Jasonrs55 wrote:
GRNDP51 wrote:
bmoran wrote:
The XP-82 would be the decision maker for my family to attend Thunder this year...
I assume Michael realizes this is probably the statement that a ton of people will be making. I also assume there are shows across the country where the XP would be the make or break for their attendance. We will know soon!!
I can appreciate the enthusiasm for the twin mustang, but your average airshow attendee doesn't understand the significance of this airframe. It's a big deal to a small number of us enthusiasts, but means nothing to the bulk revenue (aka people) coming through the gate. Michael and the TOM team are probably more worried about getting good weather.
Not going to disagree with that, but the I can assure you that the "average" attendee that knows ANYTHING about warbirds more than likely knows Corsair and Mustang. Thunder already has both of those covered, but for those that know what a Mustang is, to see the Twin Mustang and realize "hold on this is TWO Mustangs TOGETHER?" I think it would be a big draw.
Warbird Digest's post about Thunder's gathering also got over 2,000 likes on Facebook, which for a warbird group is pretty solid. I would imagine a majority of those people (and more) will guaranteed buy tickets if they're on the fence if the XP-82 gets put on the attendee list.
At this point, the only thing that would draw more "average" spectators is the Blues or Tbirds, which obviously won't happen, and I am glad about that... So why not draw the warbird crowd on the fence if the costs of the XP attending are within reason?
I can agree with weather, and it seems like more than anything the team is trying to get Thunder back on track after the past few years have seemed to fall short of the Thunder crowd expectations. (some things that couldn't be controlled of course)