2020 airshow season highlights
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 12:11 pm
As we come towards the end of the airshow season, I usually start a "top 5" thread on here for people to share their best few photos, videos and memories from the airshow season. In this strange year, we've all seen much less flying action than we usually would, but equally, the few events that have gone ahead have been of exceptional quality and it would be a shame not to recognise them - so if you can't make it to five, post what ever number you can manage. They could be a performer you saw, an unusual formation, perhaps even a single airshow manoeuvre that blew your mind, a ride you took, or anything else that stands out as a highlight of the year. Please attach a photo or video for each, if you can!
Here's my selection.
5. Five-ship Spitfire & Hurricane tailchase at Duxford Showcase Day III, UK. I've only been resident in Europe for three years, having previously lived in a region with no warbirds at all. Of all the airshows I've been to since moving, most have not been particularly warbird-centric. I've seen some small tailchases and impressive WWII formations in the past, but amazingly, this was my first time since I was a very young child seeing a proper, sizable tailchase. Seeing a trail of five Battle of Britain fighters arcing across a menacingly dark sky was a memorable sight indeed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vif5NIGn-4w
4. Flying Bulls at Antidotum Airshow Leszno, Poland. A team that had been on my bucket list for years, and they didn't disappoint. To quote one of the other pilots: "these guys make the impossible easy, and what they do is impossible!" The Flying Bulls specialise in negative-G and mirror formation flying loops and rolls, mixed up with the occasional, more conventional, airshow manoeuvre. Among the highlights were a formation half aileron roll in a vertical climb followed by a formation pushover, an outside four-ship half-barrel roll and a mirror formation stall turn (skip to 00:10, 02:05 and 09:30 respectively). It was quite hard to believe what my eyes were seeing at times!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FO3Sl1UK8s&t=567s
3. Spitfire & Hurricane pair at Shuttleworth Vintage Airshow, UK. Shuttleworth's drive-in airshows have been a huge success this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon at the Vintage Airshow. The highlight was a wonderful choreographed pairs display of Spitfire Mk.Vc AR501 and Hurricane Mk.I R4118 in perfect late afternoon light. After some formation flybys, the two aircraft seperated into simultanious solo displays, which saw powerful low flybys alternating with graceful solo aerobatics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHgaLaVbuWs
2. SB Lim-2 at Antidotum Airshow Leszno, Poland. For all-round airshow experience, Antidotum Airshow Leszno was without doubt the best I have ever attended. The flying was varied, of excellent quality, and was superbly close to the crowd, plus the atmosphere and hospitality were amazing. The SB Lim-2 encapsulated all of that, with some extremely low and close flybys just before sunset. Check out the best flyby at the start of the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4mq0rImc1s
1. Team Blanix at Antidotum Airshow Leszno, Poland. The show starts impressively, with the two aircraft doing some breaks, synchronised aerobatics and rejoins at high altitude, but it was the final few passes that proved the most memorable. Described by a colleague as "the most perfect airshow moment ever", the two classic gliders orbited directly over the crowd in close formation, coloured smoke and pyrotechnics streaming from the wingtips against a darkening sky, all to the accompaniment of classical music being performed by a live band in front of the crowd. Pure magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBdQLrVWaAg
Here's my selection.
5. Five-ship Spitfire & Hurricane tailchase at Duxford Showcase Day III, UK. I've only been resident in Europe for three years, having previously lived in a region with no warbirds at all. Of all the airshows I've been to since moving, most have not been particularly warbird-centric. I've seen some small tailchases and impressive WWII formations in the past, but amazingly, this was my first time since I was a very young child seeing a proper, sizable tailchase. Seeing a trail of five Battle of Britain fighters arcing across a menacingly dark sky was a memorable sight indeed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vif5NIGn-4w
4. Flying Bulls at Antidotum Airshow Leszno, Poland. A team that had been on my bucket list for years, and they didn't disappoint. To quote one of the other pilots: "these guys make the impossible easy, and what they do is impossible!" The Flying Bulls specialise in negative-G and mirror formation flying loops and rolls, mixed up with the occasional, more conventional, airshow manoeuvre. Among the highlights were a formation half aileron roll in a vertical climb followed by a formation pushover, an outside four-ship half-barrel roll and a mirror formation stall turn (skip to 00:10, 02:05 and 09:30 respectively). It was quite hard to believe what my eyes were seeing at times!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FO3Sl1UK8s&t=567s
3. Spitfire & Hurricane pair at Shuttleworth Vintage Airshow, UK. Shuttleworth's drive-in airshows have been a huge success this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon at the Vintage Airshow. The highlight was a wonderful choreographed pairs display of Spitfire Mk.Vc AR501 and Hurricane Mk.I R4118 in perfect late afternoon light. After some formation flybys, the two aircraft seperated into simultanious solo displays, which saw powerful low flybys alternating with graceful solo aerobatics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHgaLaVbuWs
2. SB Lim-2 at Antidotum Airshow Leszno, Poland. For all-round airshow experience, Antidotum Airshow Leszno was without doubt the best I have ever attended. The flying was varied, of excellent quality, and was superbly close to the crowd, plus the atmosphere and hospitality were amazing. The SB Lim-2 encapsulated all of that, with some extremely low and close flybys just before sunset. Check out the best flyby at the start of the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4mq0rImc1s
1. Team Blanix at Antidotum Airshow Leszno, Poland. The show starts impressively, with the two aircraft doing some breaks, synchronised aerobatics and rejoins at high altitude, but it was the final few passes that proved the most memorable. Described by a colleague as "the most perfect airshow moment ever", the two classic gliders orbited directly over the crowd in close formation, coloured smoke and pyrotechnics streaming from the wingtips against a darkening sky, all to the accompaniment of classical music being performed by a live band in front of the crowd. Pure magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBdQLrVWaAg