It was a great day at Brunty's Cold War Jets Open Day...and amazingly it didn't hammer it down with rain for a change......
The Lightning's take off run was totally awesome but for me the real highlight of the day was the Victor. The most dramatic take off run it's ever done as anybody that witnessed it will agree! (Sadly I didn't photograph that lift off...was a bit too surprised at the time lol!)
...So we (briefly) had two flying V-bombers at Brunty
Cheers,
Steve
Overall I enjoyed myself, always a pleasure seeing the BBMF and Red Arrows, however there were a few downers to the days events.
1) Entry. Was queing up in the car for about an hour to get into the place. I left at my usual time, so was rather shocked to see the cars queing back on the A15 as far as the Navenby turning. It seems that the nice weather had brought a lot more people out than normal, and what with the current economic climate it seems more people are going to days out like this than going on holiday abroad. As a result, they actually had to start turning people away, including people with pre-bought tickets, as they were full to capacity.
This sort-of defeats the whole object of pre-buying tickets.
The problem regarding getting inside was also compounded by problem 2...
2) The Vulcan. As you probably know by now, it wasn't flying after all due to a huge technical cock-up by the management. I'm sure a hell of a lot of people had turned up to see this fly, only to be dissapointed. The end result of this was that they decided to move it to the static display area, so people could at least still see it. However, to get it there they had to tow it accross the main entrance into the event, meaning they had to stop traffic going in for about 5-10 mins whilst they towed it accross the traffic lanes.
When traffic got going again, they were so desperate to clear the back log many cars were being admitted without checking to see if they had tickets. No one asked to see mine, had I not got them in advance I would have gotten in for free. I bet theres a lot of pre-paid ticket hoders who are pissed off at not getting in, when other cars probably weren;t even charged.
3) Static displays and stalls. Whilst I enjoy watching the various aerial displays, I also like looking round the static aircraft and various displays they have on the ground and in the hangers. I also find this is a good time for stocking up on army surplus clothing and equipment as there's usually a good selection of stalls there.
This year, there weren;t really that many static displays. When I first started going to these it was wall-to-wall planes and equipment demonstratrations. This year there was but a mere handful, most of the hangers were closed, there was a very limited selection of military vehicles private collectors were showing off, plus I was severely shocked to see only 1 dedicated army surplus stall there. There's usually a good dozen.
4) Parking, was a bit of a bugger that we were stuck right at the end of the airfield so had a hell of a trek to get to the main viewing areas and static displays. Only plus side was that we were nearer the exit for going home (I know, go earlier next time).
So yes, whilst I did enjoy myself overall it was just a pity the days events were slightly marred by these. I just feel sorry for the people who didn't get in or those who had gone specifically to see the Vulcan!
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