Air Shows magazine asked event

Transcription

1 C ONTINENT A "Virtual Panel" Discussion on International Shows Air Shows magazine asked event organizers outside of North America to summarize their site layout, presentation and music, statics and sponsorship. No matter the time zone, their insight makes for a timely comparison. MODERATED BY: ROGER MOLA PANELISTS: Gilbert Buekenberghs, European Air Show Council, Beringen, Belgium David Henchie, Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England, U.K. Jean-Louis Monnet, Federation Aeronautique Internationale/World Grand-Prix, Neuchatel, Switzerland Eduardo Poma, Ilopango Air Show, El Salvador Buekenberghs has organized the Belgian show for 24 years and recently became chairman of the European Air Show Council, which was formally launched in February of 2000 after several years in development. Membership spans 17 nations and Gilbert spoke on behalf of show organizers on the European Continent. Henchie is head of airfield services at one of the most recognized museums and air show sites in England, running five shows yearly. He spoke on behalf of the Duxford events, as well as for the United Kingdom. Monnet is the former commander and team leader of the French national team, Patrouille de France. He organizes festivals combining performing arts with air displays, as well as the FAI World Grand Prix, an official international aerobatic competition set to music and open to solo pilots and formation teams with a format tailored to fit into an air show. In addition to his European experience, Monnet addressed particular points of Asian shows. Poma is the event organizer for the show at his country s leading military base, but also performs in the show in his Fouga. This year, he also made his U.S. debut as a performer at the Prairie Air Show in Bloomington, Illinois. He has particular insight into performer hospitality, Latin style. 12 AIR SHOWS

2 AL DRIFT AIRShows: What is your country s most popular team, performer or category of display? Is this attraction sponsored? Buekenberghs: In Belgium, we only have one military air show and one civilian air show a year. In Europe, from the military side, we have participants from all over, but generally the national teams are the most popular: the British Royal Air Force Red Arrows, the Frecce Tricolori from Italy, the Patrouille de France, and the Patrouille de Suisse. It s not unusual to see four or five military teams at one show, even for Belgium. Our up and coming teams are the White Albatross team from Slovakia in the L-39, and the Ukrainian Falcons, who fly the MiG 29. Once or twice [each year], the Jordanian Falcons Extra 300 team comes out. The Apache team is two civilian BC-7s from France. The Hungarian team of three Zlin 50s is sponsored by Malev, their national company. Another interesting new attraction is the team sponsored by Breitling, flying a Spitfire and Mustang, based in Duxford, England. Henchie: Air shows are the second most popular sport after football [soccer]. We did a survey of what aircraft fans would most like to see at Duxford. About 12 percent said they would like to see the Spitfire, seven percent each for the Lancaster, the Vulcan which will be airworthy in the next two years and the Red Arrows, which is one of our leading attractions. Another five percent of fans want the Concorde. Four percent for the Hurricane. Mosquitoes at three percent, the B-17 at three percent, military jets like the Harrier at three percent, and Mustangs at two. The Stealth Bomber, only one percent! Monnet: In France, of course, the most popular team is the Patrouille de France, flying eight Alpha Jets. Poma: The Northern Lights have been here since the beginning, probably the most important civilian performers so far. The other is the El Salvadorian Air Force aerobatic team. They make a lot of noise and people love the team aerobatics. Of course, it is not of the level of the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds; they fly five A-37s. Our Stearman pilot Carlos Dardano is also very popular. He is the chief pilot of TACA, the national airline. We combine our leading performers. One year, the Northern Lights flew in formation with a TACA Airbus 320, two Northern Lights on each wingtip and the fifth one upside down over the rear stabilizer. AIRShows: Discuss the typical categories of aircraft at your shows and the order of display. What proportion is static? Buekenberghs: Most shows are set up to climax with a 3Q

