– John Absolon
In mid-July, the twice-postponed Brisbane Airshow took flight ... finally.
The original planned date of 2020 was cancelled and replanned to 2021 and then 2022 due to the first and second COVID outbreaks, lockdowns and government restrictions.
Eventually when everything on the pandemic front seemed to be clearing up, a date in early July 2022 was planned only to see an extremely unseasonable weather event that impacted the entire east coast, drop close to 100 mm of rain in just a couple of days, yet again to see the event postponed by one week due to the weather.
Watts Bridge Memorial Airfield is a grass field and all spectator areas are also grass, prompting a decision with three days to go to postpone the show for both spectator safety and that of the flying events.
But on 9-10 July, it all come together.
The eventual weekend show saw extremely cold frosty mornings but clear skies and light breezes for the show that entertained well over 11,000 ticketed spectators each day of the event. Tickets had sold out early as a limit had been in place again because of limited parking and spectator safety.
The flying display comprised both warbird displays of jet and ex-WWII aircraft, ex-military training aircraft and modern aerobatic aircraft.
A large aviation industry static display also supported the flying display and was there for the interest of future prospective aviation participants that included both rotary-winged and fixed wing training organisations, aircraft maintenance contractors, sporting aviation organisations, aviation hobbyist and new GA aircraft dealers including TECNAM and Sling.
Many spectators lined up for Elite Helicopters rides in their Squirrel and R44 helicopters which seemed to flying just about all day.
Also present were representatives of the Army Aviation Regiment each day with their MRH-90 and ARH Tiger helicopters that flew in each morning and performed a short flypast at the completion of each day.
Arriving before the show on Friday was a US Marine Corp V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor craft which attracted large lines of eager spectators to walk through the aircraft each day. The Osprey departed back to RAAF Amberley late in the show on Sunday giving spectators glimpses of this remarkable aircraft’s flight characteristics during a brief fly-past.
The crowds were also kept entertained by a number of aerobatic displays by formations of Pitts Specials performing daring close manoeuvres, Decathlon and Yak-52 along with warbirds like the Grumman TBF Avenger, P-51 Mustang, P-40 Kittyhawk, CAC Wirraway, T-6 Harvard and the RAAF 100SQN Hudson, CAC Winjeel and CT-4 from the museums at RAAF Point Cook and Temora.
There were a significant number of private fly-in aircraft also that visited the show including an Antanov AN-2, Pilatus PC-12, Beech King Air 300 and multiple light aircraft like a Waco, Yak-18T, Baron B55, Cessnas of many version including a radial engine C190.
These GA aircraft formed a long line waiting to depart each afternoon so as to get home to nearby airfields in south-east Queensland before last light.
Apart from the slightly boggy ground which would have been worse except for the late postponement notice, limited the ability of some spectators to camp at the airfield, some bogged vehicles and aircraft, the show was a great success.
Some issues involving the limited road access to the field by narrow Queensland country roads upset some show attendees but in all the show was well attended and the flying displays were appreciated.