I've no idea. The fact that they said the Typhoon was cancelled due to the weather was a joke to start with, and then to fly past 40 mins (or whatever it was) after it should have done is just a joke.It MUST have been en route to Derwent at the time they told everyone it wasn't coming. How did that happen?
There were thousands of people around me and every single one of them had left their vantage points when the plane appeared.
I'm sanguine about the Lancaster but the way the communication was handled and the farce with the typhoon was very poor indeed.
It would have been less of a kick if the plane never showed tbh.Sorry to hear this badger. That’s a big kick to the town halls.
It would have been less of a kick if the plane never showed tbh.
Made all the more poignant by the thought that 75 years ago this evening air crews, many of whom would have probably been in their early 20s, were climbing into Lancaster bombers to successfully find and pinpoint the Ruhr dams in darkness using a compass, maps, scale ruler, a clock and wind and airspeed compensation calculations done on a slide rule. There we were today with a 'cancelled' technology-laden jet arriving around 34 minutes late after reportedly aborting the mission due to cloud conditions. A real shot in the arm for national pride there... talk about Fred Karno's Circus!Sorry to hear this badger. That’s a big kick to the town halls.
It would have been less of a kick if the plane never showed tbh.
I understand unforeseen situations, but I think it could have been handled better, especially given how instant social media is these days.As posted in the other thread by @skiking:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-44143634
Whilst I can see it’s frustrating nothing can be done about the weather (I tried to see some of the last Vulcan flights but poor weather cancelled all of my opportunities and that will never fly again). I’m guessing signal issues in the area probably didn’t help with communication. The BBC report seems to say the original flight path had low cloud so couldn't safely be used. Unfortunately it seems the typhoon pilot didn’t want to disappoint the waiting crowds and managed to find a different safe route in, albeit later than initially expected, and no updated message wasn’t sent that they had found a different root in.
Some of the comments on social media seems to have lost all perspective of what this event was about.....75 years 133 dambuster aircrew left Scrampton, sadly 53 never returned. With the social media backlash BBMF are receiving I can see the RAF never repeating this anverisary flight with any future official upfront announcement.
I didn’t arrive until pretty late tbh but the actual roads looked pretty clear. Nowhere to park on the main roads though. Traffic leaving didn’t appear to suffer too much congestion, although at a couple of points I could zip past a couple of minor queues on my bike.A minor question given all the disappointment, but how bad was the traffic and the access to the dam?
I understand unforeseen situations, but I think it could have been handled better, especially given how instant social media is these days.
I’ve not seen the social media backlash tbh, those I’ve seen on FB have all been well constructed and nothing OTT. Unfortunately though social media allows people to say what they want and throw things all out of proportion.
Im sure they could handle it better but without official tannoy announcements like at air shows it’s going to be difficult over such a large area with poor phone signal. Social media is always a bad idea to get these things across. It’s a difficult situation when things haven’t gone to plan, if they didn’t message they would have been wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if their social media procedure is now updated to include no tweeting about aircraft in flight, adding to the flight path info ban they already have. Perhaps they should have waited until the typhoon was back on the ground at RAF Coningsby before tweeting it was cancelled. I find with aircraft the best idea is to stand near the serious plane spotters. They have the scanners listening to the actual radio conversation so you know exactly what’s going on!
The social media backlash seems to mainly be in reply to the tweet saying it’s not going to happen. It sounds like he was trying to be helpful and make sure people weren’t standing around in the cold waiting for nothing. One of the worst tweet responses was “Good job it wasn’t you guys defending the country back then otherwise we would all be speaking German right now...”, and all because they took a day off and took their children out of school for it. Others seemed to suggest the RAF couldn’t fly in poor weather and didnt show up to honour the dambusters when the crowds did. It seems some just don’t understand why they can’t risk multi million pound aircraft and public safety for event such as this when the weathe4 isn’t right (totally different to military action). The BBMF crew will feel bad enough as it is, even the well constructed criticism isn’t great considering what the day was about (would people be saying the same if it was remembrance Sunday?). The BMMF pilots are frontline pilots who volunteer giving up their free time away from their families to do this for the enjoyment of the public. The fact the Typhoon turned up even with the weather against it showed their determination to get there. It may have been late but at least it honoured the dambusters in its own way 75 years on. I’m sure when the dust settles and everyone calms down there will be some people feeling quite stupid for the way they reacted and what they have said.
Yes I fully understand what you’re saying, and for the most part agree, and agree it did show determination by the pilot. I have no criticism about them. However, there were official announcements there by the Dam itself and these were also relayed to the Park Rangers, the announcement of the cancellation was not hearsay.Im sure they could handle it better but without official tannoy announcements like at air shows it’s going to be difficult over such a large area with poor phone signal. Social media is always a bad idea to get these things across. It’s a difficult situation when things haven’t gone to plan, if they didn’t message they would have been wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if their social media procedure is now updated to include no tweeting about aircraft in flight, adding to the flight path info ban they already have. Perhaps they should have waited until the typhoon was back on the ground at RAF Coningsby before tweeting it was cancelled. I find with aircraft the best idea is to stand near the serious plane spotters. They have the scanners listening to the actual radio conversation so you know exactly what’s going on!
The social media backlash seems to mainly be in reply to the tweet saying it’s not going to happen. It sounds like he was trying to be helpful and make sure people weren’t standing around in the cold waiting for nothing. One of the worst tweet responses was “Good job it wasn’t you guys defending the country back then otherwise we would all be speaking German right now...”, and all because they took a day off and took their children out of school for it. Others seemed to suggest the RAF couldn’t fly in poor weather and didnt show up to honour the dambusters when the crowds did. It seems some just don’t understand why they can’t risk multi million pound aircraft and public safety for event such as this when the weathe4 isn’t right (totally different to military action). The BBMF crew will feel bad enough as it is, even the well constructed criticism isn’t great considering what the day was about (would people be saying the same if it was remembrance Sunday?). The BMMF pilots are frontline pilots who volunteer giving up their free time away from their families to do this for the enjoyment of the public. The fact the Typhoon turned up even with the weather against it showed their determination to get there. It may have been late but at least it honoured the dambusters in its own way 75 years on. I’m sure when the dust settles and everyone calms down there will be some people feeling quite stupid for the way they reacted and what they have said.
I'm genuinely glad they flew Squadron Leader Johnny Johnson in the Lancy over the dams. Shame we couldn't see it.
I'm genuinely glad they flew Squadron Leader Johnny Johnson in the Lancy over the dams. Shame we couldn't see it.
I don't think anyone on this forum will be angry about that at all, it's a fitting tribute and I'm very glad they managed to carry it out. Any frustration was purely over yesterday's happenings, and not any jealousy about today.Agreed!!
If you are angry that they performed the tribute today with no notice for the sake of Johnny then, in my opinion you need to look at yourself!
I'd have been frustrated yesterday but at the end of the day these things happen. It's important that it happened for Johnny and as a memory to everyone involved.
I don't think anyone on this forum will be angry about that at all, it's a fitting tribute and I'm very glad they managed to carry it out. Any frustration was purely over yesterday's happenings, and not any jealousy about today.