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  Zwartkop Airshow 2016 Part 2
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Text:

Urs Schnyder

Pictures:

Urs Schnyder

   

The public day on Saturday started very early. The gates opened at 7 in the morning and the people started pouring into the base.
At 7:30 the first participants arrived already. These were a group of ultralights. They consist basically of a parachute and an engine in a backpack. The big propeller is enclosed by a cage to protect the flyer in the case of a mishap. At the same time falconers were chasing away the birds that were still around the airfield. This was quite a contrast. An ancient art of hunting, at an airshow where the most modern aircraft are flying.

The first aircraft were scheduled to start flying at 9:15 am. However, there were some program points before that. First at half past eight was the parade of the emergency vehicles down the main runway. Once they had cleared the field, some parachutists gave a demonstration of their skills.
Then a brass band marched in and played some music. The next item was a real first for me at an airshow. A military chaplain said a prayer before the chief of the air force addressed the public.

After the address of the CAF the flying program started. As I already did in part 1, I will not go through the day in sequence but instead present the different items in the program that were not covered in part 1.

   
 (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)

Tiger Moth
The Tiger Moth ZS-BGN with c/n 84864 is an ex SAAF aircraft, T6523. It was rebuild in 1993 at Rand airport with parts from unidentified other aircraft. There are still several Tiger Moths flying in South Africa.

Sky Class DC-3
Sky Class Aviation is a South African charter company that operates several aircraft. Besides modern Jets, they also operate DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft. After the last war several Dakotas from the SAAF were handed over to South African Airways. It is in the colours of one of these that the aircraft displaying is painted. In everyday operations it is today taking tourists on low level safari flights or does scenic flights around Johannesburg.

   

De Havilland Tiger Moth (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

De Havilland Tiger Moth (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

De Havilland Tiger Moth (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

De Havilland Tiger Moth (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

   

Douglas DC-3  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Douglas DC-3  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Douglas DC-3  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Douglas DC-3  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

               

Aerobatics
There were quite a few aerobatic pilots displaying at the airshow.
Andrew Blackwood-Murray is a very experienced pilot with over 14'000 hours flying for the SAAF and SAA as well as different aerobatic planes  Flying a Zlin 50 he is sponsored by Nashua.
Nigel Hopkins this year displayed in his new Extra 330SC sponsored by Porsche, after the previous MX2 broke up in flight. He is the head of training of the SAA Airbus A320 fleet and has more than 17'000 hours experience in different aircraft.
Sonsored by his employer Absolute Aviation who are the Beech and Cessna agents in South Africa, Jason Beamish is flying an Extra 300. Despite being only 27 years of age, he has nevertheless already flown in 60 different aircraft.

The Raptors are an aerobatic team that don't have any sponsor, The team was formed three years ago and are now trained by some of the most experienced aerobatic pilots. All the pilots pay their expenses themselves and train and fly in theit spare time. They are flying the Vans RV. The RV7 has side by side seating, while the RV8 has traditonal fore and aft seating.

 
Zlin 50  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Zlin 50  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Zlin 50  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Extra 330SC  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

 
Extra 330SC  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Extra 330SC  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Extra 300 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Extra 300 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
   
Vans RV (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Vans RV (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Vans RV (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
               

Mustang and Trojan
Seeing the Mustang in the air for the first time one notes the flashy non military paint scheme. The engine sounds poweerful, but not quite like a Merlin. Once it lands and taxies past, you can see that it is a Thunder Mustang which is actually a scaled down replica but without the "wrong" engine profile one associates with such scale reproductions. In fact, the only thing that gives the game away is the size of the pilot in relation to the whole aircraft.
One aircraft I didn't expect to see in South Africa was a T-28 Trojan, for the simple reason that it was never flown by the South African Air Force. This particular aircraft is owned by Chris Briers, a very experienced pilot with over 10'000 hours in his logbook. This of course was reflected in the display that he gave.

Vampire
The Vampire Trainer of the SAAF Museums Historic Flight gave an attractive display. The pilot showed that even with a less powered aircraft then present generation jets, it is possible to do a spirited display that not only pleases the crowd but also the photographers who were attending the show in great numbers.

 
Thunder Mustang (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) Thunder Mustang (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) North American Trojan (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

North American Trojan (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

 
North American Trojan (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

North American Trojan (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

De Havilland Vampire (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) De Havilland Vampire (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
 
De Havilland Vampire (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) De Havilland Vampire (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) De Havilland Vampire (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) De Havilland Vampire (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
               

Mango/Silver Falcons
Mango is a low cost carrier in South Africa. They are one of the sponsors of the Airshow so it is fitting that they take part in the show itself. There is some Formation flying together with the Silver Falcons. Incredibly, by the time the Mango display took part, there were thick clouds forming up so the backdrop is more likely to European sky than to the usual blue.

 
(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)
               

Albatross
After they were retired from SAAF service in 1993, some Albatross ended up in the civil register. One such is ex SAAF Nr. 892 which is flying under the logo of Kingdom Air, a local South African charter company, even if this aircraft is not listed as being part of their present fleet.

Flying  Lions amd Torre Aerobatic teams
The flying Lions aerobatic team was founded 16 years ago by Scully Levin. He is now 69 years of age and has about 28000 flying hours. The rest of the team are Ellis Levin, Arnie Meneghenny and Sean Thackwray. They display their 76 years old aircraft almost every weekend during airshow season.
Even further back goes the founding of the Torre Team started 32 years ago by Scully Levin. He gathered a team of top class aerobatic pilots and has impressed the crouds ever since with their precision aerobatics. The team is supported by Torre Industries.
Having the same pilots for two different teams means of course that ferry pilots are needed in those instances where both teams display at the same location, as they did at Zwartkop.

 

Piaggo Albatross (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Piaggo Albatross (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Piaggo Albatross (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

Piaggo Albatross (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

 

Piaggo Albatross (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

North American Harvard (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

North American Harvard (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

North American Harvard (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

 

North American Harvard (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

North American Harvard (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)

 (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)  (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
               

SAAF C-130 Hercules
After a few fly pasts the Hercules landed and two crew members got out of the aircraft. They then pretended to push and pull the aircraft backwards which they of course achieved with the help of a bit of reverse trust of the engines. This however was not obvious to the audience. It was an unusual act that I have never seen before and it left some impression with the audience. The aircraft then took off again and disappeared only to appear from behind the audience right out of the setting African sun. Once it passed the crowd line it started climbing and while doing so fired off flares which were illuminated by the setting sun. Just beautiful.

   
 (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
During the two day event, the Falcons flew several displays, the last one on Saturday, immediately after the C-130 display. As the sun was already very low, this gave special lighting to some of the show.
It started out as we know it from other teams like the Thunderbirds. The pilots marching to their aircraft, doing the pre-flight check, getting strapped in and then taxi to the runway in numerical order. All this takes place in front of the crowd of course. And then the display illuninated by the setting sun.

 
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder) The future Silver Falcon pilots? (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) (Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
               

To sum up, I was quite impressed by the whole airshow. Unusually there was some cloud during the afternoon, the first time in a week. However, nothing to mention if you are used to european weather.
My thanks go again to Russel Dixon and the SAAF Museum Photographers Club for letting me join them in their enclosure.

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last update 25. July 2016

Written  25. July 2016

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