basingstoke.Good train links to Farnborough stations.[ooops its not on in 2013  lol]

Best advice for any of the biggies is book flights,trains and hotels as early as poss.

[AERTANK]

I might try for Malta next year, or failing that head across the water to GB. What would good Air Shows on mainland Europe?

[greglloyd]

Berlin?

http://www.ila-berlin.de/ila2012/airshow/airshow_alle_e.cfm

[greglloyd]

I'm looking to do RIAT next year and give Portrush a miss as well. Already talked the brother in law into it so already beginning to put plans in place. Any tips for our RIAT trip? Which airport is best to travel to and what is the best way to get to the airshow? We are only planning to do one day (Saturday) with a hotel stay over that night. We have a hotel sorted ok.

Locally, I think Newcastle is now putting on the better show with a better display line and arguably a better line up this year all on one day. Providing the weather is good with a line up as good as this year's then it's probably worth another visit next year given it is only 30 miles each way with a better view of the aircraft.

[ni_gaz]

hi Greg
Like I mentioned above any time weve done RIAT weve always flown into Bristol airport[£8 return on the bus to city centre] Hotels in Swindon get booked up very early in the year for RIAT but we found staying in Bristol is a good alternative if you dont get Swindon.Trains from Bristol to London start good and early in the morning [miss brekkie in the hotel though  ]and its only about 1/2 hour to Swindon station.A 5 minute walk gets you from Swindon station round to the bus station and the airshow shuttle buses run all day from around half 7 [Sat and Sun only though if I remember right]

As for home and Newcastle I recieved request forms from the US air attache in London for US participation and passed them on to Down Council ... wether they do anything about it is another thing though ! we know what councils are like ! but heres hoping ! also politly requested  that line ups for Newcastle should focus not solely on little put putts  !!! but a mixture of big and small even be it commercial aircraft.

[greglloyd]

Thanks for the info - and nice one re: Newcastle!

[Andy H]

Hi Guys;
Thanks for taking the time to reply the information is invaluable to those of us that have not been yet, and will definately come in handy.

Andy

[Merlin]

I was looking at the RIAT website and must admit the mix of modern day and WWII stuff excite me.  How did you get over and how much did it set you back for the four day pass?

At the time of my visit (2010) I was in England for a week (did Farnborough as well). Flew into Heathrow and hired a car. Stayed in Cheltenham which was about a 45min drive away. As for the show I only did three days Fri, Sat, Sun.  Can't remember the price of the tickets (£30 - £40 bracket I think for the show days, less for the arrivals day).

They have Friends of RIAT (FRIAT) packages which get you all sorts of access in addition to the show days (dedicated seating, private facilities, bar, etc.). Link below:

http://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/airshow-tickets

I know some of the guys here have used it before so they would be better placed to comment on the value of it.

[sniperUK]

Working at RIAT again next year for the week, probably going to try for Legends for pleasure.

[stcolin]

RIAT 2013 is in the early planning stages for me at the minute. Would also like to attend Farnborough, but RIAT appeals more with the military stuff.

[Paultojo]

No Farnborough next year
 
P

[Angry Turnip]

I went to RIAT this year for the 1st time,with Casper and Hammerhead-it is an amazing show,even the arrivals days are superb with a virtually non stop stream of all sorts of goodies turning up.


Also some of the aircraft go up to do practise displays-brilliant stuff.

The only very slight downside to RIAT is because there are so many aircraft attending,a large number don`t take part in the actual flying display,but you can certainly have a good nosey round most of the aircraft in the static.

It`s a very long day or should I say days,but very enjoyable.

I would like to give Waddington a go next year-it`s a show I have always thought was well worth a look.