Airshow Attractions

Airshows typically feature a wide variety of aircraft both on the ground and in the air. While some smaller airshows may display only general aviation aircraft, some aerobatic aircraft, and a warbird or two, most airshows will feature warbirds, aerobats, and demonstrations of modern military aircraft.

Helicopter demos are less common, but most airshows will feature at least one helicopter on static display. While some airshows (static airshows) feature primarily aircraft on the ground with the occasional fly-by, most airshows will have some aerial demo being performed for almost the entire duration of the event.

Airshows usually open their gates very early (at 7, 8, or 9 AM), giving spectators a few hours to wander around the static displays before flying starts (at 10, 11, or noon). Flying usually goes until 4 or 5 PM – later at some airshows, especially evening airshows which may go into the night.

In evening airshows, airplanes fly which are especially lit, which release flares or fireworks or other pyrotechnics, or which have bright afterburners. While military installations will usually ask spectators to leave once the flying ends, most airshows that take place in non-military airfields do not. This allows for airshow fans and photographers to watch the aircraft on static display depart the airfield at the end of the day, and to photograph static-display aircraft and/or departing aircraft with nice sunset lighting, and with fewer people obstructing their shots.

Airshows put together by civilian organizations will often focus on aerobatics and warbirds, with maybe a handful of modern military aircraft in attendance.

Military airshows will often focus on the display of modern and vintage military aircraft, with maybe one or two aerobatic acts thrown in. Some airshows, in turn, focus on the display of warbirds, and become reunions for pilots and aircraft owners from all over the US to bring their World-War-2-era aircraft.

Aerobatic demos, which usually last about 10 or 20 minutes, involve one very skilled pilot (occasionally two) flying a small and extremely agile airplane. Their powerful engines, light weight, and big control surfaces make these aircraft capable of very high roll rates and accelerations. A skilled pilot will be able to climb vertically, perform very tight turns, to tumble his aircraft end-over-end, to perform maneuvers during loops, and even to hover his aircraft like a helicopter with the nose pointing straight up.

Military jet demos will often focus on the capabilities of the aircraft used in combat operations. Their very short (and very loud) takeoff rolls, fast speeds, slow approach speeds, as well and their ability to turn tight (in order to evade an enemy or to turn around for another pass at a ground target) and climb quickly, and their ability to be precisely controlled at a large range of speeds, should be demonstrated.

Military demos are usually the highlight of an airshow – the loud, fast, and exciting demos spectators will remember. This is especially true when demo teams such as the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds (or their foreign equivalents, the Red Arrows, Snowbirds, Frecce Tricolori, Patruille Française, Esquadrilha da Fumaça, Turkish Stars, etc.) perform, in which case you may see as many as nine combat jet pilots flying in tight formations and demonstrating their skills and the capabilities of their aircraft.

Warbird demos do not include this kind of fancy flying. The most remarkable thing about these demos is that the aircraft are flying at all, after over 60 years of being flown and maybe even shot at. This allows modern audiences to familiarize themselves with the sights and sounds of aviation as it was two or maybe even three generations ago.

Many warbird demos will feature large formations of warbirds, as one would see them during World War II. Often, the end of a warbird demo will coincide with the beginning of a modern military aircraft demo, and the old aircraft will fly along the new aircraft in what is known as a Heritage Flight (US Air Force) or a Legacy Flight (US Navy). This is a unique chance to really see the great advances in aviation technology that have been achieved over the past six decades.

Helicopter demos usually focus on the search-and-rescue operations these helicopters are used for – such as lowering a rescuer via a cable, having him attach the rescuee to a harness, and then pulling them back up into the helicopter.

Some military helicopters may also drop soldiers or vehicles, and even fire weapons, during these rescue operations. A few helicopter demos, however, focus on the agility and maneuverability of the helicopter, and the unique tricks it can do because of its unique abilities. These are usually done with very small privately-owned helicopters.

Airshows can also feature skydiving/paragliding demos, wingwalking demos, glider demos, hovercraft, replicas of some of the earliest aircraft, new-technology demonstrator prototypes, cargo-transport or even airdrop demos, battlefield simulations (including soldiers, ground vehicles, helicopters, airplanes, and pyrotechnics), remote-controlled aircraft (many of which are capable of amazing maneuvers impossible in real aircraft, and in addition, some RC airplanes are powered by jet engines), among other attractions.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Uses material from the article Airshow.