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Text: |
Michael E. Fader |
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Pictures: |
Urs Schnyder & Michael E. Fader |
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Static exhibition
The static exhibition at La Ferté-Alais features numerous aircraft that are not included in the flying display, as this would otherwise be too extensive.
Unfortunately, this also includes some very rare or virtually never-flown examples, such as the Sopwith 1½ Strutter. On the other hand, however, it is equally impressive to see which historic aircraft are still preserved and on display there.
Daher Kodiak 900 (N900KX) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron G.III (F-AZMB) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Fokker D.VII (F-AZLM) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Nord 1002 Pingouin II F-WZRR(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide (F-AZCA) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Morane-Saulnier MS-138 (F-AZAJ) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Bristol F2B Fighter (F-AZBF) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 (D-FEML) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Stinson Reliant (F-GPJS) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Polikarpov PO-2, (F-AZDB) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Douglas DC-3
Two aircraft from the Douglas family flew at La Ferté-Alais under the designation ‘DC-3’: the Douglas C-47B Skytrain (F-AZOX), which has been a regular participant at the air show for many years, and the Douglas C-53D Skytrooper (F-HVED).
Both aircraft are based on the same basic design, but differ in their original military equipment and configuration. The C-53 Skytrooper was optimised more specifically for troop transport. It has no reinforced cargo doors, nor any equipment for transporting heavy cargo or drop rollers. Instead, the interior was adapted for the rapid transport of soldiers, with fixed rows of seats and without many of the reinforcements typical of the C-47.
The F-HVED was also used in this configuration, as seven paratroopers from the Armée de Terre jumped from a height of around 2,000 metres above the airfield. These paratroopers were fully equipped and armed.
Douglas C-47B Skytrain (F-AZOX) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Douglas C-47B Skytrain (F-AZOX) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Douglas C-47B Skytrain (F-AZOX) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Douglas C-47B Skytrain (F-AZOX) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Douglas C-53D Skytrooper (F-HVED) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Douglas C-53D Skytrooper (F-HVED) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Douglas C-53D Skytrooper (F-HVED) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Douglas Skytrooper and Skytrain (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Douglas Skytrooper and Skytrain (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Douglas Skytrooper and Skytrain (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Wingwalker
Danielle and Emiliano Del Buono of 46 Aviation SA, based in Sion, Switzerland, are no strangers to La Ferté-Alais and have visited on several occasions.
Danielle Del Buono, originally from England, dreamed of becoming a wingwalker even as a child. She has now been performing professionally for 14 years and has been touring with Emiliano Del Buono for the past eleven years. With over 1,000 performances under her belt, she is undoubtedly one of the most experienced wingwalkers in Europe, if not the world.
She is one of the few who practise genuine wingwalking in the traditional sense: not only does she stand on the upper wing, secured to a frame, but she also moves between the wings, climbs from the upper to the lower wing and assumes various positions. This includes sitting on the leading edge of the wing or hanging from the lower wing, hooked only by her feet onto a crossbar of the struts. In doing so, she interprets the spectacular art of wingwalking in a style strongly reminiscent of the early 1920s.
A standard Stearman is usually fitted with an engine producing around 220 hp. Emiliano Del Buono’s N450D, however, is powered by a high-performance 450 hp Pratt & Whitney engine to compensate for the extra drag Danielle creates during her displays. Despite her petite stature, she acts somewhat like an air brake when moving from the cockpit to the wing. The aircraft is also fitted with four ailerons instead of the usual two, which significantly improves the roll rate. The modification is complemented by a modified fuel and oil system that enables aerobatics and negative G manoeuvres.
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron-Renault racer / Rafale
The French Renault Group presented an impressive line-up of experimental vehicles: the 40 CV (1926), the Nervasport (1934), the Tank Riffard (1956) and the Étoile Filante (1956).
