Posts Tagged ‘Canadian International Air Show’

While I have been going to the Canadian International Air Show for years (as the many entries on this blog will attest), for the first time I decided to spring for a ticket. I shelled out the non-refundable $130 (plus taxes) the morning of the show, as the weather forecast said that this was likely to be the best day, as thunderstorms were predicted for Sunday and Monday. I managed to not cross any picket lines by entering via Ontario Place and making my way along Lakeshore Blvd. until I found the reserved, ticketed viewing area. My camera gear included my trusty Olympus E-620 and the fast F2 200mm lens.

I was running a bit late but I still managed to catch a lot of the first “act” of the day, which was the US Air Force Thunderbirds:

This was followed by a fan favourite, Mike Wiskus flying his bright red Lucas Oil Pitts S-1-11B. He always puts on a great show.

This was followed by a newcomer to the show: Kyle Folwer flying the canard-winged Rutan Long-EZ:

After this came another favourite performer: the 76-year old Gord Price flying his prototype Yak 50:

Next up was a CF-18 Hornet, with a paint scheme to commemorate the 60th anniversary of NORAD.

This was followed by a USAF F-35 alongside a WW II-era P-51 Mustang in what is called the “heritage flight”, combining old and new:

The back to some acrobatic prop planes, including Martin Hivon in his Christen Eagle (not “Christian Eagle” as announced at the show):

Followed by Mike Tryggvason in the Giles 202. This was a particularly hard plane to photograph, as it is small and the performer didn’t spend much time in “center stage” (I noticed a passenger flight take off from Billy Bishop Airport during this performance, so for safety reasons am guessing he was asked to shift things westward).

It was at about this point that the over-loud speaker system cut out, which fitted the more peaceful Air Cadets Glider fly-by.

Luckily a fellow siting in front me had his portable radio system tuned into the aviation channel being used by the pilots, so it was easy to figure out where the Snowbirds were coming from for the conclusion of the air show:

After the show Mike Wiskus came around signing autographs and getting his picture taken with admirers. I shook his hand and thanked him for several years’ worth of great performances at the air show.

There was also a falcon handler from Falcon Environmental Services showing off one of their beautiful working birds, a hybrid falcon used to chase away other birds from airports.

The handler was saying that this particular bird had a liking for duck, and would often chase a whole series of gulls or geese and somehow single out the one unfortunate duck that has managed to get into the area.

So was it worth the money for a ticket? The price was rather steep but I did get a genuinely good, comfortable seat with an unobstructed view. The food/drink lineups were short (though the food was not cheap), and there were free calendars and other giveaways sponsored by aviation firms attending the show. While the views were great, I also realized that the venue almost places the viewer under the show, and there were several times when a performer would drive their plane skyward, and it would get lost in the glare of the overheard sun. The place where I normally shoot the show in previous years is up on a small hill on the CNE grounds, putting me at higher ground during the flybys. I guess I will have to compare the results from this year’s shot to those from previous years to decide whether to reserve a ticket for next year’s show.

Got to the Canadian National Exhibition around 12:30 and managed to find a good spot to view the Canadian International Air Show from. I brought along my f/2 200mm and my f/4 300mm lenses along with me to put them both through their paces. I tended to use the 200mm on the larger or faster planes in order to freeze their motion, and the 300mm on the smaller ones, trading off speed for detail. It wasn’t the best day for taking pics of flying planes, as the skies became cloudier as it went on, and was finally brought to a premature end when the front of a thunderstorm came in. Given that most of the show is over the water and facing south, in most cases side of the plane facing the audience is in shadow, hence the need for a fast telephoto lens. Still, it was a good and rousing show.

I arrived just as three members of the all-female parachute group the Misty Blues jumped out of an airplane. This was followed by some aerial gymnastics by Mike Wiskus in the red Lucas Oil bi-plane, and then some precision flying by the members of the Heavy Metal Jet Team. (The Heavy Metal Jet Team site only mentions having L-39 Albatroses and T-33 Shooting Star, but doesn’t mention what seems to be a swept-wing MiG which had a prominent place in their show). After that came more aerial acrobatics by Pete McLeod in the Red Bull Zivko Edge 540. Then came the Lancaster from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, one of only two Lancasters still flying. While it flew by they had an pilot who had flown 19 successful missions in one during WWII (and was shot down on his 20th mission), who was given a rousing round of applause by everyone in attendance when he finished. I didn’t catch much of Rick Volker‘s show in his Sukhoi SU-26M since it was mid-afternoon by that point and I desperately needed some food and drink! Then came the demo of the A-10 Warthog, which buzzed by the waterfront several times. At that point the air show was called on account of bad weather, though the MV-22 Osprey buzzed by — allowing me to get a single shot of it as it went by — on its way to shelter at Pearson International Airport.

Here are some of the better shots I took from the show: