RIAT 2016 your views

[footes]

Bushpilot I have to say your taste in pasties does leave a lot to be desired. I don't know if you have ever been to St Ives but they are to die for and that is from a Devonian.

Footes

[John flightpath]

I went on the Friday with 2 friends from Manchester and Chorley. Got in no problem. Arrived about 10.30am. Security check was quick but thorough, Had a nice walk up the static. Kept moving positions for good views of the flying display. Took 400 + photos. Happy days. Will be back next year.
Best bit. Rafale display.
Worst bit. Food too expensive !

Cheers
John 'flightpath'

[Approach23]

Droptank,

I believe I have a right to make comment, I did not complain as such, as I was there and saw the same displays as you did. Also I traveled 365 miles to get there with some of our party traveling 539 & 585 miles. Its a costly trip by either car or flight and add in accommodation, petrol costs, food and drink any saving that can be made along the way helps.

I choose to ignore your other comments as its all a bit of a ramble and not relevant to what I said.

Enough said.

RCC/approach23

[Bushpilot]

Bushpilot I have to say your taste in pasties does leave a lot to be desired. I don't know if you have ever been to St Ives but they are to die for and that is from a Devonian.

Footes

Footes

Note I didn't call them Cornish, the plus side was hot and quick.

[Blackcat1]

Went on the Sunday not a bad show , have seen better but hey that's in the past. Thought the Greek Phantom pilots and the Lakenheath Eagle crews were friendly and enjoyed chatting to them. Was glad I got up close to Ramex Delta as they taxied out/in and enjoyed seeing the crews celebrating with a bottle of Champagne after they shut down. As for the flying display i enjoyed Ramex Delta, F22, Italian/Spanish Typhoon cant remember which , saw F35 dont like it and dont think i ever will lol, all display teams were good! enjoyed the Frecce Tricolori with time to say goodbye and Nessun Dorma playing as they displayed.

Paid 5 Pound for a burger , was tasty but pretty cold and the person that served it could have been a bit more cheerful lol then again it must have been a long day!

[TomG]

I cannot comment on the static but the flying display leaves a lot to be desired. Whilst those aircraft displaying were, on the whole, good, the time gap between displays was poor, sometimes up to 30/40 mins. Got a bit bored frankly.

I can only surmise that your 30/40 mins gaps were when aircraft could not display due to the weather and you wouldn't have noticed that from outside. Otherwise the timings were fine.

[TomG]

Well I'm just back from a great day, flying excellent & varied shame about the cloud base. Static very good but a few annoying little things, 1 why put an aircraft that's come from the other side of the world in front of a line of toilets. 2 I would of thought the F22 could of been parked next to the F35s. 3 please don't put 2 sets of steps on both sides of the aircraft keep 1 side clear please. 4 if there's a rare aircraft on the ground doing nothing on the north side ask the USMC if there KC130 could be parked in the static it would of been nice lined up with the others & whats happened to the 45 degree static line format? It makes better photo opportunities. It sounds like I'm nit picking but these are little things that would of topped the day completely. Other than these things well done RIAT for putting a great show together this year i know it's not easy but many thanks.

Thanks for your views and I'll quickly take a bit of time to provide a quick answer to these 'issues'.

1. The aircraft was one of the first to arrive and was parked on a bay that allowed the use of the more efficient refuel method. Also this allowed us to be more efficient with handling and available facilities whilst meeting the needs of the aircraft and crew. I spoke with them and they had a great time with us.

2. A whole host of considerations meant that was unfortunately not possible. It was looked at but we couldn't achieve it.

3. Access step were positioned to facilitate visitors going in one door, down the aircraft, back up the other side and then out of the opposite front door - a nice flow giving the crew a great engagement opportunity and many visitors a chance to see the inside.

4. USMC KC-130J. Yes, it would have looked great in the static. Yes, we did make the effort made to discuss this with the USMC & I did ask nicely to have the aircraft in the static. We do consider the enthusiast however in this instance a number of considerations precluded this, sometimes these things happen.

5. There's a limited amount of time for the team to park the static display aircraft given we are now having 2/3 of the Showground open to public on Friday morning and I don't want to break a small team with work. It is surprisingly difficult and time consuming to park aircraft precisely at a 'nice angle' without it looking messy and for every person who wants that there are others who are happy with them as they were.

