Air Show this weekend.

[carliol]

The seagulls are not happy at this intrusion into their space. They are holding noisy protest meetings.

[Ceam]

Has it not occurred to people here that other seaside councils would dearly love to be able to charge, but they cannot isolate their roads to the beach?

That I'd say is exactly why they don't charge to watch. Fact is it has to be paid by someone. There is no such thing as a free air show.

[said]

I love it.

Just been up in a helicopter. Great experience and good fun, but you had to queue up and you only get five minutes in the air. Not in Southport though - it was at Ince Blundell.

[said]

That I'd say is exactly why they don't charge to watch. Fact is it has to be paid by someone. There is no such thing as a free air show.

In 2016, the Swansea Air show attracted 170 thousand viewers, raising £7.6 miilion for the local economy. (I can't find figures for Southport) The Civil Aviation Authority, responsible for overseeing air traffic safety cost Swansea £20,000 that year.

Several of the military aircraft presented at an Air Show are free of charge as the military accept this as a PR exercise. Many of the smaller fleets are sponsored by their management groups also for PR. Single pilots may fund themselves just for the enjoyment of taking part.

Out of interest. The cost of aviation fuel is £1.76p per litre - a Harrier Jet burns 97.74 litres of fuel per minute, a Robinson Helicopter uses 0.91 litres per min, Eurocopter uses 3.6 litres per minute and a Bell Helicopter uses 9.1 litres per minute.

[silver fox]

In 2016, the Swansea Air show attracted 170 thousand viewers, raising £7.6 miilion for the local economy. (I can't find figures for Southport) The Civil Aviation Authority, responsible for overseeing air traffic safety cost Swansea £20,000 that year.

Several of the military aircraft presented at an Air Show are free of charge as the military accept this as a PR exercise. Many of the smaller fleets are sponsored by their management groups also for PR. Single pilots may fund themselves just for the enjoyment of taking part.

Out of interest. The cost of aviation fuel is £1.76p per litre - a Harrier Jet burns 97.74 litres of fuel per minute, a Robinson Helicopter uses 0.91 litres per min, Eurocopter uses 3.6 litres per minute and a Bell Helicopter uses 9.1 litres per minute.

At a military air show most Nato air forces perform for free under reciprocal deals, other shows are a different thing altogether, the MOD/RAF nominate a number of display aircraft which are funded, anything over and above that will be charged, incidentally The Red Arrows are heavily subsidised, but don't come free, private aircraft have to be paid for, whether that be through the display organisers or individual sponsors is very much on a case by case, when the Vulcan was still flying, a display would cost £15k and remember the Vulcan was heavily funded by VTTS members and commercial sponsors.

Some display teams are funded by commercial sponsors as advertising etc, but very few private individuals could even dream of taking part in an airshow just for enjoyment, mainly because authority to fly in a public display does not come cheap, maintaining an aircraft to the required exacting standards is expensive to put it mildly, plus as a totally private individual you would need insurance cover, the idea that pilot/owners will provide displays for free is pretty well a non-starter.