Airshow Horror Stories

[Warbird Kid]

i have one... at a small airshow in bristow ok i was working on the flight line and I get a strong smell of avgas. i look over and i see i small pool of gas on the ground. and about 5 feet away from that was A LOCAL SHERIFF with a big cigar in his mouth. i quickly yelled for him to put it out. he then walked over to me and got right up in my face and said, "are you sure about that" he looked like he was about to punch me. so i simply pointed to the pool of gas and said yes. he put it out on the ground and walked back to his trailer. boy he could have really made a mess of the TBM avenger that was right next to the pump.

Never mess with the local "Barney Fife's"...they have way too big of a chip on their shoulder. At least you "nipped it in the bud though"

John

Hate to say it but, as recently as Thunder this past weekend I had some of my feathers ruffled. My father and I were over near the fighter line on Sunday talking to Eric and Mike about there Blue Beast and just casually shooting the bull when I realized the part of the ramp we were on was turning back into a hot ramp via some very "friendly" security personal. I believe they were YAM volunteers but don’t hold me to it. Wearing combat boots, green military pants and a jacket, one very boisterous individual said something along the lines of:

"Alright move it people! Don’t make me say it again! I said clear out! The airshow can’t go on until your all behind the rope! Move it!"

Personally I found it very off-putting and inappropriate. I believe there can be a better way to move people out of an area at an airshow without feeling like cattle.

The other unpleasantry me and my father experienced was when we decided to pay and arm and a leg for a beer at the "Budweiser Experience Area". On the way in a kid probably as old as me was checking IDs. I handed him mine and he paused as he investigated my genuine license. He then remarks in a sarcastic tone:

"Connecticut huh? What brings you all the way out here from Connecticut?" I just look at him with an amazed expression and say “Gee, I dunno maybe I like airplanes?!”

Some people I could just rather deal without.

[p51]

I was at the Porsche museum in Stuttgart two weeks ago and some guy was opening the doors of the display race cars...to take video. Not something I would do. I thought it was pretty bold to be touching the displays at all.

I’ve seen all manners of insane things. Someone once removed one of the waist guns (mount and all) on Sentimental Journey in Atlanta “to get it outside to take photos of it” outside. He almost dropped it getting it out the back door. We got the cops over to explain what he was doing was NOT okay at all. I don’t think he ever understood why we raised such a fuss.
I do WW2 living history events and see all kind of things like this as well. As a Jeep owner (1944 Willys MB), you can imagine the things people have done with my Jeep at shows. People will pile into it (even throwing out the original ammo crates I had in the back) for their own personal seating area at shows, kids are often found sitting behind the wheel, all the while, after having removed all my “do not touch” signs. The worst seem to be the ROTC cadets, kids who play the WW2 video games, and people who pulled the minimum of service time in the military. They all think I’m going to be impressed when they try to start working my weapons (some even go as far as trying to disassemble them, and NEVER with asking permission). To me, that’s like seeing someone fondling my wife. It’s all I can do not to snap them in half when they actually give me attitude when I remind them the “don’t touch” signs apply to them as well. Some have yelled in my face, saying their tax dollars paid for the Jeep so by God, they’ll do whatever they darned well feel with it. I actually had to have MPs remove a couple from my Jeep once for this reason. At first, the MPs thought I was joking, asking, “You mean they didn’t believe you own your own Jeep? What are they, stupid or something?” The MPs weren’t very nice to them in the process either, and they questioned the mental capabilities of the couple of question to even get themselves off the post after the show, which they further suggested be done as soon as possible.
When this stuff first would happen, I used to try to be nice. Now, I just give them my best R Lee Ermey impression and ask what kind of barn they were raised in. I’m going to look like the jerk to them no matter what I say. I reckon that I might as well get some personal satisfaction if that’s the case anyway. Last summer, I had a display of WW2 weapons at an air show:

