Riat 2012

mike.grayizzle said:
Took the plunge purchased grand stand tickets for riat this year. If anyone has gone to the previous years do you have any advice on how to maximise the experience?
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Aim to arrive early! The traffic can get ridiculous.

If you happen to be walking past the loos use them. There's normally only 3 sets of public ones with a huge distance between each set.

Try and find out the flying programme in advance or fork out for a programme. There's nothing worse than missing a star item cos you're in the wrong place.
 
Am getting a train into Swindon at 7.30am and then hopefully jump on a shuttle bus.

My dad is getting on a little so we will need to be aware hence I got grandstand tickets as apparently they have exclusive toilets. Think I will also buy the program as it doesn't make sense to fork out for train and tickets and then try and save on the program, but presumably it's gonna be in excess of £20?!
 
Yes, take an umbrella and wellingtons. Think Glastonbury without drugs but with machine guns. :-)

Train and bus is definitely the way to get there, and you're doing the right thing by being there as early as possible. It's only a short walk down to the bus station from the train.

The grandstand can be a bit crowded (no elbow room) if the weather's good, and a bit exposed if it's bad, but if you're lucky a cargo jet parked behind you will fire up its engines for a while to warm you up. And the separate toilets are definitely a plus.

The biggest problem with RIAT is that it's huge and it can be hard to tear yourself away from the flying to explore... you're bound to miss something. So when I was still going my attitude was always to keep my eyes on the sky and forget the statics & stands unless rain stopped play for a while.
 
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rpstewart said:
Aim to arrive early! The traffic can get ridiculous.
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thisthisthis. Did not enjoy sitting in traffic for about 3 hours while f15, f18's etc flew over!! Missed the thunderbirds display aswell.:( Just managed to catch the B1 do a low fast fly by while walking through the car park, it set off lots of car alarms :p
 
Things I took to make it easier and more enjoyable:
Motorbike (breeze past the queues)
Folding chair
Airband radio (very interesting and gives another slant to the event)
Bag 'o snacks
Water
Suncream
Sunglasses
Waterproofs
Cash (Including a donation for XH558!)
Earplugs (for tuning out the Brietling commentary)
 
Im glad Im just on reserve party for working this. Couldnt be bothered with the hassle :)
 
Send my love to the B2 spirit please (cant make it, would kill to see that plane in flight)
 
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