3 A lot of organizers try to have a theme demonstration rather than individual performance. team display. We start with lighter aircraft, then move into major teams, then fighters. Static displays are very popular, though most shows don t have as much room as a typical U.S. show, so they are limited. Big military shows try to present aircraft from NATO nations and supplement with non- NATO aircraft, if any are available. Smaller air shows have more statics, for example helicopters from the German air force. The Spitfire and Mustang are popular at every show at which they appear. In France, we also have several interesting warbirds in the Jean Sales warbird collection. He has some of the earliest aircraft like a Bleriot. Of course, you see these private aircraft at other European air shows. A lot of organizers try to have a theme demonstration rather than individual performances. For example, the Battle of Britain flight will contain a wide presentation and fly-by. We also present old U.S. Navy aircraft like Hellcats, Bearcats, Wildcats, which are based in England and are very exciting to European fans. Henchie: Early on, we tended to have dog-and-pony shows of three hours continuous flying with aircraft like the Extra, the Tiger Moth Diamond Formation Team, girls on the wings, etc. We would start with punch, either a historic or current military jet, then get into gentle civilian aerobatics, then into the military jet finale or formation finale. Years later, we decided to use our 50 private aircraft as assets. They are all here on an arrangement, trading hangar space in return for flying at a certain number of display flights per year. For our Battle of Britain show, we ve added the only two Bristol fighters flying in the world, an original and a restoration, and we ve got the only Jenny in the country, and an Avro 504. We ll go into the Battle of France with the early Spitfires and the Hurricane. Every flyable Spitfire in Europe, at least 26, will be here. It is easier to do that here than in the U.S. because of the compactness of Europe. The [Spitfire coming the] furthest is from Dijon, France, about three hours time. We also have five P-51s, a B-17, and a P-47, the only Thunderbolt in Europe. Monnet: Categories of aircraft at a show depend on the importance and the theme of each event. We focus on a twohour program. Firstly, because VIPs, sponsors and their clients will attend for a maximum of two hours, and secondly, this is a good format for a live television broadcast. The 1998 Neuchatel, Switzerland show started at 11 a.m. and finished at five or six p.m., and that s too full a program. Our usual display order is: (part one) opening act, then into (part two) the FAI World Grand Prix of Aviation with a slot of three solo pilots and one civilian formation team. We run three slots like that for a total of 75 minutes. The sports entertainment element is completed with the Grand Prix Award Ceremony of ten minutes. Part three is a ground show with actors or performing artists. This is mixed with parts four and five, a special aircraft or air show act, and a contemporary jet and/or a military formation team, when available, and with musical accompaniment, when they agree. Not having a military team is not a reason for us to cancel our events; we simply try to target a different audience with different products. If we [can] combine the performing arts and aircraft on the ground, then we are interested in static 14 AIR SHOWS

4 displays. Statics are only interesting if they are part of the larger show. Poma: We open with a ceremony with a very high official, say the president of El Salvador, who comes to all of our shows to give a few words. We usually have the team or both teams for a fly-by together. Every year, it s been the air force team, the Northern Lights and myself flying a Fouga. After the formation passes, we have a parachutist come down with the flag and the Northern Lights circle them. The last couple of years, we have had the U.S. Navy Leapfrogs here and we had a Salvadorian civilian come down with our country flag. This year, since the Northern Lights could not come, we had Greg Poe and Jim Leroy do the honors of circling the parachutists. From there, we start with the less powerful airplanes, from a very good Stearman, to things like helicopters. We had Bill Leff in his AT-6 the last couple of years. Somewhere in the middle, we have a concentration of heavyduty [solo] aerobatic pilots like Poe, Leroy or Gene Soucy and me in my Fouga. After that, we might have a competition. This year, we had Poe and Leroy try to outdo each other. Our finale is a mock attack of the Ilopongo Airport. We use the civilian jets as the bad guys and the air force comes and tries to chase us away. In every wave, there are at least two air force planes coming. This year, it was all bad guys and we just bombed the heck out of the airport for 15 minutes. Rich Gibson comes in to do the pyro and he loves it here. Our biggest weakness has been the static side of maybe 30 aircraft, half military and half civilian, general aviation with manufacturers bringing new airplanes for show. In 2001, we will bring more military airplanes, because the U.S. has offered some big iron. Right now, we have a couple of P-51s and Corsairs and we re getting an F-86 and a MiG-15. AIRShows: Talk about your aerobatic box and the minimum standards for safe maneuvers. Buekenberghs: We have a set of military regulations called the STANAG rules, and we have a set of civil rules which are slightly different. Our European Air Show Council is trying to bring the two together because for pilots and organizers it is frustrating [to have two different sets of rules]. You must even apply different rules flying from one country to another within a small region. All pilots participating at air shows must have a display authorization, similar to the U.S. You Not having a military team is not a reason for us to cancel our events; we simply try to target a different audience with different products. also have authorizations for different levels of flight. Display authorizations in France are a different system again, and the details are too complicated to explain here. The other countries usually don t have the resources to organize and maintain a display authorization program. So far in Belgium, only those with a professional license can present an aircraft, but we don t really have standards and, on the civil side, we don t have many display pilots. Some go to the U.K. to pass the tests there. 3Q

