[XX]

The landing fee for Festival of Speed has been around the £250 mark for a 4 seat aircraft for the past few years but generally if you were just going in to the Moving Motor Show on the Thursday, there was a reduced rate of £65. That doesn't include an entry ticket but does get you ferried from the aircraft in to the event, and back. I think the previously free morning and afternoon refreshments on arrival/departure have also been charged for, during the last couple of years.

I just phoned to book a slot for the Thursday and was told the fee is now £250 for all days.

I guess that's on the basis they are promising more Thursday content i.e. one can watch (rather than drive) the latest road cars go up the hill climb course. Oh, and there's mention of "race action" but no detail.

Looks like I'd better find myself some landing-fee-share passengers ....

[ChampChump]

The only way for us paupers to go is to be part of something there


Gratuitous bump lest other petrolheads missed this.

[Boxkite]

Or get a job serving drinks.....

[Flyingfemme]

Hmmmph. Two seats now costs the same as four........and it looks like no punters get to go up the hill. May just not bother this year.

[XX]

We didn't get to go up the hill last year, either. I think the a**e who stuck the little Citroen in the straw bales on the bottom corner put paid to that. But hey, at least the landing fee was "only" £65!

[johnm]

When I went by air the landing fee was standard and they threw in a mini bus to the event...…

I haven't been since they realised there was a charging opportunity

[Chris Martyr]

Hi XX,
Firstly , I fully understand your criticism . Having attended the FoS once [in 2002] but have attended the Revival most years . It has become increasingly more noticeable in recent years that Charlie March and his team have become just a bit too 'commercially orientated'.
One of things I have often wondered though ; doesn't it make the visit slightly more stressful if you fly in ?
Especially if the wx conditions are those that require 'a bit of interpretation'. It would be awful to get there without problems and then be hampered by wx for the return [don't even mention accommodation there either ]
I only attend the Revival these days and the queuing to get in is pretty minimal if you arrive at 08:00am. Coming out is also quite slick these days too . Mind you , if you're flying out , there are normally Spitfires and P51's doing demo's which will hamper you further.

But I've found the perfect cure for the gimmicky , over-priced Goodwood FoS . I'm driving my old Triumph up to the Chateau Impney hill-climb in a couple of weeks time . Tickets cost a fraction of the FoS and hopefully not EVERYONE will be dressed like clones out of Moss Bros's front window ..

[Martin.g]

If you want to see a proper Hillclimb, go to Shelsley Walsh on Aug 11/12 for a round of the British Hillclimb Championship. Just a bit further west than Chateaux Impney in the Teme valley Worcs. 150mph up a country lane is impressive to watch.
www.shelsleywalsh.com

[Mr Bags]

I had thought that if you land in a vintage (pre 1966?) aircraft, then the landing fees were reduced, but the Goodwood website does not seem mention this anymore. Mind you, if you arrive by a S92 Sikorsky helicopter, the landing fees are an eye-watering £1,580

For the budget conscious, Popham offers a £6 landing fee and free access to watch the traffic whizz past on the A303.

[flybymike]

Vintage aircraft free landings no longer available I understand.

[Chris Martyr]

Martin.g.................

A million apologies for the thread drift, but Shelsley has always been one of those scratches that has also needed itching .
For me , it's the cars rather than the speed and if I get to see Basil Davenport's GN Spider or the Bolster's Bloody-Mary , then I will leave as a happy person .

Sorry XX .........But you started all this......

[ChampChump]

Would it be possible to go into Bognor and get a taxi?

[XX]

The weather has been iffy a few times, but nothing too challenging. I usually get an early slot.

I have driven in too on occasion, very early for Revival, and it wasn't too bad. Certainly not stressful. Got stuck in the mud for this year's Classic but that was March, when the ground is bound to be soggy. Driving there just isn't so much fun (well not until I get the next car anyway ).

CC, it's the last 3 or 4 miles which are the issue, so Bognor and taxi doesn't cut it.

Anyway, sadly I have enough ego to get a kick out of telling fellow guests that no, I didn't get stuck in traffic for hours, because I flew in. Maybe not £250 worth this year, though ...

What's that joke - "How do you know there's a pilot in the room?" "Because (s)he'll tell you!"

[tomshep]

Last time I paid reverent homage to Bloody Mary, she was lying unnoticed by the great unwashed in a corner in Beaulieu.
Is she now out in the open again and gainfully employed?
If so that is something to place firmly on the Must See list.

[Chris Martyr]

Apologies again for thread drift .
But Tom , the BM was liberated from Beaulieu several years ago and brought back to competitions with the full blessing of John Bolsters widow , Rosemary .

There is plenty of stuff on the 'net about this amazing car and I know for a fact that BM has graced Shelsley's slopes several times in the last few years , as she did pre-war.

Will she be at the FoS ?...........I doubt it . Neither will I .... ,,by road or by air.

I guess this is not really a thread drift is it . XX can save 250 quid by flying to somewhere else interesting [like the Deanland International Fly-In] and then satisfy his/her craving for motorsport by going to one of the slightly more cultural and genteel venues suggested here .

AAaaaahh,,,,,,,,,,the positive powers of forums.