Centenary air show for Nhill

Nhill’s reputation as an aviation hot spot will gain momentum later this year with planning underway for another major air show.

Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre officials have pencilled in October 26 for The 2019 Nhill Air Show with a promise of a ‘bigger and better’ event.

A 2015 show, which celebrated 75 years since the Royal Australian Air Force established a base at Nhill Aerodrome, attracted a crowd of between 3500 and 4000 aviation enthusiasts.

People travelled from across Victoria and beyond for the occasion, which involved almost five hours of aircraft flight displays, manoeuvres and aerobatics.

This year’s air show will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first plane to land at Nhill aerodrome and be part of extensive centenary celebrations.

Show convenor Rob Lynch said the Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre Air Show sub-committee had been working ‘behind the scenes’ and was ready to share the news.

He said the air show promised to be another fantastic aviation event.

“Since the successful 2015 air show, a week hasn’t gone by without someone asking when the next one will be,” he said.

“The heritage centre committee has spent the past couple of years working on a Wirraway project. Now the Wirraway has landed and is on display, we can concentrate on the next event – this year’s air show.

“It will be an action-packed day involving a variety of aircraft displays, demonstrations and family-friendly entertainment.

“We have reviewed what worked and what we can do better from 2015 and we’ve started working on making the 2019 event even bigger and better.”

Mr Lynch said the organising group would be calling for expressions of interest for catering in February and looking for community involvement along the way.

“We encourage everyone to like Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre and Nhill Air Show Facebook pages to stay up-to-date with all air-show news and information,” he said.

A display by RAAF Roulettes precision flying team led a series of highlights on a 2015 program and patrons also soaked up death-defying aerobatics and fly-overs from historic ‘war birds’ including a P40 Mustang, Wirraway and Boomerang, and a Marchetti S2-11 jet.

Mr Lynch said the breadth of attractions would depend heavily on how much sponsorship the event could attract.

“We had wonderful support last time and much will again depend on how many sponsors come on board,” he said.

The air show will have a 1919 theme to correspond with the centenary and Mr Lynch said the ‘feelers’ would be out to see if there were any people who could bring historic aircraft appropriate for the occasion.

“We are talking about planes that might be about 100 years old or built to 100-year-old designs,” he said.

“It is so hard to get them here but if anyone has these types of planes they are more than welcome to get in touch.

“Of course we also welcome anyone with historic aircraft of any kind.

“We’re very excited. We’re encouraging anyone involved with, or who visited, the first air show to get behind us again and of course anyone else to come along and experience something special.

“This air show is being put on simply because of popular demand.”

People can gain more information about the 2019 Nhill Air Show at website www.nhillaviationheritagecentre. com.au.