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Aces high at RAF spectacular

7:11am Monday 28th May 2007

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Tornado strike jets, a Second World War Spitfire and the new Eurofighter Typhoon jet were on display at the RAF's Spirit of Adventure airshow at Abingdon airfield on Saturday.

Thousands of people descended on the former RAF base at Dalton Barracks to see famous planes from the past and state-of-the-art superjets swoop across the airfield.

Members of the RAF's world-famous aerobatics display team, the Red Arrows, arrived by helicopter to give young and old fans a rare chance to speak to the magnificent men in their flying machines.

Later the flying aces caught a helicopter back to Brize Norton to board their planes and perform daredevil stunts in the sky over Abingdon.

Flight Lieutenant Andrew Keith, 32, said: "If you're joining the RAF to have a flying career, this is one of the top jobs you can have.

"It's the best flying you could ever do. It's a real challenge and it's something you can work towards and hopefully aspire to. It's the best job in the world, I think."

A few may have awoken with stiff necks as thousands of pairs of eyes looked skyward to see first the Tucano, the Hawk and then the Spitfire rocket past.

One of the highlights was the incredible - and extremely noisy - Typhoon, or the Eurofighter, as it is more commonly known.

It is the most expensive fighter jet ever built - £86m per plane - and travels at a staggering 1,320 mph.

Low cloud cover and high winds speeds meant that RAF Falcons, the world's best parachute regiment, were unable to jump from 12,000ft as planned.

However, the nine-man team of parachute instructors from RAF Brize Norton were still able to leap from 3,500ft.

They lined up in a complicated stack formation, with distinctive smoke trails, before landing in quick succession in a 30m sq area.

A staged attack on mainland Britain by a group calling itself New World Order proved to be a spectacular show of sound and colour, with live news feeds on big screens giving details of how the RAF was responding to the attack across the country.

In the air, a Sentry tracking plane observed what was going on in the mocked-up attack and Tornados patrolled the skies.

On the ground, RAF Regiment soldiers ran to position to defend the airbase from the aerial assault and a pyrotechnic display illustrated the missile attacks.

Group Captain Andrew Turner explained the aim behind the event: "The concept was to get out to the general public, a little bit away from the air show audience, and explain what the RAF does."

Heavy rain and low cloud today forced the cancellation of the second day of the Spirit of Adventure show.

Following advice from the Met Office, the RAF took the decision at 7.30am to give plenty of notice.

Those people who bought tickets before the event will be able to get a full refund from the point of purchase, or can exchange tickets for ones allowing them entrance to a Spirit of Adventure show near Edinburgh during the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Ticketholders needing further clarification can call 07768 697069 and 0208 789 6111 from Tuesday.

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Your Say YourOxford Mail

Simon, Wallyford says...
1:12pm Sun 27 May 07

I dou8bt it was 1,000s of fans - only 1,200 turned up for the Saturday show, and most of them had cheap/free tickets.

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Mike, Wantage says...
1:31pm Sun 27 May 07

I went to the airshow on saturday to be fair it was quite a good day out apart from being let on the airfield at 9:15 only to be kicked back off again at 9:30 because apparently we were not supposed to be on the airfield until 10am we finally got let on at 10:20 absolut shambles!!!!

I Also think not very many people were there this could be the fact that the ticket prices were so expensive considering they did not have half the attractions there that has been quoted on the raf website for many weeks..

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James Rice, Oxford says...
4:05pm Sun 27 May 07

Have a read of the opinions of people who are real enthusiasts about this shambles passed off as an airshow:


http://www.ukar.co.u
k/cgi-bin/ukarboard/
ikonboard.cgi?s=46ca
e0210d5f21cd3ecccadf
19c24771;act=ST;f=1;
t=32432

The RAF should not use PR companies for their recruitment drives or brand awareness

James

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Colin, says...
7:50pm Sun 27 May 07

This show has given proper airshows a bad name, it is extremely rare for a show to be cancelled due to weather, because a true airshow has a diverse flying programme which can to a degree cope with bad weather. In this case a quote on the BBC web site by and RAF spokesperson said that they could have flown but the cloud would have obscured much of the display.

Southend show went ahead today, although the flying was curtailed. Why cant we have some honesty from the promoter, it was cancelled because instead of the 100,000 predicted only a couple of thousand turned up yeasterday, and the weather was good for flying.

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neil wheatley, Abingdon says...
7:55pm Sun 27 May 07

What a shame for the organisers, i thought it was a great day..well staffed and very very interesting.
I enjoyed every aspect of the show and really enjoyed both the ground events and the air show.
£25 does not buy you much these days and i thought it was good value.

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James Rice, Oxford says...
8:18pm Sun 27 May 07

neil wheatley wrote:
What a shame for the organisers, i thought it was a great day..well staffed and very very interesting. I enjoyed every aspect of the show and really enjoyed both the ground events and the air show. £25 does not buy you much these days and i thought it was good value.
Neil,

For an extra £10 in July you can attend one of the world greatest airshows at Fairford. What was put on at Abingdon was not good value

Report this post »

Roy Lairforce, Oxford says...
8:54pm Sun 27 May 07

Serious journalistic questions need to be asked of the organisers of the event. What will this farrago cost the taxpayer? What have Jervis Media made out of the event? Why was the event pulled at such short notice? This could be a massive news story, if a journalist follows his nose...

Report this post »

Rebecca, says...
10:07pm Sun 27 May 07

I like airshows but the publicity for this one suggested from the very beginning it was an RAF propaganda event so I'm not surprised that relatively few bought tickets.

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Incide Storey, Wallyworld says...
10:18pm Sun 27 May 07

I would confirm that a journo with a good nose could find alot of interest here.

A number of questions:

How many actually attended on Saturday?

Why did som exhibitors begin to leave after such a bad day on Saturday?

How could the bad weather prevent a ground event taking place?

Was Sunday cancelled due to weather or perhaps due to such a bad day on Saturday?

Finally what were the costs and loss's attributed to the event?

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Handley Page-Victor, Bicester says...
10:55pm Sun 27 May 07

This is a story which if investigated properly and thoughorly could be the biggest story the Oxford Mail has this year. Ask yourselves why was the event staged at the same "unsuitable" airfield as last year's cancelled event, and run by the same company (though under a different trading name) who stated that Abingdon/Dalton Barracks didn't have the right infastructure.

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roly, says...
12:08am Mon 28 May 07

Was the Oxford Mail at the same shoiw I was. 16000 people out of about 500 cars parked in the car park????

As for saying the Red Arrows perform daredevil stunts we that is the worst example of pathetic journalism I have ever read. They are highly skilled Royal Air Force pilots. They do NOT perform stunts.

This example of the Oxford Mail trolling out inaccurate press information from the now discredited Jervis Media is at best lazy and at worst dishonest. Do some proper journalism and find out why it was such a debacle.

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David Henderson, Oxon says...
12:50am Mon 28 May 07

Total cars counted = 9 rows of 52 vehicles. 4 people per car = 1,872 people. If your reporter says 16,000 people, he was not there. Risible, appaling waste. Many displays promised in the advertising were missing from show. Lie after lie from Jervis and the RAF. National story of public money wasted anyone?

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Roy Lairforce, Oxford says...
12:57am Mon 28 May 07

Your reporter should be disciplined over this. Surely the first thing a journalist learns is to check and double check any facts that are given to him? Reports across the aviation community are suggesting maxium attendance figures of 2400, with lower estimates of 1600. The losses will have to be borne by someone, and it will either be this company Jervis or the RAF (ie the taxpayer). Either way, the Mail's shoddy reporting is appalling.

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S Wale, London says...
7:46am Mon 28 May 07

What a risible piece of journalism or was it a mere slip of the pen which added a zero to the more likely attendance of 1600.
I was there for this very poor show and there were more toilets than people.
Come to think of it,most attendees have now written to this column.
So ,Mr Vinter ,regain your reputation and investigate this shambles.

