Air shows
 

Does anyone here go to airshows?
Where can i find the dates for upcoming shows?

What sort of shows are you looking for? There are many different types and sizes, catering for all sorts of tastes.

For me the next big one is Paris, 13-19 June 2005.

I was talking about airshows on the esaten boarder of the US.
Milarty or cilivlan.

http://www.airshows.com/search/search.asp?type=usalist

google........

Why do they still have air shows?
 

It seems to me that at a high percentage of air shows either a plane goes down or someone is killed or both. I see it on the news all the time. Why do they continue to have them?

While airshows can be dangerous -- especially when the planes and performers are pushing the envelope at very low altitudes where there is little margin for error -- I think that fatalities and hull losses are the exception rather than the norm. I do not agree that they occur at anywhere near a "high percentage of air shows."

The why is easy. Uncle Sam likes to show us taxpayers all the nifty toys that our money buys and, at the same time, promote patriotic feelings. At our local airshow this weekend, I finally got a personal glimpse of the B-2 bomber. Very cool.

Dayton usually has a fairly decent show. They broadcast it on TV in the area and from what I've seen it's pretty good. If you're in town for it (it's usually mid to late July) you should check out the US Air Force Museum too, it's pretty cool. The airshow is at Dayton International Airport, and the Museum is at Wright-Patterson AFB. I've been told there's a good show at Pattrick AFB near Melbourne, Florida too.

Did you get a chance to check out the Celebration of Flight? I didn't think it was all that great. There was some interesting stuff, but I expected more. USAF Museum has my vote for best aviation thing around here.

The biggest airshow on the east coast of the US is without a doubt the Ft. Lauderdale Air and Sea show, held in early May...literally millions of people crowd Fort Lauderdale beach as the displays are all flown right over the beach...quite amazing, though, of course there is no static displays as it is off airport grounds...if your into static displays, then its definitely not your type of show...

N674UW

Those who know me will know that I am generally calm and polite. But the one thing that makes my blood boil are unqualified comments like this one from someone who clearly hasn't looked at any statistics whatsoever.

I will admit that I haven't looked at statistics either.

But what I can tell you is this:

I am involved with airshows at an airfield in the UK.

We have four shows a year.

In the six years of my involvement (that's 24 shows) we have had ONE serious accident. The other 23 shows were accident-free.

One hears about accidents in the news. One doesn't hear about airshows that are accident-free. Here in the UK we have have several airshows every single week-end throughout the airshow season (May to October). You must have many many more in the United States. How many airshow accidents do you hear about in an average year?

Because your impression is totally wrong.

I thought Oceania NAS, Virginia Beach, was the biggest. If not, it surely must be the biggest at an airport.

I prefer going to an airport than the beach to see an air show. Besides viewing the static displays, there's a lot more room for the spectators at an airport than a beach.

The privately run air shows charge admission (usually $10/person) and don't have the glamorous demonstrations of military shows, but the advantage is that parking doesn't take an hour and it's not nearly as crowded on the field.

A few...solely because, as you pointed out, the US has many more airshows than the UK...while I wouldn't call it a "high percentage"...I would say it might be more common than you think...here are a couple...all of these have occured within the past couple of years, though I cant remember the exact dates

-F-117 crashes at Martin State Airport, Baltimore, Maryland
-Thunderbird F-16 crashes at Mountain Home AFB, Mountain Home, Idaho
-F-14 crashes at NAS/JRB Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
-Ian Groom and his Sukhoi crash at FLL Air/Sea Show

Im sure there are more, those are the ones that jump out at me...

N674UW

Because the only airshows that make your local TV news are the ones where an accident occurs. You need to get out more.

Don't forget the Experimental Aircraft Association convention in Oshkosh every year. It's a big fly-in, but no one will spit on you if you drive. ;)