Living in the UK? no plans for October 3rd? then maybe fancy a trip to Shoreham Airport to meet the folks of Flight1, aka (warning! very long blah blah follows): Â ‘one of the world’s leading developers and publishers of PC-based flight simulation software with standalone training packages for glass cockpit systems such as the Avidyne Entegra series, plus a wide range of aircraft and scenery enhancements for Microsoft’s multi-million selling Flight Simulator.’ (you were warned!).
They (that is Flight1 Europe) are putting together their first ‘Open Day’ event with activities such as talk, lectures, presentations, guided tours and a virtual fly-in! there is a press release issued today that you can read after the break.
Looks like a fun day, you can register for it at their dedicated page here: CLICK.
Flight1 Open Day
Saturday, October 3rd at Shoreham Airport
When we announced our inaugural Open Day we had no idea the event would prove so popular — at the time of writing we have nearly 400 guests registered and the list continues to grow daily.
We’re working with Shoreham Airport to ensure there is room for everyone and there is plenty to see and do on the day — from our own simulation products to lectures and real aviation activities.
The Open Day web page (http://www.flight1.com/openday/) has been updated — and we invite you to take a few minutes to read about the latest news and activities which are highlighted there. In particular:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Discounted landing fees
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Talks and lectures
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â VATSIM and the Virtual Fly-In
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Official Airport Tour
We welcome any thoughts or suggestions you have and of course are happy to answer any queries or questions you might have. Just email us at europe@flight1.com
we will be in touch again in a couple of weeks as more activities are firmed up.
With best wishes,
The Flight1 Crew
0 Responses
How many of those people have signed up without researching how exactly they’ll get there and how much it will cost, I wonder?
Shoreham is not on the Motorway network, it doesn’t have a rail link to the vast majority of the country without going through London and the nearest airport if you don’t happen to own a GA aircraft is Gatwick, which is itself not a short train/bus/taxi journey away. Oh, and National Rail reports significant engineering work on London Underground that weekend as well. The “free” tag doesn’t mean too much when you’re paying £100 for a return ticket, well over that for fuel for a car and also potentially needing a hotel on top…
It really isn’t a very practical place to host an event that you’re hoping will draw in people from around the country, possibly Europe, folks! 🙁
The goal was not to get people from all over Europe to come, but of course they are welcome, even from Australia. A fair number of folks are showing up from the Southern UK.
The registrations so far have been excellent. There is a very large simmer base from northern London on down. And it is what is is, basically an Open Day (however the activities seem to have expanded). It was not meant to be a big tradeshow. Shoreham basically Flight1 Europe’s home airport (the office is in Brighton).
Steve
I understand why it’s there, Steve – my comment was more aimed at the fact that we’ve seen UK show after UK show fail because of lack of numbers attending. The more events happen, the further people have to travel to get to them, the less incentive there is to go and you end up with the situation we have now, where none of the shows are economically viable to run. Every “major” show planned for this year has failed so far before it even happened (most of them quite predictably, but it still leaves us with a total of zero).
The UK does not have a large user base for flight simulation. We can support one, maybe two shows a year at most and they need to be relatively central or relatively easy to get to such as in London, the Midlands or somewhere similar with very good transport links.
While I wish the F1 UK team the best and hope they have a good day, I don’t think events like this are helping the situation regarding keeping a viable show going in this country at all.
Shoreham is a major GA attraction, holds a large airshow every year, is close to not one but THREE international airports not counting itself, and has its own customs and immigration procedures as well as a large local commercial and industrial base that covers many transportation aspects. It also has one of the strongest user bases for flight simulation in the UK, shame you missed it.
Ian, have you not thought about FLYING to the place..? I probably will, work schedule and weather permitting. If not, try a boat. You can walk to the airfield from the harbour.
Failing that a bicycle is a perfectly logical means of transportation from the motorway network (actually the A27 is usually less crowded than most of the motorway network, at least in the Shoreham area), and who says that a place need be on a motorway network to be accessible..?
It’s a bloody airfield, Ian. The only whining comes from police helicopters turbines and the pig-ignorant neighbours who think a working airfield that predates their house purchase by decades somehow invades their space, when the opposite is true…
Tell you what, Simon… I did think about flying there… Right up to working out the £400+ it would cost me to do so, as I would have to hire an aircraft to do so at >£150 an hour, plus landing fees. Needless to say, I didn’t bother planning the route.
I did the research before I posted. Something that seems to elude your capabilities judging by this and your previous whines around the internet. As does reading what people actually wrote elude you, as what I wrote is that it is not practical for most of the population of the British Isles to get to. Possible, but not practical.
