It's very muggy in the airshow office at Waddington as Paul Filmer and I wait for Charles Skiera to free himself from the telephone and come over to greet us. Display Co-ordinator Dave Thomas, of Vulcan and BBMF fame, is also glued to the phone, managing a quick 'hello' before chatting to the Chinook display team so they know where to park on arrival. The main man, Airshow Director Colin Reeves OBE , is somewhere out and about on-site and the other support staff in the office are busy answering phones and talking on their radios, facing a relentless barrage of questions and dealing with a stream of issues, anything from traders to military displays, arrivals for the static to aircrew accommodation. It's hot enough just standing here doing nothing so I dread to think how these guys and girls will survive the day, but survive they surely will.
Charles, Deputy Display Co-ordinator, eventually heads over and we do the introductions. He's an affable chap with a dry sense of humour, probably a pre-requisite to get through all this, and wears his RAF glider wings with pride. A veteran of eight years with the show he's as well-placed as anyone to give GAR the inside track and maybe answer a few tough questions.
You might wonder why he needs to do this at all. I sit here on the Tuesday after the show having just been informed that 170,000 people attended over the weekend, despite the Vulcan debacle which meant it didn't feature in the flying programme on either day. The display programme did include each of the RAF's flying displays alongside the Navy, Army, foreign armed forces and also civilian solo and team displays, including Team Breitling and the superb Cobham Falcon 20 and FRADU Hawk routine. Add to that a reasonably good spread of military and civilian aircraft on static display and probably more to do and see than most families could manage in one day and you'd be forgiven for asking why there should be any issues with the event at all, or indeed too many tough questions to answer.
Truth be told, the run-up to the event saw some pretty scathing criticism directed towards Colin Reeves and his team, and the event in general. This criticism was largely posted on the two main enthusiast forums and, with members of the airshow team posting themselves in order to keep said enthusiasts up to date with information regarding the show, reached epic and occasionally insulting proportions. GAR wanted to hear the other side of the story and, after contacting the airshow office, here we are.
The three of us escape the oppressive heat of the airshow office to brave the equally oppressive heat outside as Charles grabs twenty minutes to walk us round the show site and some of the static displays. Despite what the enthusiasts would have you believe this is a big show and it takes a significant amount of manpower and work to put it all together, nicely illustrated by the hive of activity as we navigate our way around. Traders and exhibitors are queuing to reach their pitches as we stop to allow a German F-4F to take its place in the static line-up, handlers from VAHS (Visiting Aircraft Handling Section) scurrying to meet this and other aircraft, both large and small, as they make their way in for the show. All around us servicemen and women are busy erecting display tents and exhibits.
Charles heads back to the office as Paul and I walk to meet the Czech Air Force AN-26 which has recently arrived, parked across the ramp from another recent arrival in the shape of an Austrian C-130 Hercules. As Paul gets the shots he needs a Typhoon from Coningsby rolls off the runway and begins the long taxi to find its designated parking place. I can't help but wonder what the public will make of all this when they attend over the weekend. Many of them will never have seen a line-up of military aircraft on this scale and while regular airshow attendees reminisce about the golden age of British airshows and make unfair comparisons of days-gone-by, this is a pretty good showing. It's never going to be as big or as varied as the RAF 'At Home" days of old, but that doesn't mean to say that the team here won't try their hardest to deliver the best event they can.
Having grabbed a quick bite to eat Paul and I are treated (and it was a real treat) to a tour of the Vulcan. She's sitting quietly near the end of the runway and with everyone involved unaware of the Permit to Fly issues which would surface much much later in the day, and scupper her appearances over the weekend, we find the team in a positive mood. This done we wander back towards the static line-up and Charles finds time for a concerted chat while the Blue Eagles rehearse overhead.
