With the news that RAF Waddington International Airshow will be taking a sabbatical in 2015, with no guarantees that it will return in 2016, Gareth Stringer argues in defence of the military airshow.Â
In front of me is a copy of the 1987 Royal Air Force Yearbook. It’s a special Red Arrows issue and in amongst the numerous features is the Team’s display schedule for that year which, much as it does now, begins in earnest in May, and finishes at the end of September.
The Yearbook in question – these days they make for a fascinating read – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
Ignoring civilian airshows and events, and also families’ days, private military functions and overseas commitments, the Red Arrows display calendar for 1987 includes performances at the following, directly RAF-related, public events:
RAF Mildenhall, RAF Upper Heyford, RAF Biggin Hill, RAF Swanton Morley, Lowestoft (RAF Town Show), RAF Coningsby, RAF Cosford, RAF Church Fenton, Swansea (RAF Town Show), RAF Brize Norton, RAF Hereford, RAF Chicksands, RAF Cranwell, RAF Manston, Eastbourne (RAF Town Show), RAF Fairford, RAF Chivenor, RAF Brawdy, RAF St Mawgan, RAF Bentwaters, Whitby (RAF Town Show and Regatta), Blackpool (RAF Town Show), RAF Valley, Cromer (Carnival and RAF Town Show), RAF Binbrook, Scarborough (RAF Town Show), RAF Brize Norton (RAF Gala), RAF Marham, RAF St Athan, RAF Abingdon, RAF Finningley, RAF Leuchars and RAF Newton.
Despite the initial shock of reading a list that contains so many RAF stations that are no longer in use, either by the RAF or USAFE (United States Air Forces in Europe), or even existence in some cases, and accepting the most obvious fact that the Royal Air Force was much bigger in 1987, the reality of where we are in 2014 still hits home, for this year the Red Arrows have displayed publicly at just RAF Waddington, RAF Cosford and RAF Fairford (RIAT), though the latter is not actually a Royal Air Force hosted event.
50 seasons and still adored at home and respected globally – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
So, Cosford and Waddington are the last two remaining events where the general public is invited on to an RAF station, by the RAF, to enjoy a day of aviation and family entertainment; to see what their taxes go towards and how the Royal Air Force goes about its business.
Its business has changed much since 1987, of that there can be little doubt, but many of the core responsibilities remain. For example, the Royal Air Force is still defending the United Kingdom 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it is still a member of NATO and it is still hosting USAF units on British bases, albeit in greatly reduced numbers.
It is, however, far more of an expeditionary force these days, designed to deploy and fight, or keep the peace, away from home, as opposed to being almost totally focussed on helping the UK survive the pre-nuclear exchanges of a conflict in Europe against the Soviet Union, as it was during the Cold War. Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya all are recent examples of what the RAF has faced and most likely expects to face in terms of modern warfare.
A real Cold War warrior – on static display at RAF Cranwell in 1990 – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
As for manpower and equipment, to examine the differences between the RAF now and the RAF of the late 1980s is much like comparing chalk and cheese.
In October 2010 the Strategic Defence and Security Review recommended that, by 2015, the full-time trained strength of the RAF should be reduced by 5,000 to 33,000 (this figure was on top of a 2,000 reduction already decided in a previous planning round) and it is true to say that the current strength of the RAF is at a post-WWII low, although numbers were lower between the two World Wars.
For comparative purposes though, in 1990, manpower for the Royal Air Force was officially recorded as being 89,700.
Tornado Solo Display – we haven’t had one of these for a few years – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
It was in 1990 that the Royal Air Force deployed forces to the likes of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman, under the auspices of Operation Granby, which became Gulf War 1, and it did so with the likes of Tornado GR1, Tornado F3, Jaguar, Victor, Chinook, Tristar, VC10, Hercules and Buccaneer. Just prior to that, in 1987, and I refer here to my trusty Yearbook for clarification, the RAF was also still operating Phantom, Nimrod, Harrier, Lightning, Shackleton, Wessex, Andover, Canberra and Pembroke, among others.
