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RAF Waddington International Airshow 2004 - 26th-27th June 2004 |
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During recent times, the job of the military airshow organisers has become harder and harder. The "War on Terrorism" has relentlessly imposed itself on the UK Airshow circuit, even leading to successive cancellations of the USAF airshow at RAF Mildenhall. Thankfully Waddington has weathered the storm and has remained uninterupted throughout the recent turbulent times to become a highly regarded stalwart of the UK circuit. For some reason, the RAF's motto (which means "Through Struggles to The Stars" had a special meaning for the 2004 event Paul Johnson/Flightline UK dodged the showers to capture the action. Difficult Times
It was a less than perfect weekend for the airshow. The changeable weather during the weekend made sure that the two days saw a marked difference in crowd numbers; Sunday's better forecast brought in plenty more punters than Saturdays. The weather also meant the flying displays ended up having to be changed quite a bit to make best use of the weather for manof the displays. However, the difficulties had started long before the show weekend. The months leading up to the Waddington show must have been somewhat frustrating in the Airshow Office. Participation wise it simply just wasn't coming together. 2003 had been tough, thanks in the main to the Air Power '03 show in Austria, a sort of RIAT-like event which soaked up many of the display teams than weekend. This year two smaller shows in France shared the show weekend which meant French particpation at Waddington would be distinctly limited as well as taking some of the more popular European participants. Then there was the bizarre policy change in Germany. From now on, Luftwaffe fast jets will no longer be able to provide their "role demonstrations," which lost Waddington another star act - The F-4F Phantom, though one made into the static. Further woe came from the Netherlands after the display pilot for the new AH-64D demo was posted to Afganistan or Iraq to escort dutch convoys. "Wot? No Americans?" : So what happened to the special relationship?Most people realistically would have expected some American aircraft, even if they did come from the US bases in the UK. Waddington has played host to the UK flying display debutof the F-117A and a special performance by the Thunderbirds before now, and not to see the stars and stripes alongside the RAF roundel at Waddington was very strange. There's no doubt if you do talk to the USAF they will blame "operations tempo" for their no show, though they have felt able to commit heavily RIAT and Farnborough as well as smaller, but no less welcome appearance at RAF Leuchars and Biggin Hil shows later in the year. It is perhaps the shows proximity to the RIAT/Farnborough fortnight that caused the absence. The absence was made all the more frustrating as the USS Enterprise is currently near British waters as part of a major naval exercise.
It wasn't just the military who were cancelling. Pre show publicity contained two star acts which would have made their flying display debuts at the event. First was the Fairey Gannet T5 returning from the states which fell foul of paperwork along the way and was still on the wrong side of the pond come show days. Aviadrome's Lockheed Constellation had at least crossed the Atlantic, but by the show days had not be flown due to delays in her test schedule. ....But it runs like clockwork! There's no doubt now that Waddington is amongst the best organised airshows in the country and this year proved that again. Getting into the airfield is a relatively smooth affair thanks largely in allowing people to arrive extra early into the normal car parks. Once into the show there's plenty to see in the air and on the ground. Hangers become exhibition
halls for all manner of companies including the likes of BAE Systems, Nortrop Grumman and Boeing plus local aviation museums and special exhibts. Other areas become recruiment areas showing the diverse nature of the armed forces. There are plenty of varied food outlets and amenities to serve the public too, something which a lot of airshow organisers could do better. Getting out is also much better than some other large airshows. Though you still had to queue for quite some time, al least there seems to be movement in the queues, though the larger crowds on Sunday did clog the system. One respect of the organisation that really needs working on is the static area. Though most of the crowd aren't die hard enthusiasts and photographers, we still think that Waddington should look very hard at the positioning of aircraft, barriers and in certain respects, what is next to or behind the aircraft. Firstly, many of the aircraft are often placed very tightly which isn't a major problem, but the barriers are often far to close to the aircraft to allow a decent photograph. Things are further frustrated by the placement of burgen vans and fun fairs immediately behind the aircraft. Peoplem really don't want to see piles of litter in their photographs. Having said that, we found the 2004 set up on the Alpha Dispersal to be very good. Many aircraft were well positioned, particularly the helicopters which were placed in a RIAT-esque nose to tail arrangement. So what is the final Flightline UK verdict on this years show. Much of the poor line-up at this years show (when compared with previous shows) was beyond the control of the organisers. Waddington however, remains a brilliantly organised event that still performs it's main purpose very well. It's this organisation that will see the event continue to flourish as well as excellent value for money. Next year's event will be held a week later on the 2nd-3rd July 2005, possibly to avoid another clash with the Air Power event in Austria. However, it does mean it'll be even closer to RIAT! Will that affect the show, we will see in 2005! |
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copyright Flightline UK 2004 |
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