So, what of the criticisms aimed at the show? For the uninitiated, let me paint a brief picture of some of what was said in the weeks and months before the event. A scan of comments relating to Waddington highlights the following remarks in relation to participation, organisation and support from the RAF - dismal, pedestrian, struggling, lacklustre, a failure, absurd, ridiculous; and so it goes on. Some people even started suggesting possible participants (as if the organisers hadn't thought of it themselves), others then questioned the integrity of the organisers when they posted assurances that certain participants had actually been invited and many queried why the event had not been moved so as not to clash with the event at Koksijde in Belgium. Right Waddington, the floor is yours.............
"Firstly no one should lose sight of the fact that this event, like those at Cosford and Leuchars, is organised on behalf of the RAF and to benefit the RAF, nothing more and nothing less" says Charles.
"This essentially means that before anything else occurs the event has to meet the criteria laid down by the engagement strategy; those are the first boxes to be ticked if you like."
"Secondly we have made a commitment to deliver a healthy cheque to both the RAF Association and also the RAF Benevolent Fund. Last year we gave them £200,000 to share and also gave money to a host of local charities."
I've already mentioned that all of the RAF's solo and team displays are present in the flying display programme and for the sake of clarity let's confirm them one by one: Typhoon, Tutor, King Air, Hawk, Chinook, BBMF, Red Arrows and Falcons. In addition, Waddington also launches the 'home team' in the shape of Nimrod, E-3 Sentry and Sentinel; these aircraft all perform fly-throughs at the beginning of the display although it says much about how busy the RAF is at that moment that the E-3 and Nimrod then depart 'on-task' and will not return to Waddington until some hours later. A final RAF addition to the show is the flyby by a Tristar from Brize Norton. No role demo, no Tornado GR-4, no Tornado F-3 and no Harrier; but that's got absolutely nothing to do with the Waddington airshow team, or indeed that at any other show.
Continuing the RAF theme, let's take a look at the static displays, and bear in mind the oft-repeated criticism that the military fail to support the show. Typhoon, Tornado GR-4, Harrier, King Air, Hawk T2 (a first), Merlin, Dominie, Griffin, E-3, Nimrod, Sentinel, VC-10, C130, Puma and, courtesy of QinetiQ, BAC-111, Alpha Jet and Gazelle . That's a pretty broad representation of aircraft serving the RAF in 2009 with notable absences being C-17(very busy), Chinook (the static aircraft was used to support that allocated for the flying display after a small technical issue) and Tornado F-3, a perfectly understandable absentee following a tragic accident on the Thursday before the show.
"The Station Commander sends letters to all of his counterparts inviting them to send aircraft to the show for static display. Any notable absences can (and will!) be escalated if their appearance is considered vital" says Charles.
He also confirms that they will even try to help any unit combine their visit to Waddington for the weekend with a full training mission prior to arrival and departure. It's not rocket science to see why any gaps occur but to suggest that it is due to a particular lack of support for the event from the RAF, or indeed because of the inability of the organisers, does them both a huge injustice.
In addition to these static display aircraft the show also features the full complement of RAF recruiting tools with full-size mocked-up aircraft and interactive displays; the queues to visit these displays are evident all day long and bring many visitors closer to the RAF than they will ever have been. Judging by the amount of 'Future Pilot' stickers adorning members of the public, RAF Careers must have had a busy weekend and one which will surely bear fruit in the longer term.
Moving on to foreign participation Waddington 2009 attracts aircraft from Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, USA, Norway and Belgium.
"We're not perfect and we would never pretend to be perfect" says Charles.
"We write to every embassy and every air attaché that we can in order to try and attract foreign participation. We know that this is the thing that the enthusiasts really want to see and we would have loved to see more foreign fast-jets in the display this year."
It's clearly not as simple as writing a few letters and waiting for the jets to arrive, the show has to fight against a political and operational back drop and also consider their budget for the event and the amount of aircraft they can handle as well the number of aircrew they can physically accommodate over the course of the weekend. And what about the clash with Koksijde I ask Charles?