Report this post »

Dave Burnell, Wilts says...
9:21am Mon 28 May 07

WHAT - Did this reporter actually attend this event? For £25 it was absolute cack with no more that a few thousand people there. Dreadful day out. Never again.

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Bored of Abingdon, Norfolk says...
9:47am Mon 28 May 07

Jervis Media should not be allowed to get away with this shambles. As a tax payer I want my money back!

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Geoff, Oxford says...
9:53am Mon 28 May 07

Since when has the Oxford Mail done any investigative journalism? All they do is print quotes from people who bother to ring them up with a "story".

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Colin Smith, DIDCOT says...
9:55am Mon 28 May 07

neil wheatley wrote:
What a shame for the organisers, i thought it was a great day..well staffed and very very interesting. I enjoyed every aspect of the show and really enjoyed both the ground events and the air show. £25 does not buy you much these days and i thought it was good value.
At the beginning of every May(the Early-May Bank Holiday,to be precise)there was the Abingdon Air & Country Show which for about a third the admission cost provided a far superior day out for all the family and the aviation enthusiasts.
Our early estimates are about 8000 visitors....we certainly had a fuller car-park than was seen on the airfield this past weekend.

Abingdon Air & Country Show is the ONLY aviation event to have run in Oxfordshire successfully without a gap throughout the 21st Century(and proceeds from our event go to charity....in 2000-2006 it was the Helen & Douglas House Hospices in Oxford,in 2007 it was the Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance) and thoughts are already turning towards 4th May 2008 for the next event.

To see what was at the 8th Abingdon Air & Country Show at Abingdon airfield on May 6th 2007 take a lookim at our web-site www.abingdonfayre.co
m

cheers
Colin Smith
Prss/PR/Sponsorship Officer
Abingdon Air & Country Show
Oxfordshire's ONLY air event to run without a gap in the 21st Century

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Kate Anderson, Southampton says...
11:25am Mon 28 May 07

well i think we must have all been somewhere elce on saturday, Working on the promotion stall for Abingdon Air and Country show, we were set up and waiting for the predicted rush of 50,000 people, but it never happened. At the abingdon air and country show (3 weeks earlyer) we had 8000-10,000 public through and one full car park, how can your reporter quote 16000 people when clearly this wasn't the case, if it was then where were all the traffic hold ups and queues to get in. They must have known it was going to be a shambles as when we went to take down our stall early sunday morning there was a pre printed AA sign saying "Event Cancelled". interesting!!!! did someone know this was going to happen before anyone knew what the weather was doing! It's a shame that Jervis media have given the RAF such a bad image!

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Brian Matthews, Witney says...
12:33pm Mon 28 May 07

This is disgraceful and slipshod reporting of attendance figures. The Oxford Mail reported numbers indicates that their 'reporter' can't have been at the event, or even nearby, and it suggests a simple 'copy and paste' of an official press release, almost certainly issued by the organisers - and very inaccurate at that.

Most people would be able to determine whether the attendance was closer to 2,000 or 16,000

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Brian Davis, Drayton says...
12:38pm Mon 28 May 07

Well - Maybe the Press Complaints authority can take this up as the report was a blaintant lie & it has been printed to mislead the public. Maybe Jervis should also loose the contract to Promote the RAF as they failed to do so so far. As for 16000 people attending, maybe there is another double decker bus on the moon.

Elvis lives - he apparantley was seen at this years spirits of Adventure or was it Spirit of Mis-adventure.

I feel sorry for all those who attended & had to pay £25 per ticket & £5 to park the car.

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Andrew Smith, says...
1:32pm Mon 28 May 07

This is a disgraceful misrepresentation of the day. I was there and the attendance numbers and description of the day you report is untrue.

