Airshows

The T-28B participated in an airshow at Leszno-Strzyzewice Airport, Czech Republic, and was returning to the Flying Bulls home base, Hangar 7 at Salzburg-W. A. Mozart Airport.

On Jun. 20, 2021, the T-28B Trojan belonging to the fleet of The Flying Bulls Salzburg crashed near the town of Jickovice (Czech Republic) south of Prague, killing one of the two occupants and seriously injuring the second person aboard.

According to Aviation Safety, the T-28B (Registration OE-ESA, Manufacturer Serial Number 200-250) participated in an airshow at Leszno-Strzyzewice Airport, Poland, and was returning to the Flying Bulls home base, Hangar 7 at Salzburg-W. A. Mozart Airport.

The T-28B was built to succeed the T-28A Trojan, entering production in 1949 for the US Air Force (USAF). In this low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear and Wright radial engine students and instructors would sit behind each other in one cabin. The Flying Bulls T-28B was built in 1954 and stayed with the US Navy in Washington D.C. as a training plane until 1965.

She was later sold to a private owner and restored. However, she found her true admirer much later, when Sigi Angerer spotted her in Oklahoma City. After tough negotiations, the T-28B was finally purchased. But that was just the beginning of the adventure.

According to The Flying Bulls website, to transport the T-28B to Europe, Angerer first flew the plane to California and then had her taken apart and stored in a 40-foot container, before being taken to Texas by land. From there she was shipped to Hamburg, Germany. Basel-based Swiss company Jet Aviation then took on the task to piece her back together again.

While still bearing US markings, she landed in Innsbruck in 1987 and it wasn’t until later that she was entered into the Austrian Aircraft Registry. She finally made it to Salzburg, where she has been since 2001. The legendary T-28B marked the beginning of a truly fascinating collection of airworthy planes that today take center stage at many air shows.

Since 2016 the aircraft wore characteristic olive-black coloring along with the “NAVY” lettering.

Photo by The Flying Bulls

The original sound of the jets gives you the chance to appreciate the sheer power of the team F-18 Hornets

Called Blue Angels – Ultimate Action Video 2014, the thrilling footage in this post features a lot of exciting flying sequences showing the F-18 Hornets belonging to the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron performing high-g turns, formation flying, and very fast low-level passes.

What makes this video even more spectacular is the original sound of the jets which gives you the chance to appreciate the sheer power of the team F-18 Hornets.

Noteworthy, as announced earlier this year, the Blue Angels are slated to upgrade to Super Hornet soon.

As the actual jets, the new aircraft will be modified into a configuration specific to the Blue Angel’s role that requires the installation of a smoke generator and the removal of the fighter’s gun and missile launchers.

Still, the Rhino (as the Super Hornet is dubbed by its aircrews) is something more than the Legacy Hornet’s younger brother. When it is strictly compared to the F/A-18A/B/C/D, the F/A-18E/F is 25 percent larger and the two General Electric F414-GE-400 engines have increased the aircraft thrust by 35 percent over the older model. Moreover, an enhanced fuel capacity boosts the Super Hornet mission range.

Nevertheless, all these improvements have made the “Super” heavier than the “Legacy” Hornet and because of its extra weight making the Rhino, the new aircraft of the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron could be a difficult task.

Next year’s CF-18 Demonstration Hornet will be painted to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has unveiled the 2017 CF-18 Demonstration Hornet paint scheme.

The design was revealed at the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) conference in Las Vegas, by Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) representatives on Dec. 7, 2016.

According to the RCAF press release next year’s Demonstration Hornet will be painted to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada and will honor the history of the RCAF and Canadian Armed Forces as a part of Canada’s proud history.

The main colors are red and white, Canada’s traditional colors.

The official logo for Canada 150 is placed throughout the design. The logo is composed of a series of diamonds, or “celebratory gems”, arranged in the shape of the iconic maple leaf. The four diamonds at the base represent the four original provinces that formed Confederation in 1867: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Additional diamonds extend out from the base to create nine more points. In total, they symbolize Canada’s 13 provinces and territories.

On the left wing, the time span of confederation is shown with the year of confederation, 1867, and the 150th-anniversary year – 2017. The right wing bears the official name of the celebration – “Canada 150”.