The Caudron-Renault Rafale C.460 was also showcased in the air. This racing aircraft became famous for the speed records set by pilot Hélène Boucher. In 1936, the aircraft was flown to the USA to take part in the National Air Races, where it won both the Greve Trophy and the Thompson Trophy.
The Caudron-Renault Rafale C.460 made its final flypast accompanied by a Dassault Rafale C, which then performed its solo display.
Renault 40 CV (1926),(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Renault Nervasport (1934) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Renault Tank Riffard (1956) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Renault Étoile Filante (1956) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Renault Rafale (2026) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron C-109 ( F-AHFE)(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron C-270 Luciole (F-AZVO) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron C-270 Luciole (F-AZVO) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Caudron C-109 ( F-AHFE) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Caudron C-109 ( F-AHFE)(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron Renault Rafale C.460 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron Renault Rafale C.460 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Caudron Renault Rafale C.460 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Caudron Renault Rafale C.460 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Caudron Renault Rafale C.460 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Caudron Renault Rafale C.460 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dassault Rafale & Caudron (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Dassault Rafale & Caudron (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dassault Rafale (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dassault Rafale (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dassault Rafale (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dassault Rafale (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dassault Rafale (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Dassault Rafale (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dassault Rafale (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
The Luftwaffe
For years, the Second World War Luftwaffe has been represented at La Ferté-Alais by three aircraft: the Junkers Ju 52/3m (F-AZJU), the Morane-Saulnier MS.505 Criquet (F-AZRA) – representing the Fieseler Fi 156 ‘Storch’, and the Pilatus P-2-06 (F-AZCE), which most closely resembles the Arado Ar 96. It was therefore all the more pleasing to see an original German aircraft in the line-up this year.
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 (D-FEML), which had already been announced on several occasions, was eagerly awaited. The aircraft was built in 1939 at Erla Maschinenwerke in Leipzig. On 24 January 1942, it was shot down in aerial combat with Soviet Hurricanes whilst on duty with JG 5 ‘Eismeer’. The pilot survived the subsequent belly landing.
In 1990, the wreck was salvaged and sold to Mr Eberhard Thiesen. This was followed by an extremely labour-intensive and faithful restoration, carried out over a period of some 32 years by Dirk Bende and his team at MotoBende.
The engine is a Daimler-Benz DB.601N with 1,175 hp – the only engine of this type still in operation anywhere in the world. The second maiden flight took place on 19 June 2023 in Hangelar, near Sankt Augustin. The aircraft is usually flown by the British pilot Charlie Brown.
Junker Ju-52/3m (F-AZJU) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Junker Ju-52/3m (F-AZJU) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Morane-Saulnier MS.505 Criquet (F-AZRA) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Pilatus P-2-06 (F-AZCE)(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Pilatus P-2-06 (F-AZCE) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus P-2-06 (F-AZCE) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus P-2-06 (F-AZCE)(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Morane-Saulnier MS.505 Criquet (F-AZRA) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Morane-Saulnier MS.505 Criquet (F-AZRA) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Messerschmitt Bf 109 & Pilot Charlie Brown (D-FEML) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 (D-FEML) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Junker Ju-52/3m & Morane-Saulnier MS.505 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Junker Ju-52/3m & Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Junker Ju-52/3m & Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 (D-FEML) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 (D-FEML) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 (D-FEML) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 (D-FEML) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Supermarine Spitfire & Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Morane, Spiftire & Anson
Allied aircraft during the Second World War were represented by a wide variety of models.
For the period of the Battle of France, the aircraft depicted was the Morane-Saulnier MS-406. However, it was not a model built in France but a D-3801. The D-3801 is a Swiss development of the MS-406. Switzerland adopted the basic design but adapted it to its own requirements. These included, in particular, a more powerful engine (approx. 1,050 hp Hispano-Suiza), a fixed radiator, and modifications to the exhaust system, structure and equipment. As a result, the D-3801 was noticeably more powerful and robust than the original French variants. Today, only the EKW D-3801 (HB-RCF) remains in flight.
