THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN 2023

[michael luther]

Just added,

Paul Keppeler's Sabre Mk. 6!

[michael luther]

Just added,

Robert Dickson's P-51D Mustang "Swamp Fox"!

[bmoran]

Shucks ... The latest early bird ticket email indicates Thunder is further complicating things with multiple shows per day, multiple drive in parking tiers with dynamic pricing, and only the Officers Club gets an all day option. I just want to walk in with access to the grounds, concessions, statics, museum, and flightline for the whole day.

[kalamazookid]

:evil: Shucks ... The latest early bird ticket email indicates Thunder is further complicating things with multiple shows per day, multiple drive in parking tiers with dynamic pricing, and only the Officers Club gets an all day option. I just want to walk in with access to the grounds, concessions, statics, museum, and flightline for the whole day.

Extremely disappointing. We won't be back.

[bdk]

:evil: Shucks ... The latest early bird ticket email indicates Thunder is further complicating things with multiple shows per day, multiple drive in parking tiers with dynamic pricing, and only the Officers Club gets an all day option. I just want to walk in with access to the grounds, concessions, statics, museum, and flightline for the whole day.

Any idea what is driving this? Can't still be Covid related, could it?

[kalamazookid]

:evil: Shucks ... The latest early bird ticket email indicates Thunder is further complicating things with multiple shows per day, multiple drive in parking tiers with dynamic pricing, and only the Officers Club gets an all day option. I just want to walk in with access to the grounds, concessions, statics, museum, and flightline for the whole day.

Any idea what is driving this? Can't still be Covid related, could it?

Money.

[ricusa]

Yeah, money and maybe help needed. They say that favorable feedback is why they are doing it? (Must be a sheltered undercover group their polling) This is the only show I know of that still uses this format. I and others I know are out for next year! Sad.

[hurricane_yank]

Very disappointed to see this...won't be there.

[Xray]

Disappointing to say the least, this continued pay top $$ for half a show concept is ludicrous

[mazdaP5]

So long ToM.

[kalamazookid]

I posted this elsewhere, but I'll share it here as well. I know I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but I'll say it one last time: it isn't the cost, it's the utter stupidity of the split format.

Literally every airshow in North America lets you see the entire airshow for the price of one ticket. Every single one. Maybe you can make an argument that Oshkosh or Sun N' Fun don't because their shows are spread out over a week, but it's a pretty big stretch to compare those to what Thunder is doing. You don't pay in the morning, then have to leave and pay to come back in the afternoon to see the rest of the airshow anywhere else - not at Oshkosh, or Reading, or Houston, or Geneseo, or London, or Duxford, or a military show or your local show in a cornfield. There is no amount of "Choose Your Headliner," or "Officer's Club" or other fancy marketing BS that will change that. "Officer's Club" in this case roughly translates to "pay more money for the normal airshow experience you get everywhere else plus a crappy sandwich and a shade tent."

Last year, the morning and afternoon shows were totally different. If one had wanted to see the Mosquito, Hurricanes and F-100 and had only an afternoon ticket, they would have been screwed (assuming everything had shown up). If a morning attendee had wanted to see Mike Goulian, the Lysander, the Vampire and the Axis aircraft, they would have been screwed (again, assuming everything had shown up). If one had paid for a one-day ticket at any other airshow, all of the acts the show booked would have been included. I'm not going to guess which half day is going to have the acts I want to see, and I'm not going to pay twice for what is included in the price of one ticket at every other airshow I could possibly dream of attending. There are zero acts or aircraft that are worth that. It's obnoxious. It's a rip-off. It's insultingly stupid. It's unbelievable to me that people are not only asking for this but actually think it's a good deal.

The White Zone is ... uh, really bad. $99 to either sit 4,000+ feet from the runway or stand in the static display area, while not having any access at all to the hot ramp? You have to pay extra to be able to look at all of the aircraft at the airshow? WTF? Why are they making things that were always included in the price of one ticket "exclusive?" It's an "exclusive" perk to do do something you can already do just about everywhere else? This is laughably and insultingly stupid.

$129 for an entire day of Blue Zone would be completely reasonable. That's about what two people would pay for walk-up tickets and parking under the old format. Sign me up for that any day of the week if it comes with a full airshow, the hot ramp and all the static displays. In the meantime, we'll be spending our time and money elsewhere.

I've said my piece. If you go, enjoy.

[DaveG]

My TOM stats:

1) 2007
2) 2009
3) 2010
4) 2011
5) 2012
6) 2013
7) 2014
2015
9) 2016
10) 2016-06-22 (Canada show)
11) 2017
12) 2018
13) 2019
14) 2021 (all four shows)
15) 2022 (all four shows)

Fun while it lasted.

Last edited by DaveG on Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Jasonrs55]

It was posted on the airshow facebook page that the "white zone" car pass allows attendees to sit in the static display area, which is behind the blue zone. It is $99 and includes as many as you can legally fit in your vehicle.

[michael luther]

Just added,

The Dakota Territory Air Museum's P-47D Thunderbolt!!!

[DJ Hunt]

Just added,

The Dakota Territory Air Museum's P-47D Thunderbolt!!!

Two thumbs up for this add!

Jeff