The
Northern Kwazulu Natal town of Newcastle hosted a very successful airshow on
the Saturday 3 June, the town nestled in the foothills of the Drakensberg was
shaken by the sound of aircraft of all types.
Johan
Pieters and his team once again outdid themselves managing a spectacle that any
airfield would be proud of. The public may have been disappointed when they
first arrived and were greeted by a 6 foot fence, which had to be erected as a
security measure as part of the upgrades to the airport, but that was soon
forgotten when the show started and it became clear that the displays were all
visible above the fence.
Anushka the
beautiful Antanov AN2 kicked of proceedings with a mass skydiving drop one of
which was the massive SA Flag, the flag weighs 83kg and can only be carried by
a qualified tandem instructor.
 |
| Anushka the beautiful Antanov AN2 |
The
skydivers had barely touched down and the perfect blue skies were filled with
smoke trails from the stunning all South African Slick 540 expertly flown by
Neville Ferreira, Neville’s hi impact aerobatics are fast becoming a favourite
at airshows in South Africa.
 |
| Neville Ferreira |
Matthew
Zalewski wowed the ever-growing crowd with his skill in a Magni Gyro, this
particular Gyro belongs to Andre van Zyl, the Magni Gyro is probably the most
popular Gyro in South Africa and hails from Italy.
 |
| Matthew Zalewski |
After many
years of banter between Nigel Hopkins and Menno Parsons the two of them decided
to do a formation hover, the only snag is that Nigel wasn’t in a helicopter he
was flying his Extra 330 SC his ability in this wonderful aircraft never fails
to amaze the airshow faithful. Menno joined him in a Very bright orange Bell
407.
 |
| Nigel Hopkins and Menno Parsons |
Nigel then
continued his solo display which had the crowd holding their collective breath
as he tumbled effortlessly through the KZN skies. Nigel will be representing
South Africa in the World Aerobatic Championships later this year that will be
held in Mpumalanga.
 |
| Nigel Hopkins |
Dennis
Spence, Johan von Solms and Paul Coetser were next to take to the air,
delivering a flawless display in their Goodyear Eagles Pitts Specials, This team have
been a fixture at all South African airshows for many years.
 |
| Goodyear Eagles |
The
relative quiet was shattered by the first of the Jets, Pierre Gouws got
airborne in the Czechoslovakian L29 Albatross, this aircraft belongs to Richard
Lovett who is also the organiser of the Middelburg airshow which will take
place later this year.
 |
| Pierre Gouws |
From the
rumble of Jet engines to the serenity of a Sailplane, Gary Whitecross painted
the blue sky with a very impressive display with his Pilatus B4 glider , Gary competes
against the powered aircraft in aerobatic competitions.
 |
| Gary Whitecross |
Gary is tugged into the
big blue by veteran pilot Derek Hopkins in a Lombada touring motor-glider.
The Silver
Falcons, now into their 50th year of existence delivered a very
polished display. Newcastle was a very memorable show for one of the members, Maj
Bheki Shabangu became the 106th Silver Falcon, joining Majs Mark
Gentles, Sivu Tangana, Wendy Badenhorst and Omphile Mutloane to complete Team
81.
 |
| Silver Falcons |
The Raptors
Aerobatic team were next on the programme, still flying borrowed aircraft as
their steeds are still in transit from China where they recently took part in
the World Formation Aerobatics Championships. Pierre Gouws led the formation
with Nigel Hopkins and Ryan Beaton on either wing.
 |
| Raptors Aerobatic team |
Andrew
Blackwood Murry in his Nashua sponsored Extra 300 flew a display that would
have brought top points in any aerobatic competition, Andrew had to leave
shortly after his display to make his way to OR Tambo to do his day job as an
airline captain for SAA.
 |
| Andrew Blackwood Murry |
The old
favourite The Flying Lions, now sporting their new sponsorship Puma Energy as
always thrilled the crowd with a beautiful display of aerial ballet. Scully
Levin, Arnie Meneghelli, Ellis Levin and Sean Thackwray have become an
institution on the airshow circuit.
 |
| Flying Lions |
All the jet
fans were treated to an awesome East vs West spectacle, Glen Warden in a L29
Delphin and Pierre Gouws in and L39 Albatross represented the East, Mike Wiengartz
in an ex SAAF Impala representing the West. What a beautiful sight.
 |
| East vs West |
Neville
Ferreira challenged a Mercedes to a race, Sudesh Singh from Stucky Motors outran
Neville, chalk up one for the guys on four wheels.
 |
| Neville Ferreira and Sudesh Singh |
The Silver
Falcons planned to close the show but due to the brotherhood in aviation the
plans were slightly changed.
Ivan van
der Schaar experienced trouble with the Stearmans starter when he was supposed
to do his scheduled display, fellow aviators came to the rescue and located a starter
in Standerton, a fellow pilot quickly jumped in his aircraft and went to fetch
it and with the help of The Silver Falcons technical team the Randolph eyewear
Stearman was airworthy and managed to close a magnificent show.
 |
| Ivan van der Schaar |
Please browse through our gallery of this event
No comments:
Post a Comment