Abbotsford International Airshow 2018

Discussion relating to 2018 airshows/fly-ins/exercises/other events. Post news before the event and post your photos afterwards! Please create only one thread per event.
JA Boomer
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Post by JA Boomer » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:07 pm

Facebook confirms that there will be no F-15 Eagles at the show :(
Last edited by JA Boomer on Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Chuter
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Post by Chuter » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:36 pm

JA Boomer wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:07 pm Facebook confirms that there will be no F-15 Eagles at the show :(
Well... that really blows.
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AirshowHawk
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Post by AirshowHawk » Fri Aug 10, 2018 5:34 am

2 CF-18s and 2 F-16s > 1 F-16, 1 CF-18 and 1 F-15.

I heard from someone today that the Airshow folks filled the Portland F-15 static spot with more CF-18s.

Won’t be much of a heavies static set up as was what it was looking like earlier this year, but the light static turn out will be great.
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Wingnut
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Post by Wingnut » Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:54 pm

Another couple of late cancellations on fb. The CP 140 Aurora and the A400M. Was really looking forward to seeing that Atlas.
With the cancellation of the CP140 that means the RCAF is providing a total of ZERO heavies in Abby this year. Wtf? Was hoping for a late CC177 addition but no luck
Still, really looking forward to the weekend. Going tonight, grandstand area, and Sunday with the kids in GA
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Wingnut
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Post by Wingnut » Fri Aug 10, 2018 3:16 pm

A few beautiful birds came into Boundary Bay last night, no doubt making their way to Abby today
295D9B0E-81B7-4E0F-B75F-C54DF6215C50.jpeg
295D9B0E-81B7-4E0F-B75F-C54DF6215C50.jpeg (527.24 KiB) Viewed 12466 times
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Snowbird552
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Post by Snowbird552 » Fri Aug 10, 2018 5:33 pm

Corsair and company arrived last night. Any ETA on the F-16's or Super Hornet's?
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JA Boomer
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Post by JA Boomer » Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:44 am

Things that made Friday night the worst day at the Abbotsford Airshow I've had in my 17 year attendance:

-Got into the traffic lineup at 3 pm (gates open time) on Mt. Lehman (traffic was already backed up to the airport), went through the gates at 5 pm!
-Girl at the gate took and didn't return my parking and weekend tickets for our group and gave us two Saturday and two Sunday wristbands and told us not to worry about it.
-Zero security check at the foot entrance, what a joke.
-Completely missed the Blues, when we got to runway seating the speakers weren't working properly, and the announcers weren't explaining what was going on. Lots of empty sky for a long time after the Blues and a poorly explained tribute to the RCMP officers shot today.
-No food options I could get excited about, long food lines, apparently the women's bathroom was a mess.
-NORAD formation was a real disappointment, neat to see a 4 jet formation but was as vanilla as I could have imagined.
-What a brief fireworks display to honour Dan Beaucanon. Couldn't they have dedicated the whole fireworks to Dan and worked that song into the display? I thought it bordered on disrespect.
-H2A2 announcers were bad. Not in sync with the performers and reading aircraft stats off Wikipedia instead of providing information of interest to the general public.
-Typical departing traffic.

It was nice to see the A-10 in the sky again but his performace was brief. Thank god for the Snowbirds retro night and the CF-18 demo. In general the airshow this year seems poorly organized and executed. Hopefully my weekend improves from here.
Last edited by JA Boomer on Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wingnut
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Post by Wingnut » Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:52 pm

Overall, I thought last night was fantastic. Runway seating with 3 guys that never go to air shows. They were impressed

Getting in was a joke. Not as bad as boomer but 1:15 in the line. Got in 15min before the blues started. We took the queen street entrance. Will def be taking the king road entrance tomorrow.
Unfortunately one of the solo blues (I think it was #6) had to scrub last minute. Made it out to the taxiway and then after a brief inspection by crew turned back to the apron. So there were no opposing solos last night, hopefully sorted out for today and tomorrow.
This made the snowbirds the highlight. Fantastic performance.
Agreed. Security at the gate was a joke. ‘Any alcohol?’ ‘Nope’ ‘ok you can go’ without checking our bags. We didn’t.
Food selection I thought has never been better! So many options. We had amazing bbq. Yes, long lineups but that’s to be expected. Nice not having to be stuck with hotdogs and chips.
All the night acts were great. Thought the A10 put on a great show. Always love those strafing runs. Cf18 Afterburners at night, very cool. Rob holland was incredible. Really impressive. Clearly showed why he’s among the best in the world.
The GA area seems very small. Smaller than previous years. It was packed. And stuck next to the grandstand I wonder how limited the view is
Static line was clearly missing those heavies. Seemed like a big gap between the helos and the fixed wings.

But overall positive and looking forward to the full show tomorrow
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RyanS
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Post by RyanS » Sat Aug 11, 2018 7:28 pm

JA Boomer wrote: Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:44 am -Zero security check at the foot entrance, what a joke.
Wingnut wrote: Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:52 pm Agreed. Security at the gate was a joke. ‘Any alcohol?’ ‘Nope’ ‘ok you can go’ without checking our bags. We didn’t.
I can't fathom how this is a complaint?
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Ryan Sundheimer
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Arctic Fox
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Post by Arctic Fox » Sat Aug 11, 2018 7:39 pm

First I wanted to ask if anyone has a list of the radio frequencies being used this year? I can hear the tower talking to commercial traffic but nothing else. Unfortunately I have an old scanner that doesn't get military or any of the newer scrambled frequencies and am wondering if it is just time to junk it.

Second, I thought the Friday show was awesome!
*Yes, the traffic was atrocious getting in but anyone who's come out to the show before should know to expect it - especially with the Blue's potentially attracting a larger than normal crowd. Unfortunately while we managed to just catch all the flying, there was no time to take the kids through the static area. There are possibly a few things the AIAS could do to improve things but maybe offer suggestions instead of whining; it's been my experience that the organizers are very open to listening to fans and making improvements. Maybe also campaign the municipal and provincial governments to adequately upgrade our road system.
*The selection of food is amazing this year - I think the best there has ever been in Abby and the highlight of the night for my 1 year old!
*I am still trying to decide if I like the changes to the seating areas. The runway seating being all on the far side of the spoke from show center is not as nice, but not a showstopper for most people and same with the general seating area basically also being west of the spoke only. That said, Reno had grandstand seating when I was there in 2009 so I am looking forward to trying it in Abby (top row) on Sunday.
*There was a good selection of performers with at least a little bit for everyone and all the people sitting around us thought Bob Carlton's dedication and the firework tribute to Dan Buchanan were very classy and touching. F-15's would have been cool but F-16's are almost as good and it's a heritage style performance so you don't really expect any maneuvers. I liked the announcers style - they told you what was coming then let you listen to the music / aircraft do the maneuver. The worst part of the show? The politicians speeches. I've never heard so much self promotion / campaigning spewed in what is normally a non-partisan event. The only thing missing from the show was some pyro!

Looking forward to the day show Sunday!
Last edited by Arctic Fox on Sat Aug 11, 2018 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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