5 I tell my colleagues, Barnstorming is alive and well and living in the United States. There s more showmanship to your flying than the U.K. They know that when they ve been authorized there, they can fly in Belgium as well. Henchie: The civil aviation authority s display authorization system has an examination scheme that begins with oral questions and a flight review. Some will get an exemption for minimum height for aerobatics and minimum for fly-bys. Usually, it s 30 feet for flybys and no lower than 300 feet for aerobatics. The next levels might be 100 feet and there are three more categories higher. I tell my colleagues, Barnstorming is alive and well and living in the United States. There s more showmanship to your flying than the U.K. Our 10 feet pilots are doing things like flower bag dropping, or flying under ribbons, but only at 70 to 80 knots. The Extra pilots might display lower than 30 feet. But the museum establishes a long crowd line, and the fans are standing nine to 10 feet deep, so the guys at the back of the crowd won t see you. They may not even see you at 30 feet, so our minimum is for show as well as safety. Once they have completed the maneuver, they can fly down to their minimum display height. Monnet: Energy towards the crowd is not officially allowed at European air shows, but the reality is that everyone does it. Unless you fly directly toward the runway, it is difficult to enforce. I think it s the wrong issue because, for example, it is prohibited to overfly the crowd, but you can fly over the crowd to begin a loop, a flyby, or to join up while climbing. All of those are dangerous if you have a collision. It is more a political responsibility to fly in this authorized way. It has been the same problem for 50 years now. It is difficult to say that safety is always guaranteed by law. Poma: We don t have a box for outside limitations or an altitude limitation. We don t go by U.S. standards. We bring the top-notch performers and we give them a essentially an unlimited waiver. Our aero club is a combination of a flying club and AOPA. We represent general aviation in El Salvador, and have a clubhouse and restaurant, but offer benefits, like inexpensive fuel. But we also lobby for general aviation. The aero club has a board with an organizing committee; I am president of that committee. We are all pilots and most have been performing for some time. Our FAA equivalent, the DGTA, has given us the responsibility of deciding what type of restrictions and rules we have to set for our show, including the waiver for aerobatics. AIRShows: Discuss the crowd distance from runway centerline. Buekenberghs: In Belgium, we use the military rules. For aircraft under 300 knots, the crowd separation distance is 300 meters [1,000 feet] and the minimum altitude is 300 feet. For aircraft above 300 knots and jet teams, the display access is 450 meters [1,500 feet] and a minimum altitude of 500 feet. Hovering helicopters may get no closer than 65 meters [215 feet] from the crowd. Henchie: We have a flight line comprised of all the flying airplanes outside of the public side, the crowd barrier, the taxiway, and on the grass up to the runway. For an air show, they are all lined up by 9:00; then we sanitize the flight line. All the static aircraft are on the public side of the fence. For a fly-past at speeds below 100 knots, you can fly within 50 meters [165 feet] from the crowd. For aerobatics, you must be 100 meters [330 feet] from the crowd. For a fly-by at a speed of 100 knots or more, it s 16 AIR SHOWS

6 Energy towards the crowd is not officially allowed at European air shows, but the reality is that everyone does it. 100 meters [330 feet], and 150 meters [500 feet] for aerobatics. For the majority flying 200 to 300 knots, you need to be 200 meters [660 feet] away. My nearest village is one-half mile off the edge of a runway and I must desperately avoid overflying it during display, or at least not fly below 1,500 feet, or the big airplanes must go about the back of it. The public sometimes writes to the House of Lords or the Parliament to complain. Monnet: Site layout is roughly the same as the U.S. except that we have no ground level permission. Pilots are all subject to the same minimum, but that could change with the new JAR (Joint Aviation Regulations). Minimum altitude in France is 100 meters (300 feet), minimum distance from the crowd is 230 meters [750 feet]. There are also separate considerations for fly-bys, formations, and passes-inreview. Poma: We are not as strict as in the U.S. Once the committee determines that the performers are top notch, we let them do anything. We keep the crowd line 500 feet away for any speed or any aircraft type or maneuver. All performance is over the runway, so we don t think the aircraft speed is an issue. We do have hospitality areas at dead center, about 100 feet behind the fence line so people can go in front, but the tents are a bit elevated to see over the others. AIRShows: How do you use music, video or electronic support, and pyro? Buekenberghs: Music is getting more and more important to aerobatic flying. It s the influence of the aerobatic world cup where it is integrated. For the rest, it might support some warbirds or old aircraft with period music. As far as video is concerned, there are a few places where you see these enormous screens showing the aircraft starting up at the end of the runway, and it is also used by the world aerobatic organizers to show the pilot receiving the award. We don t have a lot of pyro in European shows. It is rather restricted in scope, not by law, but because of the cost of it. Henchie: We used to get the press and the local television stations to televise the event from the ground or put it on the evening news. We then began to sell the rights to produce a video of the air show and that is growing quickly. We have video rights sold for upwards of 10,000. One video company produced a Spitfire Jubilee video that is selling briskly throughout the country. They put cameras on pilot helmets and in cockpits, but we do not transmit live to video screens or the Internet. We used to do quite a lot of music, playing Land of Hope and Glory or the Air Force March. But to do an aerial ballet [with music], we leave ourselves open to letters of complaint, with people saying they would have gone to a pop show if they wanted to hear that much music. We have one lady pilot, Caroline Grace, who flies a Spitfire and has done a sole appearance at night shows just before dusk performing an aerial ballet to music. Pyro is only used at one or two shows. Given the layout of my airfield, to ignite the damn things you have to run wires and I use all of my grass for takeoff. The scramble for the Battle of Britain takeoff will be in sections of three of five to six airplanes each so I can t have set-ups for explosions out there. Monnet: We always have in mind that air shows should be a field for research and development. We must have new products each time. Music, giant screens, pyro, of course, but in a creative way. Music is 18 AIR SHOWS