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Oxford Mail staff, Oxford says...
1:35pm Mon 28 May 07

ORGANISERS of the Spirit of Adventure air show told the Oxford Mail 8,000 people passed through the gates on Saturday.
They told our reporter another 8,000 were expected to arrive at Dalton Barracks, near Abingdon, on Sunday to offer a potential combined total of 16,000.
However, Sunday's event was called off due to bad weather and an error meant a revised attendance figure did not get into the story.
We apologise for the mistake.

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roly, says...
1:37pm Mon 28 May 07

8000 is still wrong and a lie.

You havent answered the question why you arent investigating this scandalous disaster which happened on your doorstep.

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Roy Lairforce, Oxford says...
1:43pm Mon 28 May 07

A couple of starting points for your journalists...

http://www.pprune.or
g/forums/showthread.
php?t=270891&page=5

http://www.ukar.co.u
k/cgi-bin/ukarboard/
ikonboard.cgi?s=fa67
66b5a34e4821d130b054
a03cc022;act=ST;f=1;
t=32432;st=160;r=1;&
#entry423313

Prove that your paper has teeth. This could be the biggest story you ever get to break...

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James Rice, Oxford says...
1:50pm Mon 28 May 07

Looking at the video there clearly wasn't 8000 people at the show. The Air & Country Show got that attendance figure.

This 'show' was a massive disaster. Look past all of the press release 'Spin' and do some investigative juronlism in to this farce.

Report this post »

Kristina, says...
3:01pm Mon 28 May 07

I am very interested in air shows and any military stuff in general. but as i am on a fixed income(through no fault of my own) and disabled and now a single mother to a special needs child i find it very difficult to get to these events and the price will always be too hard for me to justify my going, I'm so glad i never attended the air show now as it certainly does not look as if it was worth the money let alone the time. I have always favoured fairford but again this year I will be unable to attend the event but what I do know is that the years I have been going to faiford air show it has NEVER
been a dissapointment to me and has always lived up to it's excelent name as one of the best air shows around.
I feel so sorry for those who attened this event at Abingdon to have paid so much for so little.

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Andy Pewter, Oxfordshire says...
3:02pm Mon 28 May 07

Hi
I went along on Saturday with my wife and daughter. It was diabolical. There was hardly anything to see or do - and the much-vaunted movie was dull, dull, dull. We gave up before the Reds came on and a good number of other people felt the same way. There was even a young family with three young boys in front of us heading for the car park - it really MUST have been bad for them to walk out! It amazes me why, since there were a number of people sitting idly by in the Oxford Mail tent, doing naff-all, they didn't bother to count the people in front of them. I assure you it wouldn't have taken long.
As Spirit of Misadventure's media partner, is there any wonder the Oxford Mail is happy to swallow the fanciful rubbish - that passes for information - they were given.
Unless the Oxford Mail uncovers the event as the sham it was then it risks being tainted by the whole unhappy saga.
There is no way on earth there were 8,000 people there - even an imbecile could have seen that. The OM's attempt to justify their reporting of the figures is at best fudge and at worst lies. Stand up and be counted Oxford Mail.

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Colin Smith, DIDCOT says...
3:03pm Mon 28 May 07

FAO Oxford Mail Staff

Now that you've seen which is the more popular aviation event in Oxfordshire,maybe you will be more inclined to come on board with us in 2008 and give the 9th Abingdon Air & Country Show the publicity it deserves rather than waste your energy(and support)on an event that was doomed to fail from the start(even if the weather had been kinder).
Although we did get some publicity from you for 2007 it was a very hard slog getting our message across to you...and then you mis-reported some aspects of our show in the post-event newspaper,perhaps your reporter should have contacted me direct for accurate info(you all had my on-the-day contact details)
Please feel free to contact me off this discussion board if youd rather to discuss the 2008 Abingdon Air & Country Show

cheers
Colin
Press/PR/Sponsorship

Officer
Abingdon Air & Country Show
www.abingdonfayre.co
m

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Colin Smith, DIDCOT says...
3:08pm Mon 28 May 07

