Comments on: #loveairshows

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 16:14:36 +0000

Liked your display in Blackpool’s wind.

By: Ivan Counsell

Ivan Counsell — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 21:46:20 +0000

Logic and common sense…The Government and the CAA seem to completely devoid of it…A tragic sign of the times….

I’m not even going to mention Health and Safety, oops, I did, sorry….But I guess as aircraft go, we need safety. we have safety.

By: Mike Currill

Mike Currill — Tue, 03 May 2016 22:42:32 +0000

Lauren has probably summed up the feelings of many airshow goers too. I’m only a leisure pilot with no desire to display but can see the damage to our airshow scene the new regulations have the potential to cause. Never before has the CAA deserved the Campaign Against Aviation label more.

By: Barry Tempest

Barry Tempest — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 11:31:38 +0000

Thank you for your kind words Simon. All the comments to Lauren have supported the collective feelings of those in the UK airshow industry. I fear that we are unlikely to alter things for the present season but there is to be a review at the end of this year. Fingers crossed for some common sense.

By: SImon Faulkner

SImon Faulkner — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 01:58:30 +0000

Yep, that makes sense Lauren. We live in a world where our hysterical press makes the regulations and that will result in *everything* being banned. Airshows are safer than pretty much anything else in life so we don’t need stifling regulation, just professional pilots who follow the rules.

I have just noticed that your blog has been commented on by Barry Tempest. Probably the same Barry Tempest who taught me to fly in 1983 and who I idolised in his Pitts.

You are carrying on a fine tradition.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 21:55:09 +0000

I’ve changed ‘as safe as possible’ to ‘as safe as we can’ – does this sound better to you Simon?

By: Simon Faulkner

Simon Faulkner — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 16:12:43 +0000

Lauren, I love the piece but please can you change a word?

You wrote “we are all united in wanting to make our world as safe as possible” but that is not true.

It is ‘possible’ to remove all risk entirely by destroying all aircraft or at least banning airshows.

What we have to do is draw a reasonable line between risk and reward that reflects other leisure activities in society. Maybe take a risk that most people accept like driving and run airshows to that percentage? Ah, wait, we are already miles ahead of that risk!

I am afraid that we have to do the maths and statistics and ignore the sensationalist headlines.

Keep up the good work.

Simon

By: Jim Bremner

Jim Bremner — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 16:08:41 +0000

Another example of a regulatory body imposing unrealistic sanctions on an exciting event because of an unfortunate incident. My wife and I went to the air display at Ayr last year and the suggestion that binoculars would be a good investment is not far from the truth as the display was carried out probably 200 metres or more off the beach. Compared to previous Air Shows usually at Royal Air Force Station Leuchars (sadly no more).I feel that the AYR show was quite disappointing. Maybe the regulatory bodies should have a rethink about their ill informed knee jerk decisions.

By: Robert Stanborough

Robert Stanborough — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 12:40:52 +0000

I spent a large part of my life participating in the pistol shooting sport. The horrific occurrence at Dunblane provoked the government to pay lip service to those cry out for legislative changes to stop it ever happening again. The result was that I lost my sport and the legislation archive absolutely nothing to prevent the potential for repetition.
The Shoreham disaster is the same and no one is belittling the sadness of life lost that day. (I was there).
Again the authorities are paying lip service to those who just won’t accept that it was ‘an accident’.
Accidents happen every day, be it due to human error or mechanical failure. YOU CANNOT LEGISLATE AGAINST ACCIDENTS ,.
Too many people, who are deemed responsible are simply afraid of the criticism and a outrage at doing nothing and so pathetic changes are made to rules in order to appear to have done something and as always there is NOTHING we can do to change it. (And I’m NOT a defeatist)

By: Keith Dennison

Keith Dennison — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 19:53:02 +0000

Well said Lauren!