7 not interesting when it is only a sound in the background. It is not interesting when the soundtrack is changed just because the pilot has changed, especially if none of the pilots were in fact flying synchronized to the music. Giant screens are not interesting if they are just a zoom of what we can see from the ground. Pyro is not interesting if it is only to simulate a bombing. Yes, we definitely support and promote the use all these elements, but pilots should also practice with them in a professional way, otherwise the impact is substantially diluted and the investment is just not worth it. Poma: We use the sound system quite a bit, lots of music in between performances to make it lively. We use three announcers of our own in addition to whoever the performer brings, but most of those performers are U.S. or Canadian and that person would be English speaking so we provide our own or provide translation of what they need read. We found that music makes people less irritable for waits between performers, or mechanical problems. If they don t see someone in the sky in five minutes, people get demanding. Our announcers are professionals from radio or entertainment, but not airmen from the aviation community: those type announcers have been knowledgeable, but very boring. We have decided instead to bring general announcers in and put them through hours of instruction on aerobatic routines and aviation. We use a lot of Latin music: loud and fun, like Sambas and active music, not mellow. AIRShows: What is the general mix of concessions and merchandise offered? Buekenberghs: We look for variety to involve children, but it is hard to find original ideas. It s not too different in concessions from the U.S., but it depends on the country. In the U.K., we have several shows presenting a large fair on a home or outdoor theme. For instance, you can buy garden furniture at the show. Henchie: We have quite a few aviation artists, practically all warbirds, aviation books and pilot clothing. We allow store holders to book sites, but watch carefully what they sell. We don t allow knives or arms of any description, even toy depictions. Some stalls support a particular aircraft. We have a number of charity booths like the Spitfire Society and the Royal Hurricane Society. The site has two all-year-round restaurants run by a concession company. Poma: Food and concessions are all offered exclusively from our sponsors. We look for sponsors that can put in concessions and we respect their territory. We have not had sponsors that compete with each other and we give exclusive rights, say for hot dogs and hamburgers. We need to attract more souvenir sales and aviation products, and avionics. AIRShows: Outline your approach to performer and show sponsorship. What percentage is cash versus in-kind? What benefits do you offer sponsors? Buekenberghs: For most European organizers, it is difficult to get sponsorships. The kind of sponsorship we normally get is allowing companies to buy hospitality suites, but sponsoring an entire event is quite unusual. A poster sponsorship might be possible, or just indirect television publicity. The Apache team has long existed with sponsors. They began with SF-260s (Marchetti) and at that time they were sponsored by Martini, the aperitif, then they changed to the BC-7 and were sponsored by Adecco Temporary Services. Now they We don t go by U.S. standards. We bring the top-notch performers and we give them essentially an unlimited waiver. 20 AIR SHOWS

