Airshow Advice

[Canis Vulpes]

Old Warden is good not only for practice. Old Warden is the home of a number of unique aeroplanes in airworthy condition. There will be slower aeroplanes but quicker like Spitfire, Hurricane and some of the faster bi-planes. Photographically with better light than Duxford with no anti-social behavoir that Duxford seems to suffer with such as wind breaks and pushing/ shoving on the crowdline. The 300VR can be used in total freedom. Old Warden seems to have a great atmosphere with people pic-nicing on the crowd line and everyone respecting one another.

Beware - airshow photography is seriously addictive.

[ollieholmes]

I would agree Old Warden is a good location to practise. The aeroplanes are in general slower and many of them are totaly unique.

A 300mm lens is more than enough for Old Warden 99% of the time. You dont get windbreak city on the fenceline and no step ladders blocking your view. The walk from your car to the flightline is at worst about 5 mins. The food and drink places are aout 3 minuites walk away to.

[Wheeler]

Originally Posted by NickR

I may go to Old Warden Airshow coming up on the 23rd Sept or 1st Oct for a tester. I guess the planes will by travelling at a considirably slower speed so probably be good practice?

Cheers

Nick, it's best to get to OW as early as you can so that you can have a good nose around the hangars and book yourself on a flightline tour before the show. For £4 you'll get about half an hour to wander along the flightline with a guide and this will get you closer to the planes than any other show that I can think of.

We often get some really good light at evening shows and the photographic opportunities can be absolutely stunning. The crowdline's very close to the action and there are spots that can give you an unimpeded view of the take-offs and landings for some very nice slow shutter work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...6/_OB_6520.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...6/_OB_5230.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../MB7P8592a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...5/MB7P8643.jpg

[NickR]

Originally Posted by Wheeler

Nick, it's best to get to OW as early as you can so that you can have a good nose around the hangars and book yourself on a flightline tour before the show. For £4 you'll get about half an hour to wander along the flightline with a guide and this will get you closer to the planes than any other show that I can think of.

We often get some really good light at evening shows and the photographic opportunities can be absolutely stunning. The crowdline's very close to the action and there are spots that can give you an unimpeded view of the take-offs and landings for some very nice slow shutter work.

Thanks for the advice, Unfortunately I use a wheelchair to get around! is the flightline grass or is there a path. Grass is not usually a problem if is not to boggy. Do you know if there are concessions for disabled?

Excellent pics.
Cheers

[Canis Vulpes]

The flightline is grass at Old Warden. As there are a number of airshows throughout the year the grass is short and compacted so I imagine it would pose no problem to wheelchair users.

I am not sure about concessions for disabled at OW, Rob (wheeler) is your man who would know. At Duxford concession is approx 50% with a tarmac disabled car park very close to the crowdline. The disabled car park at Duxford is at the Eastern end of the airfield and a 3/4m trek to the Western end to take advantage of best light. At the Western end there is a grass bank which is the perfect place with a flat grass walkway near the fenceline.

[ollieholmes]

If Rob cant produce an anser i would ring the Shuttleworth collection up and ask.
I would say it is very good for wheelchair acsess apart from when it has been realy wet. The flying programme has some interesting items, ive copied it from the site and here it is:
Supermarine Spitfire TR9 Twin seater Spitfire belonging to Carolyn Grace

Hunting Jet Provost

Percival Piston Provost

Avro 504k

Avro Tutor

de Havilland Tiger Moth

ANEC

Hawker Cygnet

Barnstorming feature as follows:

de Havilland Chipmunk

Miles Magister x 2

de Havilland Tiger Moth

Ribbon cut & ribbon pick up

de Havilland Chipmunk

Southern Martlet

Comper Swift

North American Sabre Jet

Ryan PT22 x 2

Gloster Gladiator

Hawker Hind

Hawker Sea Hurricane

Bleriot or Deperdussin

Blackburn Monoplane Type - D

Bristol Boxkite

Avro Triplane

[ollieholmes]

