Page 22 - October 2018

2018 Edmonton Air Show

Photos and story by Ralf Wermann

The Edmonton Airshow was back for the fourth year in a On both days of the airshow, COPA (Canadian Owners and
row and it was exciting to see the line-up of performers Pilots Association) for Kids, took one lucky “Kid” on a
and all the aircraft that were scheduled to appear at the demonstration flight.
show! In past years the event showcased a good variety
of Aerobatic performers, jets, vintage aircraft and
Warbirds from across Canada and the United States and
this year promised to be another spectacular event. This
th
year’s event took place over the weekend of August 18
and 19th at the Villeneuve Airport, located north-west of
Edmonton.
Three historic aircraft, a Grumman F8F Bearcat, TBM-3E
Avenger and B-25D Mitchell Bomber “Grumpy” from the
Historic Flight Foundation (which is located at Paine Field
near Mukilteo, Washington) were scheduled to appear at
the airshow. At the Abbotsford Airshow the previous
weekend a 1930s era deHaviland Dragon Rapide bi-plane
from the Historic Flight Foundation was involved in a Robert Whitley of Whitley Flight Services Inc. was the pilot
crash that injured five people. John Sessions the pilot flying an RV-6A.
who is also the owner and founder the Historic Flight The show opener for the Saturday show was a fly-by of a
Foundation was seriously injured in the accident. beautifully painted Boeing 737 from Flair Air.
Because of the accident, the Historic Flight Foundation
withdrew from the Edmonton Airshow. In their place,
aircraft from the Erikson Collection (located in Madras,
Oregon) a FM-2 Wildcat, F6F-4N Hellcat and P-51
Mustang, were to appear. However, because of the thick
smoke blanketing much of southern BC and Alberta,
reduced visibility preventing these aircraft from
attending. The Jet Warbirds, with their MiG 17-F, MiG-
15B and FJ-4 Fury, were also to appear at the airshow but
found themselves in a similar situation where they were
hampered by the smoke from the wildfires.
To add to the disappointment, 3 Battalion of the Princess
Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) were scheduled
to parachute from a C-130H Hercules. However because Geoff Latter flew a graceful aerobatic display in “Nancy”,
of the state of emergency with the wildfires in British a Nanchang CJ-6A designed and built in China from The
Columbia, the jump was canceled and the troops were Peoples’ Republic of China Airforce.
called to assist with firefighting.
The sky over Villeneuve on Friday was blanketed with a
thick layer of smoke from the wildfires burning in British
Columbia. Flight visibility was below the allowable limit
of 3 miles for aerobatics and it was questionable if the
show would be a go. However, overnight thunderstorms
and rain helped to clear the smoke enough for the
airshow to proceed as scheduled! The situation with the
smoke and weather turned to be out better than hoped
for both days of the show.

Geoff with Prairie Planes reporter Ralf Wermann
Geoff announced that the 2018 airshow season would be
the last time he would be performing with his “Nancy”.