8 To do an aerial ballet with music, we leave ourselves open to letters of complaint, with people saying they would have gone to a pop show if they wanted to hear that much music. are flying without sponsors. In England, we have several aerobatic aircraft sponsored by car companies, particularly Rover. But not much compared with the U.S., generally. Henchie: Generally, we don t get major sponsorship at our show. We re a national museum and constantly are trying to raise millions of pounds for the next project, so it is difficult to go back to those sponsoring the buildup of a hangar and ask them to step up again for an air show. We don t have chalets, but we do have marquis, a big-top circus tent fully lined and carpeted where people come as guests of the companies. Monnet: We have advertisers, suppliers, technical partners, private donors and sponsors, all at different levels of financial investment, of course, but I am surprised at the low amounts invested here compared with American companies. Our sponsors are not that interested in air shows; it is not their target. We worked with Breitling for six years, then they stopped. They found that air shows were not that interesting, except in America. It is difficult to reach sponsors as a family event and not a high-tech adventure. If we don t offer artistic displays, if we are not a sport, if we are just a Sunday afternoon entertainment, then only the local community will have an interest. What we usually call sponsors are those who pay cash. Our events are small to medium, with a budget of between $300,000 and $1,000,000. The approximate breakdown is as follows: 60 percent cash sponsorship, 15 percent in-kind, 25 percent ticket sales, merchandise and catering. In exchange and depending on their level of investment, sponsors receive national television rights, event naming rights, sponsors trophies, ticket sales, merchandising opportunity, advertising on 50 percent of each aircraft, signage and advertising and onsite, VIP Club and corporate hospitality, and, of course, VIP and media flights. Poma: Toyota and Banco Agricola give us money, as does La Constancia, the largest brewery, Telefonica, the largest telephone company in Spain, Esso (or Exxon), and the second largest supermarket chain in our region, La Dispensa de Don Juan. Esso and La Dispensa de Don Juan both have food concessions. Toyota creates a car display or showroom; the bank and Telefonica sponsor airplanes. Then, we get goods and services from TACA, the Central American airline. They offer all the airplane tickets to performers and crew for free, so we don t pay a cent, and we can get 50 percent off for those in the support services. We get free rooms from the Radisson hotel for the performers and crew. Sponsors who give us money all pay the same amount and we give them special passes, free rides in performer airplanes. We don t publish these sponsor amounts, but all get the same benefits. AIRShows: What are the demographics of your fans? Buekenberghs: We don t have air show demographic studies for Belgium. I know there is an English study, but that may be applied to all for Europe. We use British data because in England we have about 500 air shows. All I can say for sure is that after football, air shows are the second biggest outdoor event. People are prepared to travel more than 100 miles for a show. For your distances, that may not be much, but that is significant for Europe. The majority of people going to the air show make a family excursion and take the full day. We need to have the studies you have, though. And we hope to do that when our organization develops. 3Q

9 All I can say for sure is that [in the U.K.] after football, air shows are the second biggest outdoor event. Henchie: We had a 1996 and a 1998 survey and interviewed 200 out of a crowd of about 20,000. Out of that, we got 82 percent male, up from 76 percent the year before. The U.K. as a whole is about 49 percent male. In terms of age groups, we found that the 18 to 24 year olds were six to eight percent, age group 25 to 44 were 42 to 50 percent, and 45 to 59 were 25 percent. Older fans are 18 percent. The distance that people are willing to travel for an air show can be great despite the large number of shows. Of the people who came to our air show, nine percent came from Cambridge, 11 percent came from within 30 miles, and 29 percent from within 80 miles including London and East Anglia. Then up to 140 miles was 24 percent, 200 to 250 miles was 19 percent. Scotch and Welsh were only one percent. Monnet: All air shows have the same audience: a family outing, a large community entertainment. I believe there is room for a different air show approach especially through sports and performing arts. You can find military air shows with over 200,000 spectators in Europe. There are also huge crowds in the People s Republic of China. The number of spectators is certainly important for suppliers, but it is not always the appropriate reference for sponsors with a specific target audience. We have about the same demographics of the fan as what is developed in the ICAS survey, which is normal because air shows have always been targeting the same type of people all over the world and it may take time before we reach new targets. It is clear that each country will have a different cultural approach, and each organizer will focus on different items, but we have to develop the point of difference. 22 AIR SHOWS