Kristina wrote:
I am very interested in air shows and any military stuff in general. but as i am on a fixed income(through no fault of my own) and disabled and now a single mother to a special needs child i find it very difficult to get to these events and the price will always be too hard for me to justify my going, I'm so glad i never attended the air show now as it certainly does not look as if it was worth the money let alone the time. I have always favoured fairford but again this year I will be unable to attend the event but what I do know is that the years I have been going to faiford air show it has NEVER been a dissapointment to me and has always lived up to it's excelent name as one of the best air shows around. I feel so sorry for those who attened this event at Abingdon to have paid so much for so little.
Kristina

our event on May 6th would have cost just £8(...£7 if bought in advance),and we did work hard to cater for Disabled/Special Needs visitors.....
give the Abingdon Air & Country Show a try next year....you won't be disappointed
Colin
Press/PR/Sponsorship Officer
Abingdon Air & Country Show
www.abingdonfayre.co
m

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tarquin, oxford says...
3:53pm Mon 28 May 07

I think the video, which is quite well put together but shows more grass than crowds, is more illustrative than the report, whatever the truth about the numbers.

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Roy Lairforce, Oxford says...
3:59pm Mon 28 May 07

So the Mail is the media partner of the show? Does that mean the paper has to act as a PR mouthpiece for Jervis and the RAF? If you're a NEWSpaper, report the real story behind this sham. Questions are already being raised in the Service, as has been said there is a massive story of national interest here. The Mail will lose all credibility if it stands idly by and toes the softly-softly PR line

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Mike, Wantage says...
4:30pm Mon 28 May 07

Hi there does anyone know who i can complain 2 to try and get my money back being one of the very few people that actually paid to get into this utter shambles i would like to think that there may be a way of getting my money back or even some of it as i said in a previous post not half of what was advertised to be there was actually there for example the nimrod harrier jump jets (FLYING) Not the plastic one on the ground theme park rides just to name but a few its a shame that something that was supposed to be so good and so big was utter crap i went to the air and country show at the start of may and had an absolutely cracking day out please if anyone can help i would appreciate it

mike

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James Rice, Oxford says...
4:40pm Mon 28 May 07

Mike wrote:
Hi there does anyone know who i can complain 2 to try and get my money back being one of the very few people that actually paid to get into this utter shambles i would like to think that there may be a way of getting my money back or even some of it as i said in a previous post not half of what was advertised to be there was actually there for example the nimrod harrier jump jets (FLYING) Not the plastic one on the ground theme park rides just to name but a few its a shame that something that was supposed to be so good and so big was utter crap i went to the air and country show at the start of may and had an absolutely cracking day out please if anyone can help i would appreciate it mike
Mike,

Have a look at the following link:

http://spiritofadven
ture.info.truecp.co.
uk/default.aspx?id=1
233

It has a contact number which you can try.

Hopefully you will get your money back and then you can go to the Air Tattoo at Fairford in July where you will see a proper airshow.

Report this post »

Kristina, says...
5:39pm Mon 28 May 07

Colin,
The reason I no longer attend these air shows are that i have no one whom would take care of child and as loud noises frighten my child there is little or nothing i can do to but tostay at home.
part of what is wrong with my child is that certain normal noises to you would not be a problem but to my child they hurt the ears to much even a simp;e vaccum cleaner is to much.
even given ear plugs would not help.
so maybe you will understand my plight.

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colin smith, DIDCOT says...
5:43pm Mon 28 May 07

Kristina wrote:
Colin, The reason I no longer attend these air shows are that i have no one whom would take care of child and as loud noises frighten my child there is little or nothing i can do to but tostay at home. part of what is wrong with my child is that certain normal noises to you would not be a problem but to my child they hurt the ears to much even a simp;e vaccum cleaner is to much. even given ear plugs would not help. so maybe you will understand my plight.
Kristina
thanks for that,
I certainly do appreciate your situation..

cheers
Colin

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Colin Smith, DIDCOT says...
6:11pm Mon 28 May 07