"When we decided upon our dates for the next five years Koksijde only had a year or two to run, but the show has now decided to continue. It's an unfortunate clash in terms of foreign participation but we do need to use the University accommodation so we can't readily move this event."
Charles goes on to say that relations with foreign air arms are developing all the time and those with air arms that have previously sent aircraft to participate are being maintained. A key target for next year's event will be to attract more of this kind of participation in order to keep the enthusiast community on-side.
Speaking to the aircrew over the course of the weekend it is clear that Waddington is an extremely popular airshow. It is well organised and they are well looked after, certainly in comparison to some other events on the circuit. Hopefully this will make a lie of any suggestion that crews would simply rather go and display elsewhere.
Most importantly however is the view of the general public who turned up in their thousands to attend this year's show. On Saturday afternoon I made an effort to speak to a number of families and such like to ask them whether they had enjoyed their day. I can honestly say that the answer was a unanimous yes - and I was braced for a Vulcan no-show backlash! The Red Arrows and Typhoon were frequently mentioned as highlights, as were the plethora of activities and entertainment within the show-ground. I notice with interest a suggestion on one forum that "tens of thousands will have left the event disappointed". Charles has confirmed that other than complaints and suggestions regarding traffic congestion and the inevitable (and understandable) moans regarding the Vulcan, the overall response to the show has been hugely positive. I'm not denying that people were extremely disappointed about the Vulcan but generally speaking this really did not impact on the day as whole for the vast majority of people who attended.
Last official word goes to Colin Reeves, Waddington's Air Show Director.
"We had a very good show this year, despite being as disappointed as anyone regarding the situation with the Vulcan. We had aircraft from nine countries but yes, we would like to see more of them in the air. We know that the enthusiast community wants to see more fast jets and we will be trying as hard as we can to deliver this next year, we did suffer this time round, not necessarily with aircraft being unavailable but sometimes with the display crews being unavailable. We live in a busy world in terms of operations and we'll do all we can to overcome this next year, notably in terms of the United States Air Force. We also have specific plans with, shall we say, some non-Nato countries and hopefully these will bear fruit."
"We had 100,000 people through the gates on Saturday and 70,000 on Sunday, which is a record attendance for us, with traffic congestion being the only notable complaint, something we have already started to look in-to. We are already planning meetings with the local Police to see if we can relieve these issues next year. "
"Enthusiasts make up a small percentage of those who come to this show and it's interesting to see the complaints coming from the same old places and sometimes the same people even. Despite that, we have tried to put on an entertaining show and many of the comments post-event are far more positive. Next year we'll be trying even harder not just to meet the requirements of an official RAF airshow but to also appease the vocal minority who have been so vociferous in their complaints."
So there you have it. One learned poster on a popular forum stated this week that the Waddington organisers hid behind excuses and that it was impossible to get a straight answer regarding the event. GAR went and got some straight answers by approaching them with an open mind and a desire to hear their side of the story.
It's clearly impossible to detail all of the work that goes into producing a show like Waddington's in a feature like this, I came away believing one thing above all - Colin Reeves and his team put on the absolute best airshow that they can. That same team has taken some serious flak over the past few months for many issues not of their making. In the coming weeks they will start planning for the 2010 show and I can guarantee one thing, regardless of whether you're a critic or a supporter they are determined to give you an even better show next year. Watch this space................
On a final and sad note, Percival Piston Provost G-AWVF, departed from Waddington after taking part in the airshow on Wednesday 8th July. A short time after departure, it was reported that the aircraft had crashed near to Market Rasen, in the north of the county, with the tragic loss of its pilot. The Airshow Team and all at GAR would like to pass on our deepest sympathies and thoughts to his family and friends at this difficult time.
GAR wants to interact with its readers so if you have a question for the author or a comment to make on this feature, please click on the button below. The best comments will appear right here on GAR.If you would like to discuss using any of our imagery or feature content please contact us.