10 Our biggest mistake is to have all air shows looking more or less the same. Poma: We don t study our demographics; we haven t gotten to that level of sophistication. We get a fairly even number of every group and we get a lot of children. Based on an analysis of our ticket sales, it s something like 32 percent children under 12, and babies are free. We get fans all the way from Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua by car and plane, eight or nine hours by car. More than half come by car and the remainder walk or come from public transportation like bus. OPEN FOR BUSINESS. AIRShows: Is there a feature of your show or a typical show in your country that is particularly different than a North American show? YOUR BUSINESS IS AIR SHOWS. SO IS OURS. AIR SHOWS MAGAZINE IS READ BY THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH AND THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU. AIR SHOW PROFESSIONALS COME TO ICAS AND ICAS IS AIR SHOWS MAGAZINE. The best possible exposure to the air show community at the community s most competitive rates. Call now for more information. Advertising Deadlines 4th Quarter 2000 September 1 ICAS 2000 Convention Program September Industry Guide October 16 International Council of Air Shows Buekenberghs: We don t generally have ground vehicles or jet trucks. The only similar item I can think of is the Cri-Cri aircraft landing on the roof of a car; it s a small aircraft with two engines. In England, you have special events on the ground, police dog demonstrations, musical bands. We also have several air forces presenting some flight simulators for children or they can show aircraft for climbing and photographing, and the kind of exercise wall used by skydivers to try and jump. But we ve also tried the exposition of old cars or very special cars like Ferraris or Lamborghinis, and sometimes we exhibit certain military vehicles like old Jeeps or Volkswagens. Henchie: We have more airplanes than we have pilots, so someone might start off with a Tigercat, then move to a Spitfire, a P-51 then later to the Tiger again. A performer in the U.K. might fly up to four shows a weekend. I don t start air displays until 2:00 p.m. and I m aware that might fatigue a pilot unduly; I will not accept more than three slots in a three-hour period. The military participation might depend on a display at up to three events in one day, a maximum of four displays per weekend. If I have a front line RAF aircraft like a Tornado or Harrier, they will bring two Tornadoes, do my display, go off to another display, then come back to me later. Occasionally, I get an airborne arrival and departure. For warbirds, I will often end up sharing assets in a weekend, where they will go off and earn some money, then come back to fulfill their requirement to me. Monnet: Our ground show is where we are trying to differ. The area becomes an outdoor theater and our activities on the ground are choreographed to the aerial activity. Everything is synchronized and pre-planned. The activities on the ground will vary depending on where we travel, but may be on a stage. It could be a ballet performance. At Neuchatel in 1998, we had a group of actors on huge stilts, all dressed with fantastic costumes all in white or all in black. They came out from the lake with a huge vessel where they centered the performance, and when they stopped the vessel, aircraft were beginning their performance. It showed the spirit of the aviator coming out from the lake and announced, We will now celebrate air and space. AIRShows: What can North American air show professionals learn from your operation? What do you see as the strength of North American shows versus the strength of your country s shows? 24 AIR SHOWS

11 Our sponsors are not that interested in air shows; it is not their target. We worked with Breitling for six years, then they stopped. They found that air shows were not that interesting, except in America. MACH 2 MANAGEMENT INC. SKIP LEHMAN President Total Management Services East Coast s Largest Selection of Warbirds for Your Event Air Boss Services Available Buekenberghs: I admire the unity of ICAS; it s like a big family. We haven t reached that yet in Europe, but we are on our way. The aircraft offered at ICAS and the possibilities are bigger in the U.S. I have the impression that the greater variety of top military teams in Europe is our advantage. Henchie: My own knowledge of air shows in the United States is limited to what I saw [at the ICAS Convention] in Nashville. Monnet: I am always searching for a creative team, just like you might in the theater, the opera or the movie industry, because our role should not be restricted to produce a number of aircraft only flying one after another, or simulating wartime acts. Easy to say, not so easy to achieve! We take people locally, from outside of the world of aviation, and they come with a different vision of an air show that we don t have. The philosophy of the air show as theater can be delivered if we involve companies of actors, operettas, musical groups and people from the circus, and stage designers. Poma: I think the most important thing for El Salvador is that we act as if we appreciate what the performers do here. It s the last weekend of January every year. That s the middle of getting bored for U.S. performers and we offer sunshine and 75 to 80 degrees during the day. We consider that this show puts El Salvador on the map and we treat performers in a way that I know they are not treated elsewhere. We wine and dine. We let performers practice for a half-day then make trips to the beach and to see the volcanoes; every night there is a cocktail party or dinner at someone s house. El Salvador got horrible press during its 15-year conflict and this is like someone coming to me and saying, Why don t you go to Beirut for vacation? I hear Beirut is beautiful, but I understand their feelings. But there is no remnant of the war here and we want to market that. Performers immediately call us and ask if they can come back next year, and tend to come earlier and earlier. k Aviation Event and Marketing Specialists 10 East Main Street, Suite 101 Victor, NY Phone Fax mach2@showboss.com 3Q