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Urs Schnyder |
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Urs Schnyder |
Pitts galore
The Cows are instantly recognizable by their paint scheme that resembles that of a cow. This year they had a supporting team of two Extra 300, that did a kind of parallel display.
The Goodyear team this year celebrates its 10th year of being sponsored by Goodyear.
The Cows Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
The Cows Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
The Cows Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supporting the team in two Extras. (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
The Cows Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
The Cows Pitts (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Supporting the team in two Extras. (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Radials and an Angel
A rather unusual three ship formation of the Antonov AN-2 Little Annie flanked by a Stearman and a Jak-18T. After the break each of them flew its own short display.
Known as the Atlas Angel or Turbo Kudu, this aircraft is based on the A4m Kudu that was flown by the South African Air Force. Its piston engine has been replaced by a turbine.
Formation (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Antonov AN-2 Little Annie (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Antonov AN-2 Little Annie (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Boeing Stearman (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Jak-18T. (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Boeing Stearman (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Atlas Turbo Kudu (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Harvards
Eight Harvards in Formation. While this is possible to see also somewhere else, these Harvards all carry the different markings they were wearing while serving in the South African Air Force during its service as a trainer. Unfortunately photos can’t bring across the sound generated by these eight radial engines.
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Overflying the South African Air Force Memorial (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Team Extreme
Their first display in the morning was somehow spoilt by the bad weather as far as taking pictures was concerned. However, by the late afternoon the weather had improved dramatically and the team members Nigel Hopkins, Jason Beamish, Mark Sampson and Mark Hensman could really show off against a blue sky why they are called Team Extreme.
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Silver Falcons
The Silver Falcons did one display in the morning which fell victim to the bad weather and the low cloud base, as they had to restrict the height to keep below cloud.
In the afternoon they had ideal weather with unlimited visibility and nice blue sky.
After the initial flypast of the team they split into the solo pilot and the three ship main formation. As the solo pilot is still very new in the team, having only done two displays, and needs to get enough experience first, he is not yet taking part in the full formation displays. The silver Falcons are of course not a professional team like the Red Arrows or the Blue Angels who don’t do anything else besides display flying. During the week they all work as flying instructors. All the practice for their displays is done during their spare time. Despite this, their display is nice and tight and they stand up well in a comparison with other teams.
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Gripen displays
A fully loaded Gripen and two Hawks gave a demonstration of how an attack sequence would be flown by the aircraft. Flying in battle formation at a suitable distance from each other, they made several passes and mock attacks to the airfield.
The final display of the day was flown in the single seater Gripen by Major Cooper. As the sun had almost set by this time, his Gripen’s colours were transformed into warm brownish hues by the low standing sun.
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Hawk Mk120 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Hawk Mk120 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Hawk Mk120 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
It was a good airshow, despite the disappointing weather in the morning.
I’d like to thank Major Ntshangase for his help with the press accreditation.