It would have been nice to see a lot more support for the UK Flightsim Show in this thread. What is the incentive for JustFlight to make the effort if it looks like nobody cares?

Chris, I agree. There are a lot of Brits on AvSim. What’s the matter with them. Ideal opportunity to try hardware before you buy. 2018 is when I first saw @tutmeisterand his 3D printed yoke.

This is the reply to my post on the JustFlight forum. Not good news

 

Hi Christopher

Nice to hear from you, liking the bluntness too.

You wouldn't believe how much time we've spent trying our very best to get the UK flight sim show back on the radar, back happening and the hope was to have it back at Cosford. Despite those efforts though its all been to no avail I'm afraid.

Cosford simply isn't in a position to let us host such a show. The Hangar that was at our disposal has undergone many changes in terms of aircraft coming in and out and subsequently the space we'd have in there now simply isn't enough. If anything we needed extra space to help build the show and attract more key exhibitors and then more show attendees, what we have currently is less space meaning it's simply not suitable for our needs. I'm told that situation may change later in the year but given recent events I'm not going to hold my breath there so there's zero chance of us committing to hosting a show, beginning the organisation process, all of which takes a load of time and effort, only for us to have plans scuppered and then have to scrap the event. Not going to happen and it's very much the right decision at this point to not progress that option. Furthermore we're told that after 2024 the Hangar and subsequently the RAF Cosford location is going to be out of commission ad infinitum I'm afraid so that's not great news and probably signals the end to any flight sim events at that location.

We've scoured the country for alternative locations that could offer us what Cosford did but again we've had no luck in that department. Nothing really comes close in terms of ticking all of the right boxes. None of the aviation museums, aviation themed locations or airports offer us what we need and on the terms we'd need them, totally drawn a blank there unfortunately.

We've even taken a look at non-aviation themed exhibition halls but the costs make that completely prohibitive I'm afraid and to be honest that was never really an option we were in favour of.

There's only so much time we can spend on looking at this so we've had to make the decision to shelve further exploratory work for this year and that I'm afraid means we won't be hosting any type of event in 2024, at Cosford or anywhere else.

Really sorry about this, we're well aware of how loved the event was and it was something we enjoyed organising and hosting each year. Never say never for subsequent years of course but for this year it's not going to be a thing.

I would like to think that a few of us here could arrange a meet up somewhere, just to have a chat and talk about flight simulation face to face. The UK Flightsim Show is the only place where I ever got to chat to like minded people about flight simulation, so it has been a lonely five years in that respect My first thought would be the Manchester Airport Viewing Park.....

Edited January 27, 20242 yr by Christopher Low

I’d be interested to know what alternative venues they explored. The National Motorcycle Museum for example. The Concorde hangar at Manchester has held aviation shows including the one by TAS - The Aviation Society. Unless prices have rocketed that could have been considered.

 If you’re looking at somewhere around Manchester airport the village hall in Heald Green might be an option. Depending on bookings it would be convenient as it is very close to the approach. It could hold 30-40 easily and there is wifi.

http://www.healdgreenvillagehall.co.uk

Summer rather than October might be best. 😉

I agree that any meet up would be best arranged for the summer. The question is, do we know which day summer will be this year?