It was a big service, albeit nowhere near the size it had been at its peak (1950 – 193,000 men and women), but, with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the UK’s political masters began to look at down-sizing and restructuring the armed forces, starting with the Options for Change package of cuts in 1992, the RAF becoming a leaner and more flexible organisation, better to meet the demands of the new world order.
But, this blog is not an exercise in sentiment, or a whimsical look back at a golden era, for aviation enthusiasts at least, that quite simply will not return, for the downsizing and the closure of stations, along with scarcity of funding in recent years, has had a genuinely negative effect on the Royal Air Force’s ability to publicise its work, its people and its equipment.
Airshows give the general public a chance to say goodbye to ageing equipment – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
This is a situation that surely must not be allowed to worsen any further.
For the general public, day-to-day opportunities to see the Royal Air Force used to be far more prevalent, with many more aircraft in the UK’s skies and, as the list we began with clearly demonstrates, far more events either hosted by the RAF or organised directly in conjunction with the RAF.
Interestingly, while researching this feature I have learned that the RAF Town Show still exists, but it is careers-led and with none of the airborne action that makes airshows so uniquely engaging.
And get a first glimpse of the ‘new’ – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
I am not suggesting for one minute that the Royal Air Force doesn’t engage with the general public these days, far from it. In the air, this year, we have the Red Arrows, Tutor, Tucano, Typhoon, Falcons, BBMF and Sea King (occasionally). You might also, from time to time, see ad hoc flypasts from other aircraft in the fleet, such as Hercules or Voyager.
Between them, these aircraft will perform for hundreds of thousands of spectators at airshows across the UK and Europe. It’s a huge undertaking in terms of manpower and support, and not one that I am seeking to demean at all, despite my concern for what the future may hold in terms of RAF engagement.
It’s not all about the aircraft either, for the flying displays are often supported by ground displays with static aircraft (where applicable), merchandise and information, opportunities to meet the pilots, engineers and careers / recruitment experts. These are always very busy and lend a vital human side to the process of engagement.
Airshows give the general public a look behind the scenes, and they remain hugely popular – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
So, all good then, you might think?
Well, maybe, to a point, but the risk, as I see it, is the trend – and it is most definitely a downwards one.
RAF Cosford, RAF Waddington and RAF Leuchars were the last three remaining open days for quite some time, with Waddington taking on airshow duties in 1995 from RAF Finningley, when it closed, until last year when, with the RAF scheduled to relocate the Leuchars based assets to RAF Lossiemouth, and that station hosted its last airshow. Geographically, Lossiemouth is far from ideal, being much further north, and creation of a replacement event seems unlikely, leaving us with Cosford and Waddington alone.
Airshows inform and educate a captive audience – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
The positive impact of these events must not be underestimated. Waddington draws a huge annual crowd, in the region of 140,000 over the airshow weekend, and while a good portion of these people, some 20%, are from the local area, the remainder come from far and wide; such is the event’s attraction. The show also attracts aircraft and personnel from all around the world and, while its main aims are to raise public awareness and understanding of the RAF and its role today, there is something else, with 85% of all proceeds from the event distributed to the two main Service charities, namely the RAF Benevolent Fund and the RAF Association, with the remaining 15% being donated to local worthy causes. Since the first show at Waddington in 1995 the event has raised over £2,700,000 for Service and local charities.
RAF Cosford, home to the RAF Museum, hosts the only event of its kind in the West Midlands and, despite its short runway somewhat handicapping participation and the scope for visiting aircraft, it is another hugely popular event, frequently attracting in the region of 60,000 visitors on its single day.
It’s not just about numbers though. Traditionally, these kind of events were called ‘RAF At Home’ days, and that is exactly what they remain, a chance for the RAF to open its doors and say to the public, ‘come in, come in and see where we work and what we do, come in to our domain and be entertained, and be educated too, while enjoying yourselves.’
