Warbird Information Exchange

I may be in the minority here, but I feel the same about the endless blather at the Reno Air Races.

After attending many, many Oshkosh air shows I can relate to a lot of what is being said here. The first year it was a little interesting to listen to but the music as the planes were flying by was annoying. Now I've gotten to the point where I make it a game of tracking how many things the announcers say are wrong or just totally made up. In fact their schtick changes from year to year with new made of facts that are different than the made up facts from last year for the exact same topic.

Yep, he blattered on while the Super Connie was taking off at one Legends - my one chance to hear that beauty at full chat spoiled...

I always thought the late John Blake got the balance of info, anecdote, humour and quiet spot on...

One of the funnier parts of the Oshkosh narration is when the announcer claims that he hears people wonder why Russian aircraft are flying at an American airshow when the Red Star formation passes. I've been going to airshows for 30 years and never heard anyone make a comment like about Yaks, CJs, L-39s or any other Eastern bloc type. I guess maybe he heard it once and turned it into a narrative. Heard a lot about secret stashes of P-39s and P-63s in Russia at Reading recently, too. That was a new one.

I've had to broadcast sporting events before (not by choice) and I will say that I do empathize with narrators. Talking at people for hours is highly unnatural and you're going to misspeak or jumble something. It's going to happen. Just please don't make things up. If you don't know something, it's better to be quiet than make it up.

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Matt

I attended a UK airshow once with a couple of non-aviation savvy friends - a pair of Eastern European Zlins took off to display and my friends asked who they were and what did they do. "Bit of an unknown quantity to me!" I said having never heard of them. Seconds later the commentator announced them, remarking "they are a bit of an unknown quantity to me"! They were very good, saw them at Biggin Hill the next day as well, the Zlin 526 does aeros at a speed where the eye/mind of the observer can keep up...

Agree with all being said here. Glad someone brought it up, I was beginning to think it was just me. Like the old saying "if it's too loud, you're too old." Was starting to think I was getting too old......

It wasn't always this way though, right?

I grew up going to airshows with Dad in the 80s and 90s. We weren't as avid show-goers as some people on this forum, but we'd generally attend any show that was held within ~70 miles or so. Rockford Air Fest in Illinois was a favorite several years in a row.

When I think about the announcing, I recall the volume was reasonable, and for the most part, you'd only hear a sporadic announcement about who the current act was, who the next act was, etc. Occasionally, you'd hear some public service announcement about a car with its headlights left on, etc. No music to speak of, except for maybe the Star Spangled Banner.

Ultimately, different planes and different acts of the show were "announced," and that was it.

As happens, life moves on, and I didn't really go to any airshows from the early 90s to the 2010s. You know how it goes, interests move to cars, girls, etc, as well as a stint in the Air Force where every day was a government-sponsored airshow.

I started attending the occasional Oshkosh in the mid 2010s, and immediately noticed the difference. Instead of providing an "announcement" about the next act and then silence, the trend seemed to be having someone "narrating" during the entire act. As well as blaring music during the times between acts, and announcers who seemed to be making things up on the fly.

Not sure what drove the shift over the years.

Come to a show in Quebec.

Guess what you get in a place with 2 official languages…

I seem to recall as a kid no narration at all, but then again we watched alot of shows off base maybe thats the reason, but when my memory pics up on narrations they were no where near as obnoxious or blaring. They really picked up the pace with some of the stunt planes with the actual pilot doing the narration, this one guy no idea what his name was he flew a black prop thats all I remember and this guy was nuts and hilarious, I'd actually be shocked if he was still alive, and not just because it was decades ago. Kind of a southern accent but not overt, he'd be flying the show line low and at full speed and say "You know, I always wondered what would happen if I threw the stick to the left and jammed the pedal to the right, lets find out and see !" Then he'd do these crazy rolls and wingovers, climb up into a spinning stall, flutter back down unevenly and pull up just in time, he'd say "whew ! Now I know, not sure if I'll ever try that again, but lets try this !!" And do another insane maneuver. That was actually very entertaining, never saw a stunt guy like that before or since.

Premium jet acts also drove the pace of non stop narration, I think blaring music didn't really set in until at least the mp3 era, which was late 90's or so.