The second edition of the Living Skies Airshow drew a large crowd to the Estevan Regional Airport on Sunday afternoon.
An estimated crowd of between 1,500 and 2,000 people watched six different performers, who not only showcased their aerial abilities, but also the abilities of their planes.
Numerous other airplanes were on display for people to view.
Moose Jaw's Brent Handy, who was the opening act at last year's airshow, once again opened this year's event with his array of aerial stunts in his Pitts Special propeller aircraft.
Handy, speaking to the audience, said he has the good fortune of being able to fly for a living, and entertaining audiences with his aerobatic displays in his spare time.
He was a member of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds aerobatics squadron in 2012 and 2013, an opportunity that he said came out of nowhere.
“A good friend that I used to work with at a flying school up the road in Moose Jaw said … ‘I’m looking for a wingman. Would you like to put your name in for the Snowbirds?’”
It proved to be an amazing experience, and it opened up the world of airshows and the different planes he gets to fly.
Handy said the plane he flies requires his total attention at all times. He uses minimal electronics when flying it, but his propeller allows him to do the unique things with his plane.
“With a jet, it’s designed for speed and for a tactical mission … but with the aerobatic airplanes and the propellers in general, the spinning propeller allows me to develop some really cool forces and get the plane to tumble end over end, and you can never do that kind of stuff with a jet,” said Handy.
When he flew the Pitts Special for the first time, it was almost like he was learning to fly again, he said.
Skydive South Sask., also out of Moose Jaw, then impressed the audience as several individuals parachuted onto the airport’s tarmac.
Up next was another Saskatchewan pilot, Stefan Trischuk, who performed in his light Pipistrel Virus aircraft.
Geoff Latter of Langley, B.C., followed in his restored Nanchang CJ-6A. He noted that he doesn’t have the background in aviation that many other airshow pilots possess. Rather, he has spent nearly two decades flying a variety of planes.
“People see a guy like me, who’s just a regular guy chasing down his dream,” said Latter. “We always tell everybody ‘If I can do it, you can do it,’ and it’s great to inspire our youth that maybe don’t have the opportunities at their doorstep to encourage them to go chase down that dream.”
The crowd was then treated to a couple of aerial tandems. The Vanguard Squadron, which is a U.S.-based act, flew their ethanol-fuelled planes. Gary Middlebrooks and Mark Ketchem were representing the Vanguard Squadron in Estevan.
Yellow Thunder, consisting of Alberta-based pilots Drew and Dave Watson, featured Harvard Second World War airplanes.
Dave Watson said the Harvard is quite nimble to fly, even though it is a fairly heavy plane.
“When you do a roll, it’s a nice, slow gentle roll, and when you do a loop, it’s a nice, big gentle loop,” Dave Watson said.
Handy then returned with another demonstration of his abilities.
Estevan Regional Airport manager Richard Reetz, who co-chaired the event with city Coun. Greg Hoffort, said the airshow was a tremendous success. He hopes the performers and the audience members enjoyed the show as much as he did.
“Every performer was first rate,” said Reetz. “They brought their ‘A’ game, and we were really pleased with each performer. I enjoyed working with them all.”
He said the airshow committee would be glad to have any of them back again.
Handy’s performance was very popular with spectators, and Reetz believes people enjoyed watching his stunts. The Vanguard Squadron was very good as well, and Yellow Thunder had larger, louder planes.
“Each performer brought something a little different, and that’s what we tried to do was bring in a … set of performers, so that each brought a little something different to the table,” said Reetz.
The static displays were popular before and after the air show. Some of the displays couldn’t make it, but those that were present provided a nice mix of large aircraft, smaller planes, and everything in between.
Reetz noted that Ed Moon of Winnipeg brought a T-28 to Estevan. It’s a big, grey aircraft that looked like it was from the military.
A Transport Canada official was also at the event to make sure everything met its standards, and Reetz said the agency didn’t have any problems.
He also believes the issues with accessing the site and parking that occurred with last year’s air show were resolved. The volunteers and police who controlled the parking did a great job, he said.
Reetz hopes the airshow can become a biennial event. The airport ran an airshow this year to build off of the momentum from last year, when the Snowbirds were in Estevan.
“I don’t know if it’s something we’d do annually,” said Reetz. “I think we’d have a little more interest if we saved our money and put a better focus on doing it biennially.”