The UK’s allies also support our military shows, promoting a spirit of entente cordiale (in this case) – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
Of course people can see the RAF on display elsewhere at the UK’s many airshows, but nothing can really compete with the feeling of driving on to a real life military base and knowing you are entering a normally private world, and being given a glimpse of what goes on behind closed doors. I remember that feeling from when I was a youngster, and it won’t have changed for the people who attend airshows today.
But who are these people who attend these events in such numbers? ‘They’re hardcore aviation enthusiasts’ we hear the naysayers calling out, ‘and what’s the point of preaching to the converted, bearing in mind the cost of hosting an airshow’. Well, if they were all hardcore aviation enthusiasts, they might have a point, but they aren’t.
Research shows that only a small percentage of airshow-goers visit more than one airshow per year. The vast majority attend one event, often as a family day out, to immerse themselves in aviation and all the other attractions that are provided. The Brits love their aviation, and the positive impact that engaging with the audience at Cosford and Waddington delivers surely justifies the cost and effort?
The Brits love aviation, as this crowd at RAF Waddington shows – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
The immediate risk to this two show set-up, and it is extremely unlikely to grow incidentally, lies with Waddington. Later this year, Waddington’s based assets will temporarily relocate while the airfield’s runway is lengthened and renovated, a major project that may not be completed before July 2015, when next year’s airshow would take place, except it has already been announced that there will be no RAF Waddington International Airshow in 2015.
And then there was one….
My understanding is that no guarantees have been made regarding an airshow returning in 2016, and this will no doubt be the elephant in the room until some clarification is made regarding what happens beyond 2015.
They work together in theatre, and here they are together at RAF Cosford Airshow – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
For Waddington, this is a dangerous scenario. Often, especially in military circles, when things are taken away, it is quite hard to get them back again, even with the best will in the word. Two years ago, the RAF’s most popular and engaging display item by far was the Tornado GR4 role demo. It didn’t return in 2013, and it hasn’t come back in 2014 either. Next year? I wouldn’t bank on it.
Could the same thing happen to the airshow at Waddington? Sadly that has to be considered a possibility. As an outsider looking in, it doesn’t always seem as if the RAF’s powers-that-be truly appreciate the value of these events and, should Waddington disappear from the calendar for 12 months and be placed on a shelf alongside the GR4 role demo, the King Air display, the Hawk T1 solo and all the other displays and events that have been quietly tucked away over the years and ‘forgotten’, it might be just as easy, and cheaper, to leave it there.
That would strike a real blow for the RAF’s engagement programme and leave it almost totally reliant on attending privately run, civilian airshows and events. It would also leave a big dent in the bottom line of the service charities that benefit so brilliantly from a show like that at Waddington and, with the RAF’s 2018 centenary rapidly approaching, would also mean that not a single frontline RAF flying station is opening its doors to the general public.
Classic jets like the Vulcan provide reminders of the RAF’s history and Britain’s engineering successes – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
That can’t be right, surely? So, what should, or could be done?
Well, the future of RAF Waddington International Airshow must be secured from 2016 onwards. Waddington has the location, the infrastructure and the team in place, so why reinvent the wheel?
Next year, why not make RAF Cosford’s show a two-day event, to maximise its presence and its ability to draw in as big a crowd as possible? Maybe some of the team at Waddington could be seconded on to that at Cosford, to help the event attract more military participants from further afield?
The Typhoon Display Team demonstrates the cutting edge of the RAF’s combat capability – Gareth Stringer © www.globalaviationresource.com
I also feel very strongly that the Royal Air Force should be discussing this issue with the Army Air Corps and Royal Navy. The latter hosts just two airshows (at Yeovilton and Culdrose) and, until this year, when a small event was held at Middle Wallop, it has been some time since the AAC hosted anything at all. They both suffer from Waddington disappearing too, so why not exercise some of the cross-service co-operation we read so much about in this day and age and pool resources to create a UK military event, featuring all three branches of our armed forces?
