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The Red Arrows

I had it on very good authority from a fish and chip shop owner who had premises on the Golden Mile that his premises actually took less money on Airshow days than they did on other Bank Holidays and the comparative Bank Holiday after the Airshow was cancelled. His reasoning was that the visitors spent their time further up Western Esplanade and used the casual catering traders even though they were charging around 20-25% more than he was... So our regular traders were not necessarily making hay...

If you want to make an effort anyone can make money on those days. I live on Eastern Esplanade and even the corner shop used to be swamped all day.
 
If you want to make an effort anyone can make money on those days. I live on Eastern Esplanade and even the corner shop used to be swamped all day.
His point was that the general public assumed the Golden Mile traders were making shedloads but in reality the Airshow didn't make the difference that many assumed to the traditional traders; certainly not to him, anyway.

It's all about statistics, figures of 250-300k people attending are bandied around but although they may be different people attracted and attending they aren't necessarily extra footfall over and above a normal Bank Holiday.
Largely it comes down to the demographic; if 300k turn up but they are mostly families who bring a picnic and sit on the Cliffs all day and only buy a few ice creams or a can of Coke then the ice cream vendors and the corner shops will be happy but if they replace 200k of the demographic who might have bought a bag of chips or a bit of fish then the fish and chip shops wouldn't be...
 
His point was that the general public assumed the Golden Mile traders were making shedloads but in reality the Airshow didn't make the difference that many assumed to the traditional traders; certainly not to him, anyway.

It's all about statistics, figures of 250-300k people attending are bandied around but although they may be different people attracted and attending they aren't necessarily extra footfall over and above a normal Bank Holiday.
Largely it comes down to the demographic; if 300k turn up but they are mostly families who bring a picnic and sit on the Cliffs all day and only buy a few ice creams or a can of Coke then the ice cream vendors and the corner shops will be happy but if they replace 200k of the demographic who might have bought a bag of chips or a bit of fish then the fish and chip shops wouldn't be...

Yes good points.

One group who did exceptionally well on the last air show was traffic wardens. They kept a low profile all day and half way through they blitzed Thorpe bay as every possible gap had a car in it ….. People assumed if everyone else has done it without a ticket it must be OK.
 
Did anyone see the stunt planes practicing about 5pm today from Southend airport?
 
What’s right with the RAF? Much quicker subject, just ask Ricey
I enjoyed my time in, however it wasn’t the same as what I signed up for in 2012. Obviously with the end of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghan it changed the dynamics and priorities. There are still commitments to certain countries like the Falklands but even now they’re pulling back on the amount of troops sent out there.

When I was in the turnaround for a Corporal for an out of area deployment was 18 months. Now I’ve been told today it’s 7 years! I had done 3 tours by the time I had hit 7 years. Most of my former colleagues are doing events and helping backfill security details for large scale events etc,

As for everything else, well that’s just trying to move with the times and be inclusive. They now allow beards which they brought in when I left. I hate it, you look scruffy as **** and takes away the smart disciplined look for me.

To bring it back on topic to the Red Arrows, I’ve seen them more times than I can count. As amazing as they are I find they are a bit repetitive and I’m an aviation fanatic! They cost an absolute fortune to keep going and the aircraft are coming to the end of their life and will at some point need replacing. I assume they charge for displays, whether that makes them break even or brings a profit I don’t know.

I’ll watch them if they display and I’m there, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if they weren’t.
 
I’m assuming he had to change his Uniform after landing, he definitely didn’t have clean underwear

But take your hats off to him landing it in that state…
 
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