A Teenaged kid walked up, picked up my bazooka, and started walking off with it. He maybe got ten feet before I was in his path, asking him what kind of suicidal tendencies he must have for doing such a thing. He looked very confused, saying he was just taking it over to his father to show it to him. I asked where his Dad was, and the kid pointed to an area over 200 yards away! Oddly, his mother materialized at that moment and started yelling at me for “stifling” her son’s initiative (seriously, you just can’t make this stuff up). Trying not to laugh, I asked how him walking off with an original, working WW2 rocket launcher worth thousands of dollars (which is was a non-firing repro probably worth about 500, but she didn’t know that) showed any initiative other than wanting a federal firearms theft conviction. That took her aback for a second. I told her if she was lucky, I wouldn’t call over the police officers nearby and press charges that would lead to a felony conviction. To this day, that remains the ONLY time anyone every apologized to me for anything like this, and only because I was one step away from making good on the threat. 99.99999% of people at these shows are kind, respectful people and I enjoy showing things for them. The rest almost make it not worth the while because they’re so infuriating because they never get that they’re in the wrong.

[RyanShort1]

Hate to say it but, as recently as Thunder this past weekend I had some of my feathers ruffled. My father and I were over near the fighter line on Sunday talking to Eric and Mike about there Blue Beast and just casually shooting the bull when I realized the part of the ramp we were on was turning back into a hot ramp via some very "friendly" security personal. I believe they were YAM volunteers but don’t hold me to it. Wearing combat boots, green military pants and a jacket, one very boisterous individual said something along the lines of:

"Alright move it people! Don’t make me say it again! I said clear out! The airshow can’t go on until your all behind the rope! Move it!"

Personally I found it very off-putting and inappropriate. I believe there can be a better way to move people out of an area at an airshow without feeling like cattle.

There are some folks that make me feel the same way as yourself (Some overzealous CAP cadets come to mind - three of them trying to tell me how to operate the fuel truck I'd been running for months, and trying to tell a rather high time pilot how to park his airplane on a T stripe, others not letting me to my plane for the weekend), but then I have to step back and realize I've also been on the other side of the equation a number of times. I don't like being told to move off the hot ramp, but understand how it feels if you're responsible to clear it. I've also had the experience of some bozo trying to sit on the L-5's tailfeathers as well as a few other unpleasant experiences. Our family also used to help out with local cross country running events, and believe me, it seemed like 90% of the people around the course were stupid (crossing in front of athletes still competing, crossing ropes, ignoring VERY clear instructions, etc...) and you get to the point where you feel that in order to get the majority to listen, you almost have to be rude, despite how you might actually prefer to operate (I'm normally more the polite type...).
Oh, and if you want access to the hot ramp? You can always try to find a way to be a crew member or pilot... it's pretty neat to suddenly find yourself on the "other" side.

Ryan

[muddyboots]

I just whip out my dental floss and strangle them, myself.

[Brad]

Hate to say it but, as recently as Thunder this past weekend I had some of my feathers ruffled. My father and I were over near the fighter line on Sunday talking to Eric and Mike about there Blue Beast and just casually shooting the bull when I realized the part of the ramp we were on was turning back into a hot ramp via some very "friendly" security personal. I believe they were YAM volunteers but don’t hold me to it. Wearing combat boots, green military pants and a jacket, one very boisterous individual said something along the lines of:

"Alright move it people! Don’t make me say it again! I said clear out! The airshow can’t go on until your all behind the rope! Move it!"

Personally I found it very off-putting and inappropriate. I believe there can be a better way to move people out of an area at an airshow without feeling like cattle.

The flightline guards at Thunder over Michigan are the biggest reason I don't go out there for the show anymore. I don't know if they are museum volunteers, local cops, rentacops or what but they go way over the line with the way they treat people. Especially at the end of the day when the show is ending. I know you have to get folks off the airport and the volunteers want to go home and all but dang! They take their job way to seriously! Most of the problem I have is the way I see them treat the general public but one year I had a personal confrontation with them.

I was helping a friend (the pilot) put the canopy cover on a P-47 before we left for the night and the guards came over and demanded that we leave. The pilot told him that we were getting ready to do just that but the guy just kept carrying on. Then he noticed that I didn't have a wrist band for the flightline and told me I had to get off the field right then! The pilot told him that he needed me to help him put the cover on the airplane but the guy insisted that I leave. To keep the pilot out of trouble I left the flight line and waited for my friend behind the rope. The guard walked over to me and demanded that I leave, I told him that I was giving the pilot a ride to his rental car and he'd have to throw me out bodily. When we finally headed to my truck, the guard followed us all the way to the gate to make sure we left.

I said the guards were the biggest reason I quit going, but in all fairness to them, the other reason I quit going was the reenactor nonsense. I want to see an airshow, not a bunch of people dressed up. I also don't want to see military vehicles all over the place. I quit going to the Arlington airshow in Washington for that reason. I also don't want to see jet cars, car crushing robots and jet powered outhouses. yes I know you have to bring in the crowd and all the other reasons for doing this stuff but I don't want to see it. All that stuff is cool in it's own right, except the reenacting nonsense, but I don't want to see it at airshows.

Fortunately, other people do want to see that crap so they can continue to do it every year. And I am glad for that.

[ZRX61]

I said the guards were the biggest reason I quit going, but in all fairness to them, the other reason I quit going was the reenactor nonsense. I want to see an airshow, not a bunch of people dressed up. I also don't want to see military vehicles all over the place. I quit going to the Arlington airshow in Washington for that reason. I also don't want to see jet cars, car crushing robots and jet powered outhouses. yes I know you have to bring in the crowd and all the other reasons for doing this stuff but I don't want to see it. All that stuff is cool in it's own right, except the reenacting nonsense, but I don't want to see it at airshows.

YAY!! I whole heartedly concur. Especially when the people playing dress up start messing with the aircraft "to make it look more realistic".

On another note: I had some doofus harp on & on & on & on about how the F7F undercart should be "off white" & not the same blue as the rest of the aircraft. Not just a quick mention, but about a 10 minute frigging lecture.
He finally shut up when I sugested he buy his own darn aircraft & then he could paint it any bloody color he wanted.

[RandolphB]

A month or so ago my wife and I went to the Hemet-Ryan Airshow and had the worst time of our airshow lives. ..

Traffic control didn't exist. Cops were standing in the middle of the road talking and ignoring traffic as we tried to figure out where to park....so that started the day badly.

Within two minutes of getting inside the airport, we had a confrontation with a early 20's gang-banger type whose kids were disrupting the portilet line. I saw my wife's eyes flair in anger as we walked away. Of course, his crack addict wife (?)was pulling out her ciggies to get started on the day, just behind an aircraft reeking of fuel.

The booths along the edges had nothing to do at all with aviation. My wife says to me, "If I wanted to buy a freakin' glass door I'd go to a home show..not an AIRSHOW." It looked more like a county fair than an airshow. That's when I noticed that none of the display aircraft were roped off from the public....and...

A recently landed PT-22 sat crackling as it cooled down. I was just in front of it when a guy stuck his head past the prop to poke at the cowling for some reason...and his buddy gave the prop a good yank to make sure his buddy didn't hit his head. I recoiled in shock and moved quickly away. My wife realized the dynamics and shook her head in increasing disgust.

Just moments later we walked in front of another aircraft (I don't even remember what it was, but it had a nice radial on the front...might have been a Cessna 195?) and as I started to veiw it a guy walks in front of me, grabs the prop and starts to pull it through. Before I could stop I blurted out for him to stop, as he could get killed by doing that. He turned and looked at me in disbelief. ..but the priceless part was my wife grabbing my hand, darn near dislocating my shoulder as she yanked me away and saying, " We are leaving NOW, before some individual of questionable judgement breaks something or gets killed and WE get blamed for it!!!".

While I was bummed at leaving early, I had to admit my wife was right, and I spent weeks laughing everytime I remembered what she said and how the idiot looked at us as we made a beeline for the exit....and I hope to never, ever go to the city of Hemet again in this lifetime.

[p51]

the other reason I quit going was the reenactor nonsense. I want to see an airshow, not a bunch of people dressed up. I also don't want to see military vehicles all over the place. I quit going to the Arlington airshow in Washington for that reason.

I for one am quite glad you don’t get to the make that call, then. The “reenactor nonsense” brings people in, and if there are WW2 planes about, the public loves seeing them with the vehicles. Many people comment to groups like ours that they like the overall experience if it’s all a warbird event. I frankly don’t care much for, say, postwar aerobatic planes or r/c aircraft at a show that’s billed as a “warbird” show. But their presence doesn’t offend me. I don’t refuse to attend air shows just because they have some things I’m not into. Do yourself a favor and never go to the Reading air show then…

[CrewDawg]

My scariest moments were at the Barksdale AFB air show back in the late '80's when I was manning the B-52G on display and some individual of questionable judgement decided to light up a cigarette with one hand while resting his other hand in the wing fuel surge tank NACA scoop that was pouring JP-4 fumes out of it in the hot Louisiana sun. My second scaries moment was, I think at the same air show where a CAF marshaller turned thier back on a TBM (if my memory serves me right) that was jockying the tail around into a tight parking spot. I thought I was about to see a person die.

[Merlin_FAC]

You know what scares me about airshows? The fact that this forum is getting filled with the phrase "individual of questionable judgement" because someone thinks the word "m o r o n" is too blue to let be seen in print. There's plenty of real 4-letter words to replace, but sheesh...

[GARY HILTON]

Here's a good four letter word.....DORK....I have seen some at airshows.

[the330thbg]

"Connecticut huh? What brings you all the way out here from Connecticut?" I just look at him with an amazed expression and say “Gee, I dunno maybe I like airplanes?!”

Some people I could just rather deal without.

Sounds to me he was just curious as to where you were from.

You have some VERY sensitive feathers!

[Warbird Kid]

"Connecticut huh? What brings you all the way out here from Connecticut?" I just look at him with an amazed expression and say “Gee, I dunno maybe I like airplanes?!”

Some people I could just rather deal without.

Sounds to me he was just curious as to where you were from.

You have some VERY sensitive feathers!

Perhaps. Or maybe its the fact that I've fallen out of the loop of what "Big Shows" are like. Seems the larger you get, the more friendly atmosphere you loose. I had the chance to experience Thunder one week after Geneseo this year. Having that kind of back to back perspective made me realize the good and bad qualities of both. One won out in my opinion.

[the330thbg]

Zactly.

The larger you get equates to more money spent throwing it together and that means getting in the sponsors..,

That equates to having companies pay for tent space to sell you a screen door.

All these fees now equate to the opportunity to now lower your entry price for bodies.., which equates to TRASH flowing in by the hundreds.

Smaller the better. I am in agreement!

[tigercat200]

I announced airshows for ten years and saw way too much nonsense. People are stupid, not ignorant, stupid. You always have to watch for the fabric thumpers, leaners, smokers, control surface flippers, prop spinners, and the ones who want to put little Johnny in the cockpit for a picture.

I'm doing this from dim memory but, many years ago a guy was walking down the display line at a flyin flipping props. Just as another fellow was going over to tell him to stop the first guy got one with a hot mag and, you guessed it, the prop kicked and, I think, cut his arm off or at least tore him up badly. He took off running and the second guy had to tackle him and use his belt as a tourniquet until medical help got there. I seem to recall that it was at the EAA flyin but, I don't remember if it was Rockford or Oshkosh in the early days. Near as I can figure he got what he deserved but, he probably made some money on the deal.