In the artwork below you can see the artist concept of the design of the 2017 CF-18 Demonstration Hornet.

Photo by Royal Canadian Air Force

The team, which was re-established in 2015, is now equipped with the new Beechcraft T-6C Texan II turboprop trainers

The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Black Falcons aerobatic display team will be back thrilling the crowd in 2017.

In fact next year the RNZAF will celebrate its 80th anniversary with an airshow at RNZAF Base Ohakea on Feb. 25-26, 2017. The two-day event will showcase the RNZAF capabilities along with guest aircraft from allied air forces.

The Black Falcons aerobatic display team flying the T-6C Texans will take part in the event too.

The team was formed in 2000 and used five Aermacchi MB-339CB aircraft from No. 14 Squadron, flown by the unit instructors. The Black Falcons performed the first of five displays on Jan. 1, 2000, at the Gisborne Millennium (a worldwide, coordinated series of events celebrating New Year’s Eve in 1999–2000) and the team disbanded later that year.

The team, which was re-established in 2015, is now equipped with the new Beechcraft T-6C Texan II turboprop trainers. Based on the Pilatus PC-9, the T-6 is purpose-built for military training and has the latest technology such as ejection seats, collision avoidance, and ground awareness warning systems, a pressurized cockpit, and personal locator beacons for each pilot.

The Black Falcons will perform for the first time at the Wings over Wairarapa Air Show on Feb. 17-19, 2017.

Photo by Wikipedia

The Canberra should be ready to fly for the Royal Air Force centenary in 2018

Another jet from Britain’s golden age of flight is to be restored by the Vulcan To The Sky Trust (VTST), which already brought back to life the famous Avro Vulcan B.2 XH558.

VTST in fact has acquired the English Electric Canberra WK163 from the Coventry-based Classic Air Force (that received it in March 2000) with the aim to bring back the aircraft to airworthy conditions.

As already done for XH558, VTST has launched a fundraising campaign to support this new project.

The Canberra, that has not flown since suffering an engine failure in 2007, should be ready for the Royal Air Force (RAF) centenary in 2018, as announced by Robert Pleming, VTST chief executive and leader of the restoration project who explained in the August issue of FlyPast magazine: “We are going to return WK163 to the air, with the aim of flying for the centenary of the RAF in 2018. Nothing could surpass the Vulcan, but we’ve chosen to do something unique and relevant to our aviation heritage. It still has a lot of structural life, and will be the only Canberra flying in Europe.”

Currently, there are only five Canberras known to be flying in the world, of which three are the highly modified, US-built Martin WB-57F aircraft that NASA uses for satellite development.

According to Pleming, the Canberra restoration should be quicker than that of Avro Vulcan XH558. Furthermore, he added that VTST is looking to restore other classic aircraft in the future as well as assisting other classic jet owners with technical services and advice.

Noteworthy, as reported by Vulcantothesky.org, Canberra WK163, which was built by Avro as a B.2 in 1954, made headlines on Aug. 28, 1957, when it obtained the world record for aircraft altitude at 70,310ft (21,375m) while testing the Napier Scorpion Rocket Motor. WK 163 was then converted to B.6 specification in April 1966.

Photo by Kev Slade

The bird strike was the first-ever incident for the brand new Blue Angels aircraft, the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

A US Navy Blue Angels F/A-18E Super Hornet flying at least 120 mph was hit by a cormorant during the flight rehearsal for the flyby of Naval Academy Commissioning Week at Annapolis on May 27, 2021.

Boaters watching the show from the water saw a bird smacked down by a jet.

As reported by Military.com, small aircraft parts were also dropped into the water and onto boats positioned in the Severn River near the 450 bridge. Natural Resources Police spokesperson Lauren Moses said officers were patrolling the area for security reasons and quickly secured the dead cormorant. Police did not obtain any aircraft parts, she said. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

The bird strike minorly damaged some “flight control surfaces” of one of the F/A-18E Super Hornets in the team, a spokesperson for the Blue Angels said.

“The aircraft damage was repaired by the squadron’s maintainers and did not impact flight operations or the performance yesterday,” Lt. Chelsea Dietlin said in a statement to WNAV. Dietlin added the Blue Angels will evaluate their Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) program to minimize “wildlife hazards.”