In summary, saving these events or creating new ones will cost money, resources, time and manpower; all of which are in short supply. The alternative though is that the general public’s support for the armed forces wanes as they are given fewer and fewer opportunities to see them and to meet them, and their understanding of the role they play, and the equipment they use to achieve it is eroded. That would be a huge shame.
Military airshows proved themselves to be a great way of engaging from the very beginning when the first Pageant was held at Hendon in 1920 – and they remain so to this day.
Surely they must not be allowed to fade away?
I agree with Martin Powell’s comments. I can understand the comments made concerning the greater pressure on the services to hold such events, but it does contrast with how smaller air forces with even less to show off i.e. Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark etc manage to put on at least one show a year which today outstrip Waddington’s great standard. They manage to do far more in the way of role demonstrations, as do the Navy at Yeovilton. There seems to be something which has come amiss other than the inevitable impact of Defence cuts! The culture seems to have changed from what it was just 10 or more years ago.
Best Regards,
Ian
I decided I wanted to be a pilot in the RAF immediately after watching the ‘Black Arrows’ display at RAF Wattisham. (I was 5 years old!)
I realise that none of the Services have ‘spare’ capacity these days but Air Shows have an important role to play in keeping the importance (and excitement) of military and civil aviation in public sight; as the number of RAF station events reduces, the need for military support to civilian air shows becomes ever greater. In the end, civilian shows will provide the recruiting impetus on behalf of the RAF!
John, great to see that you found this one, and thanks for the comment.
Gareth
I decided to join the (Belgian !) RAF because of going to all the Annual military Airhow
during 1980’s summers here in sunny Belgium. There was Sanicole as well of course ! ;-))
http://www.airshowactionphotography.com/san07/page1.html
http://youtu.be/nEp-WMjJdvw
…
If I may, I would like to add a few words. I was Deputy Airshow Co-ordinator, RAF Finningley, for the last two shows there, and also operated in that capacity for the planning phase of the first show at RAF Waddington (I was also involved with some of the AAC events at Middle Wallop). Sqn Ldr Sutton is quite correct in pointing out the strain that a large show like Waddington puts on Service manpower as a whole, and the difficulties involved in tasking such an event are something that the general public might not appreciate. Turning out what seems to be virtually every ‘spare bod’ on the Station on a wet, post-event Monday morning to undertake the necessary ‘fod plod’ is the least of your worries.
Despite the reduction in numbers, and a shrinking number of airframes, the Royal Air Force still needs to recruit individuals of a high-calibre, able to handle the new technologies which are now coming online. Personally, I see the Waddington Show, and those smaller events mentioned in this excellent piece, as being vital to that recruitment effort. We must do all that we can to support them, and see that they continue to thrive.
If I might be indulged, here is a small tale from one of the last Finningley shows. We opened up the admission lines for commercial traders (other than those that had pre-positioned) on Saturday at 0400. I was there at that time, supervising the process. Around 15 minutes after we started admitting traders, I was called over to sort out a problem. The ‘problem’ turned out to be a single aviation enthusiast in a much battered Reliant Robin van (shades of ‘Trotters Independent Trading Co.’) stuck in a line of large commercial vehicles. He was pleading with a Flt Lt to ‘Just let me go around the static’. When it was pointed out that a)the general public were not admitted at this time, and b)it was pitch black outside and he wouldn’t be able to see a thing, he countered by saying that he had a torch and all he wanted to do was to take down the ‘tail numbers’ of the aircraft and he then he would leave, immediately; he was quite willing to pay full admission.
Puzzled, I posed a further question, “Why would you want to do this?”. The answer, “Because if I drive hard, I can just get to Leuchars in time for the start of the flying display”. Stunned, I arranged for an escort, and the gentleman concerned was last seen headed north from Finningley in a haze of exhaust smoke, on his way to support our ‘sister event’.
Happy days.
I have been on all sides of this argument. I was the Senior Air Traffic Controller at Leuchars between 2003 and 2005 and found it extremely difficult to man the Tower for the QRA (quick reaction force) and the hours needed for the airshow. The manpower is no longer there. The additional manpower called in to man both Leuchars and Waddington airshow is substantial and e hard on the co-opted men and women.(very little time off in lieu offered)I was the Sqn Ldr in Charge of the RAF Events Team from 2011 to 2012 when I was made compulsory redundant and my job was gapped for nearly a year. The engagement strategy for any of the armed forces is sporadic at times and it is difficult to get everything working towards a common goal. When I left the RAF I organised Manston’s airshow in 2013 and it was very difficult to get RAF Support as they are committed to doing so much. It would be lovely to go back to teh early 80s or even early 90s and have the manpower that can support events like RAF t Home days but unfortunately those days are long gone and the military are just too stretched to do everything and so guarding our airspace becomes a bigger priority.
Comment: Name a Govt paid for show in the USA—even with admission at the door! We have to wait for city or organization sponsored events and even then, in most cases it includes a very quickly employed Fly Over. Cost of toys and entertainment caught up to the economy!
So what’s new? Perhaps I am wrong but, to my knowledge there is not a GOVT sponsored show in the USA. There are museums, ie Smithsonian and Naval Air Museum Pensacola, but to my knowledge nothing representing service branches. I guess it’s come down to the cost of our toys!….CTP
EXCELLENT article…Sorry to read that our “35” is not coming to your country…sad, in fact, a slap……a full size wood model @ Farnborough?…what a shame..yikes!..
But that said,… I’d also like to say a __LARGE__ THANK YOU for including the image of the RAF Program cover ART in this article. Having created a few of our Indianapolis, IN, USA Airshow program cover art over the past years, this is __THE__ MOST creative, well thought out & designed and illustrated excitement generating airshow painting I’ve EVER seen!
I wish I knew the Artist’s name and could see his work…. I’d send him a personal E reflecting my sincere awe and appreciation!…a BEAUTIFUL job!
Thanks, once again….
David Lord, USA
Hi David
The artist in question was Wilf Hardy – and he was famous for creating these pieces of artwork.
A Google image search will show you a lot more.
Regards
Gareth
I enjoyed your comments and information and agree with the thoughts it would be a shame and mistake to stop air shows which inspire the dreams of young potential aviators as the eyes get big while observing the air show and possibly meeting a real military pilot, something a young lad never forgets! You did omit RAF Alconbury which in its day was a big crowd draw when we had air shows annually. I have never witnessed an air show that is as great as the ones put on in the UK. I think the greatness comes from the competition between different Countries who supply their military aviators and aircraft to please the crowds but also to show the Americans what they can do in the air which was always great. (RAF Alconbury 1968-1983, RAF Lakenheath 1984-1987) (Currently Worldwide F4-J79 Expert Consultant)
The case of the disappearing Airshow is quite concerning especially if you live in the Northwest. We have the seafront shows at Blackpool and Southport but it is over 100 miles from my home to Cosford and nearly 140 to Waddington. Our local
aviation society has been running an overnight coach trip to I.A.T./R.I.A.T events at Greenham Common, Boscombe Down, and Fairford since 1981 and will continue to do so as long as we have the bodies to organise it and travel on it.
Part of the problem is the privatization of large parts of the Services which is results in a lack of personnel willing to give time to a weekend event. My wife and I visited the Dutch show at Gilze-Rijen in June, noticeable differences to a U.K. show included the price – free, a tactical demo involving some 20 aircraft, and the presence of lots of serviceman and women demonstrating their skills and generally keeping things moving.
For the military airshow to continue it needs leadership from the top and I fear that many senior officers, civil servants and politicians forget that the Services belong to the public and that public support is needed, particularly in times of austerity.