Thanks for the comments.

Tom

[TomG]

just wish all flying display aircraft were southside & within reach as I explained in 1st post. Maybe a small group of enthusiasts on an advisory team would help smooth out the small & easy to solve issues that get lost in organising a huge event like this. Anyway roll on 2017 70th anniversary USA ah yeah

There just isn't the available space southside to do as you ask (and meet the requirement for the on-base car parking). Without wishing to sound dismissive but what "small and easy to solve issues"? The small team in Air Ops really do look at everything with an enthusiast eye and consider what is in the realms of the possible given the myriad of operational, logistical, regulatory and security considerations. Trust me, it really isn't a matter of solving easy issues!

Tom

[Bluetail]

Approach 23
I cannot comment on the static but the flying display leaves a lot to be desired. Whilst those aircraft displaying were, on the whole, good, the time gap between displays was poor, sometimes up to 30/40 mins. Got a bit bored frankly.

RIAT should take a tip from Duxford on timings as on the previous Saturday at Flying Legends it was a joy to see those elderly aircraft give fantastic displays all in a timely fashion. No great time gaps between displays keeps your attention going.

I would just like to ask which day did you go to because I certainly don't recall 30/40 minutes gaps between displays on any of the three flying days, even on Sunday morning when the cloud base was only 800ft aircraft were trying to put something on,
As for Duxford, it can often get repetitive with the same aircraft doing two or three shows, at RIAT there is no repetition, over 7 hours of display time with every one different. No other show in the world gives you the variety that RIAT provides, yes it was a bit samey this year with the Typhoons and F-16s, but what about F-22, F35, Croatians, French, Italians, Spanish. Red Arrows Unique formations. May be if you had paid to go into RIAT instead of reaping the benefit of the hard work that the volunteers put in by going into Totterdown Farm, then your comments may be justified.

If you don't pay to get into an event and effectively steal the efforts of others, what gives you the to right to complain about it.

[Approach23]

TomG & Bluetail,

I think I justified not going inside the gate if you read my previous note. I'm not complaining only commenting, there is a difference. I was there on the Sunday, as said before, and also the Monday, as said before. Our tame weatherman with us kept an eye on the weather for us and the pilots coped well with the occasional low cloud and slight rain.

Please read postings in more detail before responding, save a lot of time and space.

RCC/approach23

[TomG]

TomG & Bluetail,

I think I justified not going inside the gate if you read my previous note. I'm not complaining only commenting, there is a difference. I was there on the Sunday, as said before, and also the Monday, as said before. Our tame weatherman with us kept an eye on the weather for us and the pilots coped well with the occasional low cloud and slight rain.

Please read postings in more detail before responding, save a lot of time and space.

RCC/approach23

Evening. I read your post just fine thank you and responded to your comments appropriately. Whatever you feel are your justifications for being outside are down to you. My response offers the view that you may not have noticed or been aware of why there were perceived gaps given you were not on the airfield.

Please read postings in more detail before responding, save a lot of time and space.

[page_verify]

I marshaled aircraft in the very distant past with TomG (back in the days when RIAT had Dragon 1 as TS 1) and I know that his professionalism in making the show happen will be second to none. I'm sure we'd all like to thank Tom for a great show again this year. I just hope the Queen doesn't keep him waiting too long for a gong as the diplomacy he must have to have with some spotters and foreign nations must be unimaginable sometimes

[YellowBelly]

for what its worth, I havent been to a RIAT since the early 90s and I decided to go on the Friday the day before. I did ask on here if the Friday was decent and the general consensus was yes, well I have to say I had a tremendous time, thoroughly enjoyed the day, both the static and flying display were very enjoyable.

My favourite bit was at the end of the day, sitting on the open top bus and doing a double circuit, what a fantastic way to get around.

I learnt a few lessons for next year, I will definitely be going back on the Friday.

well done to all that make it happen.

[darkman]

Attended Sunday and Monday
Both days excellent.
No difficulty either getting to or away from the base. Travelled down from Alcester to RIAT then stayed over in Newbury.
Highlights Raptor and F4s.
Good variety and ticked all the right boxes.
Yes food is overpriced but no different to other events. Weather could have been better both days too but until we can change that then......
Will hopefully be back next year.