For your information, to save you doing the research you eschew, Gatwick is still the closest commercial airport, as I said, at a little over 20 miles away. That’s an expensive taxi ride in the South East. Southampton is about 50 miles away, Lydd even further. Those are the three closest airports served by commercial operators. I know full well where the railway is – we just did a load of work down there, which also means that I know how hard it is to actually get there on the train, or by car. Several people from our office had to do it for commissionings.
Next time you visit the real world, rather than your own dream one, you might post something useful. Until then, take your shoe out of your mouth again – it must be a nightmare getting the leather out from between your teeth, the amount of time you spend with your foot in there.
Unlike you, I fly there, spent many years driving and riding the roads of the area, and if you take but three of your friends in the plane you get an unforgettable experience for them, as well as cost-effective flying for yourself. Cheaper than the four of you taking the train, if truth be told.
By the way, Lydd isn’t the next closest international airport. But hey! Why would I want to interrupt your condemnation of my own inexactitude… except to say trains – FAST ones – run from London to Gatwick to Brighton, and from there its’a short ride to Shoreham via one of the most reliable train services in England. There’s also a bus stop and I am told that cycling is also enjoyable in the area.
No-one actually cares you want a show in `Aberystwyth`, or `Aberdeen` or whatever hovel you call `home`. If its that important to you, organise your own show in your back garden and we will all come – well, if its right next to the motorway, trains call fifteen times an hour and we don’t have to get wet walking to the door.
The reason all the other shows have failed has NOTHING to do with location. Frankly, they were just s**t shows..! (And this is not, as Steve has reminded you, a `show`). That, and they had conspicuously failed to grasp the realities of of the demographics of the UK consumer base. As, it seems, have you…
Oh Simon. You still can’t read can you? I’m sorry. I’ll explain again. I doubt it will penetrate your aura of self-importance and self-opinion however, so I won’t bother trying again. I’ll let you have your all important last word.
So.
Most of the population don’t live in the South East. Unlike you, they don’t find £100 an acceptable price to pay solely for travel to an event, when there will supposedly be another one closer to them. Or that’s the theory. What actually happens is that all of the events draw about 10% of the UK flight sim user base and they all lose – or at least don’t make much – money.
Like their customers, FS developers and publishers have a fixed budget for shows/displays/parties/open days/trips to the pub. Most are small organisations which can’t afford to travel around the entire country to multiple shows. So they don’t, either.
If people travel to one event, whether it be a single company get together and have fun like this one, or whether it be a trade show or whatever else someone comes up with, they are unlikely to travel to more without very good reason. The shows that you call “s**t” – which, by the way, is a very childish way to put your thoughts – were that way for a reason. Lack of attendance by developers and publishers resulting in the customers not being impressed and not going back. Not one, but four have failed and are not taking place this year that I know of (possibly more) – all because of lack of attendees. My point is made by the facts while you witter about semantics.
Where I live is irrelevant. If you held a show in my back garden a) you’d have to fight the berberis (bad move – it’s sharp) and b) parking would be a major problem. Although transport links aren’t too bad here, we have a railway line that runs at the same speed as your much vaunted Gatwick line (I do know how fast that runs, you realise… It isn’t as impressive as you make out) and we have a motorway junction on a major UK artery – not an A road that runs into one particular corner of the country, away from everyone else.
So. If everyone else’s show is so bad and you have a perfect grasp of the FS demographics, what are your suggestions as to how to make one or more viable FS events in the British Isles? (Why limit it to the mainland?)
Just to clarify for people, we are NOT putting on a flight sim show. It is an Open Day. The Open Day page explains exactly what it is planned.
This is an event where people can come and chat to us about flight simulation, see our products, see aircraft, talk to pilots and thus Shoreham is a logical place as our ‘home’ airfield. The airfield and the companies on it are supporting what we are doing in all sorts of ways: which is not something we would find if we held it in London, or a hotel or souless exhibition venue somewhere else. Also where the costs would make it prohibitive to put on.
Importantly it is a great opportunity for real aviation and simulation to mix and learn from each other in an informal atmosphere and we currently have over 400 people registered to attend, which I have found quite staggering and am very touched by the support and enthusiam in all honesty.
The aspect about travel cost applies wherever you host an event sadly – and we are not forcing people to come if they don’t want to, obviously. If we held it in Birmingham it would still cost £100 to visit from the south east. This is the way of things I guess.
Mungo
Flight1 Europe
Well I am looking forward to the event and have arranged to meet up with friends from 100’s of miles away staying overnight in order to visit the show.
I have to re-book a much anticipated trial flying lesson to attend, with what’s on offer it looks worth it.
More power to your elbow Flight1 and thanks for keeping our hobby alive!
Cheers, see you there
/Joe
Well, it appears that the point I was trying to make has been lost in semantics. I never said it was a show, only that the UK cannot support multiple other events in addition to a viable show.
I hope that those able to attend enjoy the event.