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Dec 27, 20174 min read

NEWS LETTER 2017 AIRSHOW EDITION

Good day all

As we enter the final few days of 2017, a very diverse year, I decided to take a whistle stop tour of all the airshows that were held this year.

The Airshow Season started a very impressive show held at AFB Zwartkop. "Wings Over Zwartkop" was held on the 6th May and sported many SAAF and SAAF Museum displays joined by many of the top civilian displays. The Highlight of the show was no doubt the miss-matched formation of the Sliver Falcons and the Gripen.

Sliver Falcons and the Gripen

SAAB JAS 39 Gripen

BAE Hawk

Bell 407

SAAF Museum Alouette II's

Mango airlines Boeing 737-800

The Airshow circus then traveled across the border to neighboring Botswana for the 8th Annual Wesbank Botswana International Airshow Held at Matsieng Airfield located North of Gaborone. This is an Airshow with a distinct Fly-In feel with people making their way from all over Southern Africa, The Botswana Relax permit fees to accommodate foreign pilots.

L29 Wall of Fire

Nigel Hopkins Extra 330SC

Bi-Plane formation

Team Extreme and The Raptors

Ivan van der Schaar Boeing Stearman

Gary Whitecross Pilatus B4 Glider

From Botswana the Circuit made it way to Newcastle, Kwazulu Natal. The small town nestled in the foothills of the Drakensberg did not disappoint. The Newcastle is fast becoming one of the favorite Country Airshows in South Africa, the SAAF tend to support them very well being the only Airshow in the province.

Massive SA Flag

Andrew Blackwood-Murry Extra 300L

Sliver Falcon Cross Over

Neville Ferreira Slick 540

Nigel Hopkins and Menno Parsons

Jet Formation

Adrenaline was promised and no one can deny the second Airlink Adrenaline Show delivered in abundance , from the opening of the show early on Saturday morning until the show was closed on Sunday afternoon it was fast paced and thrilling.

AHRLAC and Cessna

Menno Parsons in Mustang Sally

SAAB Gripen

Nigel Hopkins "Over and Under"

Menno Parsons and the Drift Cars

Juba Joubert and Dylan Smith

Nelspruit came alive with sound of aircraft over the Youth Day weekend, with the Kishugu Lowveld Airshow taking place at the civil airfield just outside the city. The Airshow was originally planned for 12 and 13 May but had to be postponed due to the bad weather that soaked the whole country that weekend.

Little Annie Antanov AN2

Working on Fire Bell UH1

Raptors

Team Torre Pitts Specials

Bat Hawk

Jason Beamish Extra 300

On a cold misty highveld morning the airshow “circus” made its way to the industrial town of Middelburg in Mpumalanga. Fortunately the mist burnt off rather rapidly allowing the show to start on schedule. Richard Lovett and his wonderful wife Irene led a dedicated team to once again deliver one of the top airshows in the country. Every detail of this show was meticulously planned and there were contingencies in place for any eventuality.

Tactical Unit in a Gazelle Helicopter

Gary Whitecross rcing a Camaro Drag Car

Mathew Zalewski Magni Gyro

Neville Ferreira in his Slick 540 racing an Audi R8

Fireworks Display

Juba Joubert and Dylan Smith

Once again it was back to Botswana for the Gaborone International Airshow held at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport.Botswana Tourism Organization well done on presenting a magnificent airshow, definitely one for the record books.The show officially started just after 12:00, President Ian Khama had barely arrived when a group of skydivers, one of them flying a massive Botswana flag emerged from a Bell helicopter from the Botswana Defence force (BDF), as he slowly descended the National Anthem of Botswana was played by a Rumba band.

Botswana flag

Neville Ferreira Slick 540

Juba and Drift Cars

Dylan and Juba

BDF PC7

Twilight Display by Flying Lions

Rand Airshow promised to be something special this year and as always it didn’t fail to deliver, culpable electricity could be felt from the time the gates opened to long ques of people braving the icy cold. Spectators quickly filled Rand airports unique 270° crowd line waiting in anticipation for the start of the show while Brian Emmenis from Capital Sounds “The Voice of Airshows” fueled the excitement.

The Flightline and crowd line

Menno Parsons and Mustang Sally

Dragon Rapide

AS365 Dauphin

Bell 222 Display

Radial Flypast

The people of the small Free State town of Bethlehem were treated to an airshow on Saturday 27th August. The early morning weather must have had the organisers worried, the low cloud looked as if it would set in for the day. The spectators streamed in from very early in the morning despite the freezing temperatures and bone chilling wind, the temperature had only reached 3° by 8 am.

Good Year Eagles with a Boeing 737

Team Extreme

Ellis Levin Pitts Special

Team Torre

Team Flightline Weekly Neville Ferreira

Team Flightline Weekly Gary Whitecross

After the heavens opened over Polokwane with a low cloud base the closer we were to the airport the less chance I thought there would be of seeing an air show. The faithful parked their cars and endured the rain and mud as they moved from the parking areas to the entrance of the show apron. Polokwane Airshow and Career Expo fortunately went ahead an was a great success despite the inclement weather.

SIAI-Marchetti SF.260

SAP Robinson R44

SAP Pilatus PC Porter

Skydivers

Neville Ferreira Yak 52

Gripen creating Vapour

Air force Base hosted the Langebaanweg Airshow 2017 on the 9th December. Langebaanweg is situated on South Africa’s West Coast, and is home to the Central Flying School and the Silver Falcons Aerobatic team. The Falcons recently celebrated their 50th Anniversary, which saw past members of the team present and had the opportunity to watch the current team display in front of them. The pressure was on!