This tread reminded me of a post on another forum on which someone mentioned that they was going to Old Warden for the first time. It made me smile origionaly so i thought i would post it here:

Originally Posted by DamienB

Get there early to avoid traffic; around 10 minutes before flying begins should do. It is best to grab your spot on the crowdline as soon as you can, and then wander off and leave it. People will know it is your spot from the absence of any windbreaks or padlocked chairs. Be warned that much of the crowdline is taken up by a huge VIP enclosure, consisting of a control tower and a handful of benches on which the toffs will sit quaffing champagne. The flying is so far away that you will need a huge lens - perhaps as much as 200mm - and unfortunately almost every single display will refuse to show the belly of the aircraft, instead opting for the much uglier topside. The toilets, I'm afraid, are fixed, clean and generally well stocked with the necessities, denying you the traditional thunder box experience. Also sad to say that food from the cafe is edible and fairly reasonably priced, denying you the chance to empty your wallet for a single burger. Wear your walking shoes, as your car will be parked some distance away from the crowdline - in fact it may be as much as a two minute walk away. As a final twist of the knife, your stepladder may look silly on naturally sloping ground that gets slightly higher the further back you go towards the hangars.

As you may be able to tell Old Warden has certain faults as a traditional airshow venue, but hopefully you will be able to fight past these horrors and enjoy your evening.

The step ladder, padlocked chairs, windbreaks, getting their early to get a good spot,needing a big lens, long walk from your car, toilet probs, location of foodstalls etc are problems we all have at Duxford amongst many other things.

[Canis Vulpes]

I think we are painting Duxford with a bad light. Duxford in Britain's moremost aviation museum that holds regular airshows throughout the the year, many thousands attend air shows at Duxford and I am sure 90% really enjoy the experience.

[ollieholmes]

Originally Posted by Stephen Fox

I think we are painting Duxford with a bad light. Duxford in Britain's moremost aviation museum that holds regular airshows throughout the the year, many thousands attend air shows at Duxford and I am sure 90% really enjoy the experience.

I agree Duxford is a great place, without it we would not have many aeroplanes flying today. I just think the airshos could be better. They are fine for anyone not wanting to take photos.

[Wheeler]

Nick, I'm not aware of any disabled gate concessions, there aren't any listed on the website http://www.shuttleworth.org or an any of the show flyers that I've got. If you give the office/shop a ring (01767 627927) they'll confirm this either way.

There's a separate disabled parking area at the top of the field near the beer hut. It's grass not tarmac but if you're happier parking on the tarmac then I'm sure you can find space by the camper vans. The disabled area gives you a good view from the top of the field and it's not too far from the loos, hangars, restaurant and shop. You can watch the show from the side of your car, there are good views from anywhere on the field, which slopes down towards the airstrip and therefore provide a natural arena, but if you'd prefer to get closer then you might want to site yourself somewhere on the crowd fence. The large gate to the track which runs across the field to the farm opposite is a pretty good spot as is the small gate at the apex of the crowd line or a spot by the tower often yields good shots. Very few people make use of the excellent opportunities at the far right-hand end by the ticket booth as you enter the airfield. This spot allows you to catch the planes as they turn in for a run along the display line and you can get some cracking shots. I'm surprised that more people haven't worked this out for themselves.

If you've got any questions on the day then ask any one of the security staff or volunteers, I'm sure they'll be very helpful. I'm a member of the liveside photography/security team, my name's on my hi-vis jacket (Rob Leigh) so say hello if you see me.

I hope you have a great time, fingers crossed for some lovely golden lighting.

Rob

Ollie, I wish you'd think a little more before posting about the woes of Duxford. None of the things you've stated were a problem for you at Flying Legends since you chose not to pay and freeloaded from a field. Why just jump on the bandwagon when none of these things affected you? Lots of people read the content of what's posted here, they probably go away with an opinion about you rather than one about Duxford.