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Yesterday I saw a Tiger Moth biplane orbiting over my town in south Oxfordshire, then in the afternoon I saw a B2 bomber orbiting around Burford in north Oxfordshire.

This was an unusual sight as there are only 20 of them in the world. It had come from the airshow at nearby RAF Fairford.

It's years since I've been to an airshow. I think Farnborough in the early 2000s was the last time. Seeing the B2 and some other planes flying in formation made me want to get a ticket.

I think I'm lucky in living in south-east England because there are lots of airshows within a pretty easy drive.

What good airshows are there around your area?

The closest we have to a local air show is the Cosby Victory Show; it started on one of the WWII anniversaries about 15 years ago and has turned into a very popular day out at the beginning of September. It’s technically a re-enactment event, they have some huge ground battles with tanks and infantry and a large show ground from different WWII re-enactment groups, plus the usual stalls, fairground rides, etc. But they normally have a pretty good air display built in, mostly period aircraft, plus a few modern RAF performances.

The next closest two are probably Duxford and Cosford, but it’s been years since I went to either. My dad and I make the pilgrimage to Fairford every year, which gets us our aircraft geek fix!

There is an airbase here in the northern Netherlands that hosts an airshow every few years. Nothing too special, but it is definitely worth watching, especially the demonstration teams. I've been there a few times.

Yeovilton airstation is my closest, only a few miles away and can watch it from my house. Although haven’t actually ever been.

Locally to me we used to have the Woodchurch Wings and Things show until skyrocketing insurance costs forced it's cancellation a decade or so ago and I've not been able to get to an airshow since although we do get some of the old warbirds including the BBMF overflying us fairly often. The two Lancasters flew low and directly over my house a few years back, those 8 Merlins were really something.

Another one I remember fondly is the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, where they have an awesome set of early 20th century aircraft and fly some of them at their shows.

Only good airshows are the ones that get rained off. It means the poor service lads and lasses don't have to spend all day standing around and picking up after the spotters. And since everyone's already there the after airshow party can start sooner!

I love air shows. Always a great time. They used to do them here on Campbell, but they don't anymore because of the 160th.

It makes me sad.

There AREN'T any "airshows" in my area.

There haven't even been any airshows in my STATE for a long time now. The closest they get is a 15-17 hour drive away. Long enough not to bother with. The tickets sell out long before the event, too.

The closest we get is the local air museum behind the local RAAF base (which is on the other side of the runways from our airport).

 chromedog wrote:
There AREN'T any "airshows" in my area.

There haven't even been any airshows in my STATE for a long time now. The closest they get is a 15-17 hour drive away. Long enough not to bother with. The tickets sell out long before the event, too.

The closest we get is the local air museum behind the local RAAF base (which is on the other side of the runways from our airport).

Tickets for Air Shows?

A few years back there was a brilliant airshow on my little island. The Blue Angels and Snowbirds both showed up and they are both incredible squadrons!

Pretty sure its on again this year actually although the American stunt pilots aren't making an appearance and they really stole the show when I went.

Used to have an airshow out in Halifax (Shearwater technically), but changes to the airfield made it impossible for the heavies or jets to land. I did an airshow in Bagotville last year, and this year, the last Sea Kings are doing a farewell tour across the country and a few airshows on the American West Coast, painted up in original colours.

My hometown in central Missouri has a really good airshow every Memorial Day weekend, and it's free admission! It hasn't been as good in recent years as back when I was a kid (when we had the Blue Angels and later the Thunderbirds), but it is still a lot of fun.

I used to go to the Shoreham one until the terrible crash a couple of years ago, hoping they'll restart it next year. While it was a horrible accident is there a time where you have to carry on as before?

Apart from that Eastbourne's always a good one. It's free, lovely sunny day on the beach. We had a Typhoon start the show off last year and the noise was just incredible, followed by amongst other things, the Red Arrows, a B-17, MiG-15 and a Belgian F-16 with flares shooting out his arse. This years one is in a few weeks, I would definitely recommend it.

We live just down the road from RAF Cosford, where a large airshow is held every year. We were planning to go to this years' show but didn't in the end; just as well, because it has been growing in popularity exponentially. Apparently, some 60,000 people attended this years' show and it meant huge tailbacks getting in and out of the base - something like 3 hour queues. I wouldn't have liked to have been stuck in the car with the kids for 3 hours at all.

 djones520 wrote:


Tickets for Air Shows?

Yeah, they have limits on number of people in a given area. Also, the PT and parking around the area is limited in how many people it can handle.

It's still in the 10s of 1000s of tickets, but yeah. When you factor in the ticket prices (easily over $100 per day), travel costs AND accommodation it easily tops the $1000 mark.

I'm also not good in large crowds. I don't "freak", but I'm only a hair trigger away from " I'm'a cut you." .

 djones520 wrote:

 chromedog wrote:
There AREN'T any "airshows" in my area.

There haven't even been any airshows in my STATE for a long time now. The closest they get is a 15-17 hour drive away. Long enough not to bother with. The tickets sell out long before the event, too.

The closest we get is the local air museum behind the local RAAF base (which is on the other side of the runways from our airport).

Tickets for Air Shows?

Is that unusual?

Looks like the Miramar air show in San Diego sells tickets. Miramar has a free seating area, but it looks like the better seats are paid for.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

 djones520 wrote:

 chromedog wrote:
There AREN'T any "airshows" in my area.

There haven't even been any airshows in my STATE for a long time now. The closest they get is a 15-17 hour drive away. Long enough not to bother with. The tickets sell out long before the event, too.

The closest we get is the local air museum behind the local RAAF base (which is on the other side of the runways from our airport).

Tickets for Air Shows?

Is that unusual?

Looks like the Miramar air show in San Diego sells tickets. Miramar has a free seating area, but it looks like the better seats are paid for.

From a civilian perspective, maybe it is I guess. Never thought about it before myself. Every airshow I've ever been to has been at the base I've lived at, for my whole life. Granted, I know when we'd hold them in Japan, there was no admission fees for the locals.

 djones520 wrote:

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

 djones520 wrote:

 chromedog wrote:
There AREN'T any "airshows" in my area.

There haven't even been any airshows in my STATE for a long time now. The closest they get is a 15-17 hour drive away. Long enough not to bother with. The tickets sell out long before the event, too.

The closest we get is the local air museum behind the local RAAF base (which is on the other side of the runways from our airport).

Tickets for Air Shows?

Is that unusual?

Looks like the Miramar air show in San Diego sells tickets. Miramar has a free seating area, but it looks like the better seats are paid for.

From a civilian perspective, maybe it is I guess. Never thought about it before myself. Every airshow I've ever been to has been at the base I've lived at, for my whole life. Granted, I know when we'd hold them in Japan, there was no admission fees for the locals.

The airshows here are free too. They are organised and paid for by the air force as part of their 'open days'. Apart from the Dutch air force, other NATO air forces usually have displays as well.