EKW D-3801"Morane" (HB-RCF) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
EKW D-3801"Morane" (HB-RCF) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
EKW D-3801"Morane" (HB-RCF) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
EKW D-3801"Morane" (HB-RCF) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
EKW D-3801"Morane" (HB-RCF) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
The Battle of Britain was represented by the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX with the registration G-CGZU. The aircraft was built in 1943 at the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory and delivered to the Royal Air Force in the same year. It served in the Mediterranean and was deployed with squadrons in Malta and Sicily, amongst other places. Later, it also flew with a ‘Free French’ unit within the RAF, before being transferred to South Africa in 1948 after the war. It was eventually decommissioned there. After decades in various collections and storage facilities, the aircraft was recovered in the 1990s and eventually painstakingly restored in the UK over many years.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (G-CGZU) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (G-CGZU) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (G-CGZU) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (G-CGZU) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (G-CGZU) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
The editors were particularly delighted with the Avro 652A Anson Mk.I K6183. The Anson is regarded as one of the most important training and instruction aircraft in the British Commonwealth. More than 11,000 examples of all variants were built, making it one of the most widely produced British aircraft of its time.
Historical background to the
K6183 identity
The aircraft flown today, bearing the K6183 markings (MH120 / OO-ANS),
represents an Anson identified with an aircraft that was lost as early
as 1939 – one of the first RAF aircraft to be lost during the Second
World War (shot down over the North Sea). This historical identity is
deliberately showcased at airshows.
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Avro 652A Anson Mk.I (OO-ANS) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Les Casques Rouges
The aerobatic team “Les Casques Rouges” – meaning “the red helmets” – consists of three pilots who put on an impressive display in Socata TB-30 Epsilon trainers. The team is not to be confused with “Team Epsilon” from Montpellier.
The aircraft are painted in the standard Armée de l’Air livery, although one of the aircraft features a special livery of the former French aerobatic team “Cartouche Doré”. Two of the aircraft used belong to Perrichon Aéro in Brétigny-sur-Orge.
The aircraft involved were the Socata TB-30 Epsilon (F-HKYL), (F-HKYN) and (F-AYYD).
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Socata TB-30 Epsilon (F-AYYD) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Vietnam
The Vietnam theme was impressively represented by the North American OV-10 Bronco, the North American T-28 Trojan and the North American T-28 Fennec. Another Trojan had actually been planned, but it was ultimately unable to take part.
The company ‘France Copter’, based in La Ferté-Alais, supported the display with a Eurocopter Écureuil, which was intended to represent a Bell UH-1 Iroquois. The characteristic rotor sounds of the Iroquois were played from a recording.
Here too, the pyrotechnicians had their hands full ensuring the attacks looked as realistic as possible.
North American Bronco & Trojan (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
North American OV-10B Bronco (F-AZKM) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
North American Bronco & Trojan (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
North American Bronco & Trojan (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
Both North American T-28 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
North American T-28S Fennec F-AZHR (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Airbus Helicopters H125 (F-GBMQ) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Airbus Helicopters H125 (F-GBMQ) (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
North American T-28C Trojan F-AZQV (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Biplane Balbo
„Balbo“ was a term commonly used in the late 1930s and early 1940s to describe large aircraft formations. It was named after the Italian fascist pilot and aviation pioneer Italo Balbo, who carried out several spectacular formation flights with large aircraft formations in the 1930s to promote Italian aviation.
During the Battle of Britain, the term was also used for the so-called “Big Wings”, particularly for large fighter formations operating from RAF Duxford, amongst other bases.
Today, the term is still used in the context of air shows, where it refers to a large joint flypast by several aircraft at the end of an event. In La Ferté-Alais, this was attempted with biplanes.
Unfortunately, the approach was made with the sun low in the sky and the Pitts Specials turned off course slightly too early. Nevertheless, this was a successful finale to the 53rd edition of ‘Le Temps des Hélices’
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder )
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Our thanks go to Henri Suzeau for providing the press facilities.
