No more Flying Legends at Duxford

[Firebird]

TFC and IWM have today announced that there will no longer be any future Flying Legends Airshows held at Duxford.

[Forgotten Field]

Ouch! The one overseas event I always wanted to attend!

[MacHarvard]

This is really unfortunate, but it may not be quite as bad as it sounds. It means that TFC and IWM have parted ways and TFC has to relocate for the airshow. Hopefully they will find a new location reasonably soon.

[Firebird]

This is really unfortunate, but it may not be quite as bad as it sounds. It means that TFC and IWM have parted ways and TFC has to relocate for the airshow. Hopefully they will find a new location reasonably soon.

Unfortunately we are fast running out of those 'suitable locations' in the UK, and the logistics and extra costs for TFC trying to organise such an event away from their home base isn't to be underestimated.

I hope there will be an announcement from TFC in due course about a new venue, but I'm not overly hopeful of that tbh.

[bdk]

Does the IWM own the airfield?

[JohnB]

My prediction...
If it resumes, it will be overwater.

-The UK is terribly built up.
-Ghost of Shoreham.

You can't simply relocate the event to one of the few empty surviving WWII fields, no infrastructure and on a back country roads (in farm country they are often about 1.5 lanes) traffic would be untenable. At least seaside venues have ever motorways leading to them and parking. Besides, resort areas are filled with businesses looking to make money so the chances of "not in my backyard" are somewhat reduced.

Duxford was the ideal location. Good airfield with amenities, central location and good motorway access.
I wonder what the circumstances were for this drastic action to have come about?

[Firebird]

I wonder what the circumstances were for this drastic action to have come about?

The IWM statement indicated they are under financial pressures, and the reading-between-the-lines in conjunction with the TFC statement would be, that IWM have gone to TFC demanding a bigger slice of the pie from TFC, and TFC have said Foxtrot Oscar.

It also hasn't helped that the IWM are now staffed by pretty young things with degrees in media studies and business accounting and have zero interest in the airshow side of Duxford or even just having vistors on the site at all given the number of restrictions and conccessions (to the disabled for insteance) that have been removed in recent years.
The feeling from those closer to the people there, is that IWM staff would rather do away with the air displays completely, and the fact that IWM were active in offering part of the site to military aerospace contractor Marshalls of Cambridge as their new site, which would have stopped displays because of overfly restrictions, tell you all you need to know about the future of the place going forward. In the end Marshalls said Duxford wasn't going to be their new home, but, that doesn't take away the fact that had they gone there that would have been the end of display flying there anyway.

I can't see Flying Legends becoming a seaside show at all......don't think thats an option.

My view, I think there's more chance TFC will take the show to mainland Europe than it remaining in the UK.

I wonder if TFC will start to look at whether Duxford is the place to remain as a base going foward, maybe the others like ARCo etc as well in time, if IWM start to make it less and less attractive to remain there.

[Firebird]

Does the IWM own the airfield?

Yes

[JohnTerrell]

Phil Glover shared this audio clip on the Duxford Airshows FB page with a recording of an interview with TFC's Nick Grey about the decision and plans going forward: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1522r9yhqkv1k ... K0Mfe3g_qM

[Firebird]

The contents of this recent Tweet from the IWM Duxford Curator says everything you need to know about the situation......

Yes Flying Legends is popular among a certain audience, but for a number of years it has been out performed by shows with less niche appeal. Duxford has always been a war museum first, aviation museum second, and IMO Legends' programme has become removed from its warbird origins

[oz rb fan]

The contents of this recent Tweet from the IWM Duxford Curator says everything you need to know about the situation......

Yes Flying Legends is popular among a certain audience, but for a number of years it has been out performed by shows with less niche appeal. Duxford has always been a war museum first, aviation museum second, and IMO Legends' programme has become removed from its warbird origins

WTF!!!!!...are there drugs being taken there?

[Firebird]

The contents of this recent Tweet from the IWM Duxford Curator says everything you need to know about the situation......

Yes Flying Legends is popular among a certain audience, but for a number of years it has been out performed by shows with less niche appeal. Duxford has always been a war museum first, aviation museum second, and IMO Legends' programme has become removed from its warbird origins

WTF!!!!!...are there drugs being taken there?

Quite possibly..........or maybe she's been forgetting to take them

[StangStung]

Phil Glover shared this audio clip on the Duxford Airshows FB page with a recording of an interview with TFC's Nick Grey about the decision and plans going forward: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1522r9yhqkv1k ... K0Mfe3g_qM

For those of us who may not have access to this right now, what's the upshot?

[StangStung]

The contents of this recent Tweet from the IWM Duxford Curator says everything you need to know about the situation......

Yes Flying Legends is popular among a certain audience, but for a number of years it has been out performed by shows with less niche appeal. Duxford has always been a war museum first, aviation museum second, and IMO Legends' programme has become removed from its warbird origins

That is not very diplomatic, to say the least. Do you have a link to the original tweet? I'd like to see it in context.

[ZRX61]

Original tweet has been deleted, I'm guessing she got some feedback