The Blue Angels performed the flyover over the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium on Friday, May 28, for the Naval Academy graduation.

Noteworthy the bird strike was the first-ever incident for the brand new Blue Angels aircraft, the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

In 2018 Boeing was awarded $17 million to convert nine F/A-18E and two F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft into Blue Angel demonstration aircraft to replace the squadron’s McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets.

As already reported, on Nov. 4, 2020, the Blue Angels officially transitioned to the F/A-18 Super Hornet the same day they performed their last flight on their previous mount, the F/A-18 Legacy Hornet that equipped the team since 1986.

For more interesting news and info about US Navy Blue Angels check out the Aerobatic Display Teams website.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

The Swiss Air Force F-5E Tiger II J-3089 featured the Swiss Air Force aerobatic team Patrouille Suisse paint scheme.

A Swiss Air Force F-5E Tiger II jet crashed on May 26, 2021, near Melchsee-Frutt in the central canton of Obwalden, the Swiss defense ministry said.

The pilot ejected from the aircraft and was unhurt.

The F-5 was serial J-3089 and featured the Swiss Air Force aerobatic team Patrouille Suisse paint scheme.

The aircraft was taking part in a training flight along with two other fighter jets when, as the photos in this post shows, an engine fire apparently occurred. The pilot managed to eject before the plane went down.

In June 2019 the Swiss Air Force ended the evaluation for the five types of combat aircraft shortlisted (Eurofighter Typhoon, the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Dassault Rafale, the Lockheed Martin F-35A and the Saab Gripen E) under the Air2030 program to replace its ageing fleet of F-5 fighter jets, as well as the F/A-18C/D fighters.

As we have previously reported Saab has withdrawn from Air2030 program just days before the company’s Gripen E was due to arrive in the country for flight evaluations.

Hence the remaining lineup of contenders are the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Airbus Eurofighter Typhoon, the Dassault Rafale and the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II.

For more interesting news and info about Patrouille Suisse and other display teams check out Aerobatic Display Teams website.

Photo by 20 minute

“The Blue Angel nightclub was a big thing in its day. I think it took up a whole block. Four orchestras, eight or nine bars, it was massive. I said, ‘Gee, that sounds great! The Blue Angels. Navy, Blue, and Flying!,” Lt. Cmdr. Roy “Butch” Voris, first Blue Angels Leader.

At the end of World War II, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Chester W. Nimitz ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in naval aviation.

In a short three months, the Navy Flight Exhibition Team performed its first flight demonstration on Jun. 15, 1946, at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida. Lt. Cmdr. Roy “Butch” Voris led the team and flew the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat.

According to the official website of the US Navy Blue Angels, the new Navy Flight Exhibition team was only the second formal flying demonstration team to have been created in the world, since the Patrouille de France was formed in 1931.

But let’s face it, “The Flight Exhibition Team” is not a very catchy name. As told by Nicholas A. Veronico in his book The Blue Angels a Fly-By History, to find a new name, the team ran a contest throughout the training command. “We were getting hundreds of names back, but not a one grabbed us like we wanted to be grabbed:’ Voris said. “I got a call to go up to the staff, this time to meet with the chief of staff, Captain Bill Ginter. He asked how the name contest was coming. I told him that we were just not finding anything right yet, but that I was sure we would get something soon. Ginter told me he had one for me to consider, the Navy’s Blue Lancers. Something rang a bell—I remembered that his son had submitted this one. I said, ‘Yeah, it’s got a ring to it, hasn’t it Captain?’ He asked me to give it serious thought, and I knew what he meant.

“We were going to go to New York for a show and Wickendoll, who was my number two man, was looking through the New Yorker magazine,” Voris recalled. We were sitting having a scotch in my room at the BOQ and he said, ‘I’ve got it, boss. I asked what he meant. He was looking at a column called Goings On About Town and the nightclubs are all listed. The Blue Angel nightclub was a big thing in its day. I think it took up a whole block. Four orchestras, eight or nine bars, it was massive. I said, ‘Gee, that sounds great! The Blue Angels. Navy, Blue, and Flying!”

When they arrived at Omaha, Nebraska, for the air show in July 1946, they told the aviation press of their Blue Lancers versus Blue Angels dilemma. The press agreed to help. After the show, headlines touted the team’s performance with Blue Angels in quotes.

