Dave Eade, Andrew Bates & Gary Parsons reflect on the year gone by...

So another season is under our belts, and it’s time to reflect on the positives and negatives of what has been an...um, non-event to start the millennium. Being the start of a new era in history, one would have thought that massed celebratory flypasts, airshows predicting the future of aviation and other dome-inspired events would have happened. But no, it was a relatively quiet year, dominated by poor weather.

As Mulder & Scully would agree, that certain x-factor was missing, something different and imaginative to inspire and amuse. RIAT tried it with its wartime scenarios and set-pieces, but the reality was a disjointed couple of hours that, if you weren’t paying attention to the video screens, meant time to ponder over the many trade stalls. A brave effort, but not enough aeroplanes and some dubious casting (a DC4 acting as a Heinkel 111) left the action thin and too dispersed. More effective was Biggin Hill’s end-of-season bash in September, which captured the spirit of 1940 and left many a spectator with misty eyes during the playing of the ‘Last Post’ towards the end.

The promised ‘Millennium Airshow’ x-perience of RIAT and Farnborough back-to-back didn’t work, as the SBAC placed too many restrictions on arrivals so that both events could share the acts. So, Cottesmore lost the F/A18F and display by the C27J, as sales were more important than entertainment. The V22 Osprey had been lost months before after a tragic accident, which now may have been its only opportunity to come to the UK - this is one programme that will surely quietly die after the two fatal crashes of this year. As for Farnborough, it was a pale shadow of its former glories, with less flying and static exhibits than ever before. But, as the PR machine would have it, things have never been better, with $50bn worth of orders over the week. Just how much of this was agreed during the five trade days? Very little, one would suspect. It is hard to see how a showcase such as Farnborough can survive if the showcase itself is empty.

Waddington tried to inject the x-factor with the only UK appearance this year of the USAF demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, but this was affected by the appalling weather that dominated much of the summer. Low cloud and a stiff breeze prevented the full routine, but at least we saw some of that American flair and precision. For many the star items of the whole year were the pair of Singapore AF Skyhawks, a real coup by the organising team.

The x-treme weather was to affect Mildenhall more than most, which gale-force winds and pounding rain throughout the weekend forcing many traders to abandon ship. But, such is the appeal of this event that it didn’t stop the crowds appearing in their thousands, proving that this show is perhaps the most popular in Europe.The accolade of the worst downpour of the year probably goes to the RAFA display at Woodford – while the sunniest was possibly the day at Cosford. Both these shows manage somehow to maintain a thoroughly professional, but somehow low-key, atmosphere – which is to their credit.

Ironically, the weather smiled on Leuchars for once, with one of those Indian summer days in mid-September that seem so rare, but we couldn’t make it due to the petrol crisis of that week. Scotland turned out in force, and the x-citement for them was that they were finally treated to a display from Eurofighter, after several years of trying by the organisers. A beautiful part of the country for an air display, it’s one that everyone should do at least once, just to sample the Scottish hospitality.

Leuchars almost got them off the hook, but x-cuse of the year was again won by Eurofighter GmbH, who failed to produce even a static example for Waddington and RIAT. That the aircraft has still failed to appear at the RAF’s premier event, in the county that it will be based first, despite the best endeavours of the organisers, is very sad. The Lincolnshire populace should be shown what they will be living with for the next thirty years or so, and the taxpayers should be able to see just what they are eventually paying for. Okay, so it was at Farnborough, but that was very much a sales pitch and the public days saw little of it. The appearance at Leuchars was welcome, but only because ZH588 was working with 43 Squadron on operational evaluation. A small step forward, but how about a full flying routine over the Waddington 2001 weekend?

With less military organised shows available, it's good to see a fairly comprehensive selection of civilian shows still available to fill in for a few of the summer weekends. Old favourites such as Old Warden, Biggin Hill and Duxford are always worth a visit, but new events such as the Delta Jets open days at Kemble are very worthy of support, and may prove to be the basis of the airshow scene of the future. Ironically, the Air Atlantique day at Coventry, which seemed to be growing in stature with each year, probably won't happen again. This is not to say that the enthusiasm for putting 'new' shows on is far from lacking in the country. One is reminded of the line from the second of Mike Myers "Wayne's World" films – "if you invite them – they will come!" This is true of the airshow-going public most of the time, but x-aggeration of the year must be awarded to the organisers at Norwich Airport, who wildly over-estimated the interest in their anniversary airshow in August. Following the successful Lowestoft event in the week, the turn-out was poor, to say the least. A £10 per head charge may have had something to do with it, as no-one could have foreseen the poor organisation of the trade stalls. A shame, because buried very deeply there were the roots of a good warbird event, but the traders' experiences may mean that it never happens again.