Aerial stunts light up air show

SYDNEY — Vintage World War II aircraft, aerial stunt planes and thunderous military fighter jets tore up the sky this weekend at Wings Over Illawarra.

First launched in 2007, the annual event originally began as an open-day at Albion Park Airport, 100 kilometers south of Sydney.

But in just a few years, the air show has been transformed into Australian aviation’s biggest showcase.

With over 80 aircraft on display both on the ground and in the sky, this year’s program was the largest ever, with more than 40,000 people in attendance for the twoday event on Saturday and Sunday.

Among some of the aircraft on show were the C-17A Globemaster, Black Hawk helicopters, a P-8A Poseidon, the C130J Hercules and the Royal Australian Air Force’s famed FA-18 Hornet squadron.

But for lovers of history, there were also World War IIera restorations of classic warbirds like Sabres, Hurricanes, Tiger Moths and larger transport aircraft like the DC-3.

“It is important to preserve the historic value of these older aircraft, both as a mark of respect to those who flew them in times past, but also to remind people of our aviation history,” one of the event’s organizers Steve Visscher said.

“People are genuinely interested in the wide range of aircraft, and our aim is to inspire interest and enthusiasm for aviation of all kinds.”

“People not already active in aviation are amazed by the speed and the sounds, as well as the aerobatic action.”

One of those acrobats who thrilled onlookers with deathdefying stunts, was Australian Red Bull Air Race pilot Matt Hall, who recently returned from France after winning the Cannes Event.

“I do get called a lot of things,” Hall said, “and ‘mad’ is one of them.

“I will be doing maneuvers today where I am only about 5 feet off the ground at about 400 kilometers per hour, pulling about 12 Gs.”

‘Just having fun’

As a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot with 18 years military experience, the stuntman said “it’s not my objective to scare people, I’m just out there having fun”.

As well as thrilling locals and tourists alike, Wings Over Illawarra has also proved to be a massive boon for the local economy.

This weekend, the New South Wales State government estimates around $5 million will be injected into the region with over 5,000 overnight stays.

According to Visscher, a growing number of those visitors have been Chinese.

“Chinese tourists regularly buy tickets to the event, particularly those living here and engaged in pilot training,” he said.

“Going forward, we plan to actively market the show to Chinese and other regional markets as a major tourist event.

“Similarly, we are keen to grow interest in aviation in the Chinese market by staging air shows there in coming years, too.”