“When I got back to Jacksonville with the team, I was summoned up to Ginter’s office. Dispatches had come in congratulating the command on the performance of the team. Ginter asked, ‘What’s this Blue Angel stuff?’ I told him I did not know and that l had heard some comment, from somebody in the press, saying they are just like Blue Angels:’ Voris said. Captain Ginter knew he had been hoodwinked, but there was nothing he could do.

In the 1940’s, the team thrilled audiences with precision combat maneuvers in the F6 Hellcat, the F8 Bearcat and the F9 Panther. During the 1950’s, they refined their demonstration with aerobatic maneuvers in the F9 Cougar and F-11 Tiger and introduced the first six-plane delta formation, still flown to this day. By the end of the 1960’s, the Blue Angels were flying the F-4 Phantom, the only two seat aircraft flown by the delta formation. In 1974, the team transitioned to the A-4 Skyhawk, a smaller and lighter aircraft with a tighter turning radius allowing for a more dynamic flight demonstration. In 1986, they transitioned to the F/A-18 Hornet, and on Nov. 4, 2020 the Blue Angels officially transitioned to the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

For more interesting news and info about US Navy Blue Angels and other display teams check out Aerobatic Display Teams website

Photo by U.S. Navy

At some point, the Crusader was considered as a replacement for Blue Angels Grumman F11 Tigers.

One of the most capable fighters of the post-World War II era, the F-8 Crusader was a sleek design that featured a gaping jet intake beneath the fuselage and a variable-incidence wing that could be raised to enable the aircraft to land and take off at slow speeds while maintaining excellent visibility for the pilot. In an era in which fighter pilots relied increasingly on missiles, the Crusader retained 20mm cannon, prompting its pilots to call it the “Last of the Gunfighters.”

Crusaders flew their first combat missions triggering cameras instead of weapons as part of the photo-reconnaissance flights over Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. F-8s also logged these missions as well as strike and combat air patrol flights throughout the Vietnam War, with Crusader pilots credited with the downing of eighteen enemy MiGs in aerial combat.

At some point, the Crusader was even considered as a replacement for Blue Angels Grumman F11F Tigers. But, as explained by Nicholas A. Veronico in his book The Blue Angels a Fly-By History, at that time (it was 1968) the Vietnam War was on and available aircraft types for the Blue Angels to transition to were limited. The team needed a new airplane but had not decided on what type. Then Team Leader Bill Wheat had considered the Vought F-8 Crusader, but the company was going out of the aircraft business just as the F11F production line was shutting down. Both aircraft were going to be hard to support in the near future. There were no F-8s available because of the conflict in Vietnam, and all of the McDonnell Douglas A-4s were required to meet the fleet’s commitments. In the end, the F-4 Phantom was chosen to replace the F11F with the Blue Angels.

But how would the F-8 be for the Blue Angels?

According to VFP62.com, there were discussions of F-8 fighter pilots on the F-8 for Blue Angels.

According to their assessment, there were several concerns.

The first concern was for an inverted flight. Aileron rolls were limited to just one at a time, and loops on takeoff were mentioned as the first limitations. Other pilots mentioned that the F-8’s variable incidence wing caused inherent problems of section takeoffs. “It was too hard to go through the wing-up/wing-down routine in real close formation and look good.”

The difficulty of flying F-8s in tight formations such as the Blues fly was another concern that F-8 pilots had. One pilot commented, “One finds out his own wing tip is almost touching the UHT of the other aircraft. You simply cannot get these machines that close. We had to fly farther out—it looked pretty good but is much harder to maintain the exact position. Just place two F-8 models together and this reality is easily seen.”

Moreover, the F-8 had a hard-lighting afterburner which might cause a section takeoff to look uncoordinated with one aircraft or another changing lead position.

However, many F-8 pilots believed that these issues could be worked out, as they were for the various aircraft used by the team. For instance, the flight control system of the A-4 was completely redesigned for their use.

One pilot put it in good terms: “Good airshow planes need three things: noise, smoke, and danger (imminent chance of an accident). F-8 had all in spades. I like the current F-18s but they don’t look very dangerous.”

For more interesting news and info about US Navy Blue Angels and other display teams check out the Aerobatic Display Teams website

Photo by AVSIM.net