Guys 'n' gals

I would like to point out here that Abingdon Air & Country Show is more than just an airshow.
Among the many other attractions are vintage/classic vehicles(in 2007 we had 200 MGs celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the MG Car Works Rally),Craft Marquee,live music and dancing,dog-training demonstrations,tank rides on the all-terrain area of the airfield,childrens entertainments/amuse
ments...so all-in-all a varied day out for all the family at very
family-friendly prices...and all in support of the Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance

Next year's event will be on May 4th 2008

see ya all there
Colin
Press/PR/Sponsorship Officer
Abingdon Air & Country Show
www.abingdonfayre.co
m

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Mike, Wantage says...
7:28pm Mon 28 May 07

Thanks James i will give them a ring and let you all know what they say and what the outcome is gonna be..

I am 25 years old and have been to 19 fairford airshows so trust me james there is no way im gonna miss this year i just thought i would give spirit of misadventure ago but definately learnt the hard way Thanks......

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anon, says...
8:21pm Mon 28 May 07

i was part of the RAF ground display and felt ashamed, i could not believe the cost of the tickets was so high. I love displaying my squadrons equipment to the public but much prefer doing so at free events such as airbourne (eastbourne airshow) where the tax payer can see it for free rather than pay....i am sorry

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Roy Lairforce, Oxford says...
8:41pm Mon 28 May 07

The fact that the Mail hasn't taken down this pack of lies masquerading as a news story is terrible. When even my fellow RAF personnel are writing on here to apologise, you know something serious is wrong. It's odd, but not suprising that the only voice who hasn't been heard from since the debacle is Mr Jarvis the organiser. The event shames the Royal Air Force, and has ripped off and misled honest taxpayers, and squandered their money.

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Superstar2167, Abingdon says...
9:47pm Mon 28 May 07

I am so glad that I didn't bother going to Spirit of Adventure. Admittedly I was put off by the cost BUT this was after reading what was due to fly and comparing it to how much I would see at Fairford. As for publicing what the RAF would do in the advent of an attack on the UK I bet most people are now quaking in their boots after this!

Having been to the Air & Country show earlier in the month I can only say that this just gets better and better! I was lucky to be able to watch the flying for Spirit of Adventure from home and couldn't believe the huge gaps between aircraft - but some displays were quite good - but for £25 - no thanks!

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Helen, Wantage says...
10:43pm Mon 28 May 07

Hi Everyone,

I couldn't make the first Air Show in May and I'm sorry about that now. We decided not to go on Saturday as a family ticket cost £60! I was staggered by the cost. We went to Kemble last year and will do so again, its a lovely friendly show - more quiet than Fairford and on (or around) Fathers Day! A great day out.

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Dave Price, Basingstoke says...
11:12pm Mon 28 May 07

COME ON Oxford Mail! The writing's on the wall about this event/shambles. REPORT WHAT HAPPENED, don't believe the PR lies. The RAF have been made to look like idiots. Help us to regain some respect with those who attended this mess.

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Daniel, Oxford says...
11:58am Tue 29 May 07

This was the first thing like this I have ever been to. I took my family and they thought it was great. They thought that seeing so many aircraft in the air at the same time was awesome and the pyrotechnics with the film were great fun. We're not made of money but we went as a treat with a family ticket which we felt wasn't too costly for a full day out. Considering an hour and a half at the cinema would have cost about half of this amount we didn't mind paying. We are not in any way die hard air enthusiasts but we had a really good day. My 3 year old boy loved speaking to the Red Arrows before they flew and he's been going on about it ever since, so at least there are some of us who enjoyed it!

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virgin, London says...
12:33pm Tue 29 May 07

This was the first air show that I have atended and I thought it was petty good.. I went with a group of 10 as a birthday outing and we all enjoyed it. The air displays were great and I enjoyed seeing the red arrows both in the air and talking to them on the ground. I thought that the interavice film was very well put together and just goes to show what our boys are able to do for our saftey.. It's a shame the weather was so bad on sunday as i'm sure it would have been another good day.

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sal kite, didcot says...
1:07pm Tue 29 May 07

I took my 10 year old son and a friend of his as a treat for the start of half term. Neither had been to an event like this before and, 3 days later, my son has not stopped talking about it. I agree that there was not as many things on the ground to do as I would have liked, but the boys had a fantastic time.

They both went in the Red Arrow plane and met the pilots - and it was as if they had met God himself as far as they concerned

They loved the fast planes and the noise and when the film came on I don't think either of them knew what to do with themselves they were so engrossed in the action

I would imagine that airshow regulars would have been disappointed, but these two little boys had the time of their life

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Roy Lairforce, Oxford says...
1:34pm Tue 29 May 07

I Wonder how many of the spate of positive remarks are from people connected with Mr Jervis and the whole sorry shambles?

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mike, wantage says...
3:57pm Tue 29 May 07

Roy i totally agree with you its funny how three come up in a row nearly saying exactly the same thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Brian, Abingdon says...
4:18pm Tue 29 May 07

I went along on Saturday at the last minute with my wife and actually quite enjoyed it. I am quite ignorant when it comes to air craft but thought the displays were great....I heard the Typhoon fly over the day before. I can't be the only person who finds the noise and speed of these air craft exciting. After checking the website when I returned home, I must admit, there were a few things that didn't appear at the event but I can honestly say that it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the day.

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Roy Lairforce, Oxford says...
4:30pm Tue 29 May 07

Looks like the Mail has cowardly shied away from looking further into the story too. Most disappointing. A paper without teeth. Call yourselves journalists? There's a national story of incompetence, mismanagement and gross wastage of taxpayers money on your doorstep.

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Adrian Dawson, Aylesbury says...
4:53pm Tue 29 May 07

What a disgrace this show was, I paid £61.50 for myself, wife and two young children.
How the Oxford Mail can print a report like this is a disgrace.
We arrived at 09:45 to see this stunning spectacular and we are still waiting, most likley not more than 1000 people wandering around trying to entertain themselves and there was NOTHING there!
The Oxford Mail should be looking into how people can obtain refunds not giving the show any credit. A COMPLETE LET DOWN!!!!

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Simon, Oxford says...
5:02pm Tue 29 May 07

Seems like those of us who got a free glimpse of the Red Arrows while we were watching the rowing on the Isis on Saturday afternoon got the better deal...

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Dennis Hall, USA says...
1:35pm Wed 30 May 07

A new documentary's trailer may be seen at Thunderbirds50.com homepage. Poster for kids, too.

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Kristina, says...
4:29pm Wed 30 May 07

Thankyou Dennis Hall for the web site address, I saw these guys flying when i used to live in the USA many years ago brilliant.
thanks once again

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BC, Oxford says...
10:29pm Wed 30 May 07

Colin wrote:
This show has given proper airshows a bad name, it is extremely rare for a show to be cancelled due to weather, because a true airshow has a diverse flying programme which can to a degree cope with bad weather. In this case a quote on the BBC web site by and RAF spokesperson said that they could have flown but the cloud would have obscured much of the display.

Southend show went ahead today, although the flying was curtailed. Why cant we have some honesty from the promoter, it was cancelled because instead of the 100,000 predicted only a couple of thousand turned up yeasterday, and the weather was good for flying.

I was one of the bemused members of RAF staff taking part last weekend. We found out that the event was cancelled when we arrived at 8am on Sunday, and spent the next 4 hours packing up our stand.
I can assure you that the weather on Sunday was truely worthy of the cancellation: The cloud base was in the order of 500 feet with very low visibility below, preventing a safe display.The tarmac was flooded and the airfield a swamp by 10am, which would have been horrid if the show had opened - especially as there was nothing much for visitors to do except walk round and churn up the mud!

