Who's going to Tyabb Airshow on Sunday?

[Adam the Akrodude]

Great day at Tyabb Air Show yesterday. I will upload pic's once I get them out of my camera and sort them out. Caught up with Capn Wannabe there plus some other ol' mates. Once again it was a well run and well organised show. Weather was mostly OK, but there was some low cloud coming through at times which no doubt compromised some of the displays to a degree. Queues in were pretty bad and next time I will pre-book tickets. The bus from the car park does work pretty well with not too much of a wait. I must say the admission price is getting a bit steep - particularly when one is bringing along junior wannabe aviators!
Highlight for me was seeing the Hudson fly again as it's just so rare and so historically significant. I'd be interested to find out why no Fw-190. No show could of course be for any number of reasons. I did note that many of the tailwheel warbirds do "wheeler" t/o's & landings - that is the nose is pushed up/kept up on t/o & landing respectively. Tyabb has a pretty narrow sealed section of the strip, so doing a wheeler does hugely help keep the runway in sight for longer, particularly during landing. I've read that Fw's pretty well only do three point t/o & landing, not wheelers, so this could be one reason we may never see the Fw at Tyabb I wonder? Might be worth investigating me thinks.
Warbirds of note present were 2 x Mustangs, 2 x Trojans, P-40N, Spitfire VIII, Hudson, Harvards/T-6 from the Southern Knights, Yak-52s & CJ-6s (semi-warbirds lite!) and the big Avenger. 1 x Roulette PC-9 did a display. 3 x Sopwiths and 3 x DH Tigermoths also did a display. Paul Bennett Airshows was there with a bunch of Pitts plus a Rebel 300 (Laser with a 540 engine). The legendary Chris Sperou was also there doing a solo routine in his Super Stinker Pitts and the rolling around the Debonair routine. RAN put on a display with their newish MH-60R and the brand new Bell 429. Good to see the RAN presence given that HMAS Cerberus is only just down the road, so a good venue for recruitment. Air show finished Avalon-like with a big BAWHOOMPF explosion of pyro's during the massed warbird flypast - pretty impressive and suitably and amusingly gave my kids a fright!
So, all in all, well run show albeit a bit pricey. Honestly, unless there is something I haven't seen before, I'd have to review going next time. $30 each for children I think is just too high. It was $55 for adults and 2 x adults plus 2 x kids @ $140.00. What's everyone think about this? It appears to me that airshows are going the way of USA - staged productions. Paul Bennet Air Shows I'm sure would cost a fair bit. TAM sending its birds down probably charged for fuel - no idea if that would include ferry fuel too. So, it's all getting pretty slick and professional, a good thing in most respects, but perhaps losing a little of its country charm? Be interesting to see if there is any other feedback in this regard.

[Cap'n Wannabe]

I agree, Adam....awesome show, but the queue to get in was ridiculous! Especially since gates opened at 8:30am. It made no difference that I could see between the prepaid tickets (which I had) and those paying at the gate..
The buses to the carpark was an excellent idea (I walked from the carpark when I got there - it was a lot further than I thought!).

[oz rb fan]

i didnt go this year..mainly because of having my wife in hospital for three days last week......but also partially because of the cost..for the 2 of us to go was $110 plus fuel and stuff,thats getting up there with flying legends prices....and if i do ever get to go again (yes there is the added airfare....but there are lots of things to do in the UK...and the wife want to go again....win win for me)...my main interest is warbirds and at legends i can see 20+ warbirds...last time i was there 14 spitfires in the air at once...but i digress...i think for an airshow on a small venue like tyabb it's a little over priced(just my opinion)..id think it was a fair bit cheaper last year....as for the FW190 it wasnt booked for this year..he has two airshows in the near future at Woolongong and Scone,so maybe that is part of the explanation...according to a friend up at Albury it has been pretty active the last few weeks

[Graeme H]

So, I'm guessing no one took a camera along

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Adam did....he's just being lazy!

[VH-WAL]

Hiya gang,
I have been off grid for a while spending the Northern hemisphere winter in the UK. Finding it hard to get back to modelling with other stuff getting in the way.
I am not going to Tyabb and don't go to any Aussie airshows really cos they are the other side of the country to me. But I go to a fair few shows in the UK when I go there in their summer. All airshows are bloody expensive to attend not just the entrance fees but the accommodation that has to be booked..because of the vagaries of the English weather I tend to go for multiple air show days rather than just going for the Saturday or Sunday for example but I figure I am not going to live forever so I don't have much of a problem coughing up the coin. This year I'll be doing the yeovilton air day a few shuttleworth / old warden trips ( love that place) and OSHKOSH! again as a side trip. I went in 2015 to get it off my bucket list but decided to put a double score through that list item and do it again. Got to do the stuff you like while you are still breathing!

[Graeme H]

I don't envy you the English winter, did one of those, bloody depressing
Do really envy you the Old Warden one though, only made it to one of those, once did 5 Airshows around the UK in a week, back in the mid '80's when they had some mid week ones

[Adam the Akrodude]

We all envy you Prof Wally and are missing seeing your plastic works of art! Please send pic's of your adventures - which reminds me I have to work on my Tyabb pic's ASAP. Apol's to A/CAM'ers for not posting Tyabb pic's yet - I've been across the other side of the country for work getting hot and dirty at a mine and still basically stuffed from that expedition!

[BradG]

It's not so much the cost that I see as the problem, it's the fact that it's the same aircraft again...and again...and again...and again. Not that it's any fault of the organisers, it's just there isn't the warbird flyers like there are in Europe or the US.

Just imagine if it was a model show that just has the same models entered year after year. It would get boring pretty fast to the people most into it.

[VH-WAL]

It's not so much the cost that I see as the problem, it's the fact that it's the same aircraft again...and again...and again...and again. Not that it's any fault of the organisers, it's just there isn't the warbird flyers like there are in Europe or the US.

Just imagine if it was a model show that just has the same models entered year after year. It would get boring pretty fast to the people most into it.

True, even in the UK you see the same aircraft over and over but at least there are more of them, each day presents a different photo opportunity (trying to get "that pic" is a hobby and quest of mine). So having done a couple of dozen UK and US airshows in the last 7 years (retirement is great thanks)I am not quite yet bored by it I still enjoy clicking away and soaking up the atmosphere.. and hey it i something to do when I not walking the fells.