Civilian Aviation

I've booked for this event and the line up is looking good: https://www.shuttleworth.org/product/se ... show-2025/
weather looks fine as well so fingers crossed.

The website is a bit of a nightmare now though , finding the link for the ticket booking took me a while, whoever re-did the website didn't really think it out properly, hopefully after my telephone calls to them they will r-jig it.

I've also hit a problem after booking 6 tickets for the summer airshow at the end of July, their new system has just sent me one QR code tickdet for the 6 of us but we are travelling separately and meeting at the show - somehow we need to meet up together at the gate and go in together, I have asked if they can re-issue individual tickets for me to forward on to the others so I hope they take heed.
Shuttleworth does seem to be in a bit of a muddle these days, it all used to work well but someone seems to have decided 'if it ain't broken then it needs to be' rather than 'if it ain't broken , don't fix it'
The dates used to be easy to remember - first Sunday of the month and then mid month Saturday afternoons/ evenings for the evening shows but now it seems to be a pin in the calendar job and the evening shows (which I always enjoyed the most as the light could be superb) seem to have been ditched.

Having been a member for more years than I can remember after being introduced to Old Warden by my late father in the late 1960s (he was a life member) it's disappointing to see how the organisation is now evolving, this may be my last year as a member.
rant over
Andy

I have to say the new parking plan is a right fiasco.
On Sunday the area in front of the hangars was almost entirely taken up with a Porsche Car club so that was a big area gone west (and that's not a pun!,) Then the central part was taken up by what they described in their post event questionnaire as a Play area, this consisted of a few food stands, a funfair and various trade stands selling some aviation related stuff but mainly tat, that was another area of parking lost. That left the area on the south of the track to the emergency gate for visitor parking plus the bit at the back which I always hope to avoid but sometimes don't.
Additionally the overspill car park to the left of the track as you drive in is now roped off so you can't park there either - that did make up for the shortfall of parking space in the past. All the old areas with the exception of that back bit were great because you could sit by your car to watch the display without being crowded out - remember the 6x6 boxes that were set out during covid - it worked well (unless someone in front left their tail gate up !).
All these lost spaces are compensated for by parking on a field out to the west (see it wasn't a pun) beside and beyond the house. A long walk for the less mobile and b*gger all use if your preference is to sit by your car away from the fence line bun fight. This is / was the only venue where you can sit by your car to watch and they have spoilt it - I just don't get it, they are spoiling everything that was good about Shuttleworth, it had always been the benchmark for a well organised airshow but not any more.

Two other points, firstly don't pre-order a programme unless you are willing to walk the full length of the site to the shop. We pulled up and a lady offered us a programme and we said yes please here's our ticket we pre booked one - 'NO! I can't give you one here, you have to go to the shop to collect it' how stupid is that? The most logical thing would be to hand them over at the gate when you show your admission ticket which can count the number of people on the ticket, surely it can also tell that you have ore ordered a programme!
Secondly, you don't have to buy a ticket in advance any more and take a chance on the weather (I've spent several days in the past sitting in the car to watch as a bit of rain fell but of course that isn't always possible now) , there is a ticket booth with a dedicated traffic lane where you can buy on the day at no extra cost and because this is new there was no queue at all on Sunday , a good way of jumping the queue when people realise it!

I got sent their questionnaire yesterday and I made all these points and more in my reply, I hope they listen.
And