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neil wheatley, Abingdon says...
8:47pm Fri 1 Jun 07

sal kite wrote:
I took my 10 year old son and a friend of his as a treat for the start of half term. Neither had been to an event like this before and, 3 days later, my son has not stopped talking about it. I agree that there was not as many things on the ground to do as I would have liked, but the boys had a fantastic time.

They both went in the Red Arrow plane and met the pilots - and it was as if they had met God himself as far as they concerned

They loved the fast planes and the noise and when the film came on I don't think either of them knew what to do with themselves they were so engrossed in the action

I would imagine that airshow regulars would have been disappointed, but these two little boys had the time of their life
I really enjoyed the show and felt it was a real shame that so few people turned up to what was a great event.
Perhaps people should put more effort into supporting rather than knocking everything.

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neil wheatley, Abingdon says...
8:50pm Fri 1 Jun 07

Roy Lairforce wrote:
I Wonder how many of the spate of positive remarks are from people connected with Mr Jervis and the whole sorry shambles?
Probably none...although people are allowed to defend such hostile criticism...
Roy next time you arrange the air show

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Mike, Wantage says...
8:57pm Fri 1 Jun 07

Neil SHUT UP D**K!!!!!!

By the way 3 of us went on saturday and 3 of us got our money back from Jervis Media Yesterday GREAT!!!

The show was crap just face it!!!!!!!!!!!!!



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neil wheatley, abingdon says...
6:02pm Sun 3 Jun 07

nice language mike..very grown up..obviously you got your money back because they didn't want people like you at their shows

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Octavia Sharpley, Gloucester says...
10:35pm Sun 3 Jun 07

Hello, does anyone have a video or anything of the Spirit of Adventure Air Show?? My boyfriend drove us a little over 50 miles from Quedgeley to Abingdon for the Sunday show. When we arrived in Abingdon, there were absolutely no signs or anything to point us in the right direction & more importantly that the show was CANCELLED!!!!

We pulled into a garage to ask where we were, the man told me it was on the radio that the show was cancelled! The only radio station we could pick up was 99.1 & nothing was said!!!! Admittedly I should have had me sense & phoned in advance!! I'm gutted we drove all that way for nothing! I really would like to see something. Please if anyone has anything can I please see it?

Many thanks,

Octavia

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Airshow fan, Abingdon says...
8:42am Thu 7 Jun 07

Mike wrote:
Neil SHUT UP D**K!!!!!!

By the way 3 of us went on saturday and 3 of us got our money back from Jervis Media Yesterday GREAT!!!

The show was crap just face it!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Mike you are a fool..using such disrespectful language even if you disagree...well done for spoiling what was a good forum!!!

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Mike, Wantage says...
12:20pm Thu 7 Jun 07

OOOOOHHH Bitchy airshow fan get a life ya sad git!!!!!!!

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Mike is a tw*t, abingdon says...
8:07am Mon 11 Jun 07

Mike is a silly idiot...well done mike
Mike for president of another country..get lost mike..

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Abingdon boy is a w**ker, Wantage says...
10:28am Mon 11 Jun 07

Abingdo boy is a T*at well done abingdon boy spoilt it again Numpty there is always one complete inbred t*at on the forums

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mike is still a tw*t, abingdon says...
1:11pm Mon 11 Jun 07

Yippee...didn't realise that wantage mike could write as well as read...
get back to your sister..or should i say wife
inbred...

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Abingdon boy is still a w**ker, Wantage says...
4:04pm Mon 11 Jun 07

Did you mean get back to your sister or your wife? Ok i will!!!!! INBRED

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mike is a still a thick tw*t, Abingdon says...
8:54am Tue 12 Jun 07

Mike, my sister wouldn't touch you with a barge pole...my wife wants a real man..
You are still as thick as a short plank..
Get back to wantage inbred...
Did you think that the planes were large birds..stupid thick..

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Abingdon boy is still an imbred pr**k, Wantage says...
9:16pm Tue 12 Jun 07

Abingdon boy, Yes ur sister would touch me with a barge pole oh and your wife told me i was a real man last time i saw her!!!!!

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