Jamestown Airshow 2023

Sunday was the Jamestown Airshow.  A 2 1/2 hour plus drive north through the Clare Valley, it was an early start.  There is always a good variety of flying displays with planes old and new.

Amongst the more modern aircraft here were a Gazelle helicopter VH-OIX, a DG-01000S Glider VH-ZDG and a flypast of an RAAF P-8A Poseidon A 47-012 from RAAF Edinburgh.

The Republic SeaBee VH-UUM is always good to see, as is the SIAI Marchetti S-211 VH-CBL, but an inverted Beech 18 (VH-FID) was not something I expected to see!  

Aerotech Air Tractor VH-OUN put on a good display of water bombing, still wearing the markings from its recent trip to Europe where it had been deployed for for the norther hemisphere fire fighting season.

Jamestown is known for its warbird displays and this year was no exception with TBM Avenger VH-MML, T-28 Trojan VH-FNO, Boeing Stearman VH-USE and P-51 Mustang VH-LUI all putting on great displays.

Of course, an airshow wouldn't be an airshow without some aerobatics. First up was Paul Bennett in his Wolf Pitts VH-PVB, followed by Glenn Graham in the Edge 540 VH-PBU.  Later in the show they went up together for some formation aerobatics.

Speaking of formation aerobatics, the SA based Silver Sharks in their RV6s and RV7s put on a great show, as did James Hart in his Pitts S1 VH-XEY

A great show as always, and well worth the early start and the almost 400 Km (240 miles) driven in the day.

Jamestown Airshow 2015

On Sunday, with some friends, we made an early start and headed up through the Clare Valley to the Mid North, and Jamestown for their triennial airshow. There was a fierce crosswind blowing that meant some displays were cancelled, but that did not phase the wing-walker whose display had us all holding our breath! (almost)

The airshow programme was a great mix of aircraft. There were vintage planes of all shapes and sizes from the luxurious Stinson of the 1930s to the giant russian Antonov An2 built from the late 40s.

There were aerobatics from high performance stunt planes like the Giles G-202 and the Extra 300, but Paul Bennet in his Pitts Special stole the show with his amazing display, and then his crazy stunt involving a motorbike jumping over him.

There were jets in the air, (L139 Albatross and Aermacci S211) and on the ground were the jet car powered by an engine from a Sabreliner executive jet showed it acceleration. (The pyrotechnics also started a fire and kept the local CFS busy

But everyone had really come to see the warbirds, vintage military aircraft. WW1 was represented by a replica Nieuport 11.  I didn't realise they had GPS in WW1!

The Trojan, from the Korean and Vietnam eras is one of my favourites, as is the CAC Boomerang which saw service in WW2

The P40 Kittyhawk always give a good show, and the kids love those sharksteeth!

The real highlight for me though was the Grumman TBM Avenger, a huge beast of a plane with a 14 cylinder engine that powered around the skies.

Jamestown Airshow

Last weekend I headed 2 1/2 hours north of Adelaide to the triennial airshow at Jamestown.  For a small country town, they put on a really good airshow.

The runway has recently been sealed, and this allowed for jets to be based her for the first time.   The show was opened by a fast pass of the L-39 Albatross.

This was followed by a pair of AT-6 Harvards and the inimitable Chris Sperou in his Pitts Special.

Another jet on display was the SIAI Marchetti S-211.  A big change in speed followed, with the DHC-1 Chipmunks of the "chipettes" doing their formation display.

Jamestown is really known for its warbirds, and this year was exceptional with two Curtis P-40s, a model F Warhawk, and a model P Kittyhawk, a Vultee B-13, the last airworthy Lockheed Hudson in the world, and two Aussie classics in the CA-18 Mustang and the CA-13 Boomerang.

The show was closed by the RAAF Roulettes, with their exhilarating display of close formation flying.