You would have to be a pretty hard-nosed sort to have not enjoyed Avalon this year. In many respects the show ticked most of the boxes needed to be able to say it was a runaway success. It wasn’t perfect – no airshow has ever been, nor ever will be – but the black marks were generally lost among the swarm of green ticks that covered most people’s score sheets.
So what went so right this time around? Asking that question is a bit like wondering why, when all the ingredients are the same, does the cake taste better this time than it did last time. The answer is not so much about what you put in it, but how much you put it in and what you are expecting from the cake.
At face value, Avalon 2011 should have been a bit of a bust given the absence of some superstars who had carried the show in the past: the F-111, Caribou and F-15 Eagle, and no doubt there were people in the crowd pining for their lost favourites. But airshow goers are fickle, and when the F/A-18F Rhino, B-1B lancer and C27 Spartan came out to play the people were quickly consoled.
But as such, the airshow is not solely for the delights of the general public; on the ground there was an array of aircraft manufacturers and components suppliers who had shelled out reasonably substantial sums of money to get in the faces of potential customers. In reality, the success of the show depends largely upon these companies more than the paying punter. The cost of putting large and loud aeroplanes in the air is migraine-inducing, and is not completely offset by the gate takings. The real money comes from selling floor space.
The comments of the stall holders can be used as a barometer to check the future for the Australian International Airshow. If the late Sunday opinions are accurate, there are clear skies ahead; there were nothing but positive voices heard from all those Australian Flying asked. A word of caution: seldom is heard a discouraging word when the skies are not cloudy all day.
Yes, the weather on the public days was largely outrageous CAVOK in contrast with 2009’s sleet-ridden effort, and it played a massive part in the success of the show. So too did something that has been missing in the past that was there this year en masse: the support of the warbird community. With the RAAF throwing everything behind their 90th birthday party, it was right their heritage was acknowledged with the best warbird turnout for many Avalons. Spitfire, Kittyhawk, Boomerang, Mustang, Sea Fury (Navy, but it counts!), Sabre, Vampire, Meteor, Hudson … what was missing?
The “wows” were no less audible for these retired veterans than they were for the fast and furious battlebirds of today’s squadrons. They too are a drawcard, a big one.
Avalon’s challenge now is to make 2013 as good as 2011. No matter what there will always be the hard-nosed nay-sayers whose gripes are louder than their yippees, but a good show will always ensure they are drowned-out.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch