Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

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flybynight
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Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

Post by flybynight »

I thought I'd go and visit my daughter, who moved to Canada last year, and it just so happens this show is on during my stopover in Toronto. What a coincidence :whistle: A nice Father's Day treat me thinks!

http://www.hamiltonairshow.com/performing-and-display-aircraft.aspx

Anyone been before?

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sylvancatharsis
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Re: Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

Post by sylvancatharsis »

Yep, I was there last year and have a report on UKAR, and I'm planning on going back this year. Great show, much better if you're just a spectator than a photographer as the sun is in front in the afternoon. Only issues I'd say are the usual warnings about traffic coming in and out - although I was pretty happy that they decided to schedule the Snowbirds in the middle of the show last year and not at the end as is customary in North America, which probably helped to stagger the mass exodus of visitors - and the pace of the show, which sometimes has to slow down for the odd WestJet 737. Otherwise I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Sid-104
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Re: Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

Post by Sid-104 »

I too had my first visit last year and what a great show it is. One thing to bear in mind is if you want to get a close look at the flyers before the action in the air commences, the live ramp is only accessible with either an earlybird pass, photo pass or combo pass. Saturday ramp passes are already sold out and with the Mosquito now staying for the Sunday it looks like this could be a very full showday too.

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Re: Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

Post by Sid-104 »

A quick correction to my previous post. The photo pass doesn't give access to the ramp but a standard ramp pass or the other passes i mentioned will.

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stuart n
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Re: Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

Post by stuart n »

Taken from their Twitter page:

Now confirmed Me-262 Schwalbe fighter jet for the Airshow !


https://twitter.com/CWHM

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sylvancatharsis
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Re: Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

Post by sylvancatharsis »

Back in the States after this fine but often frustrating show. Highlight was a formation of Lancaster, Mosquito, Spitfire, and two Hurricanes - a second Spit (sadly the beautiful Mk IX from Fighter Factory) went tech and couldn't join. I saw the full six-ship rehearsing on the Friday and it was superb; the five-ship was just as good as they revised the layout to provide a better aesthetic. Also of note the Me-262 and Fw-190 doing several flat passes, Fairey Firefly, and superb displays by the RCAF Hornet and Aurora. Also nice to see an SAR Griffon in the static.

A few gripes, though. I bought the "early bird" VIP photo pass that was supposed to grant ramp access at 0700L; a monumental cock-up resulted in us not being able to get in until almost 8, by which time the nice morning light was gone. A refund has been kindly promised by the organizers who were very apologetic. I don't know the exact circumstances of what went wrong. In the end not too disappointed, as most of the aircraft still had their canopy covers on even when I did get in, and I photographed many of them on the ground last year. Also some scheduling snafus meant that the Yellow Wings flight (Tiger Moth, Cornell, Chipmunk, Stearman) didn't get to fly, supposedly because they didn't get through pre-flighting in time to take their slot. Seems odd for an air show that's been running as long as this. CWH's Lysander had to bin its display after takeoff, according to the commentators due to a Learjet arriving on a medical flight. I honestly don't know how they can justify holding an air show at an active civilian airport without building enough flexibility into the schedule to push a display back by the two minutes it took that Learjet to land. Especially when several aircraft sat at the end of the taxiway for several minutes running up while nothing was happening in the air. Final gripe, some of the static-only aircraft (CC-130J, CT-156, and the CWH Canso and Twin Beech that were listed on the website as flyers but were nowhere to be found on the printed schedule on the day) were parked on the hot ramp, away from the main static display area, where guests had to buy a ramp pass to see them. Not a major gripe, but not fair I think to the average spectator who wouldn't have the inclination to spend extra money to see a few aircraft in an area that was marketed more toward photographers to begin with, especially when there was ample room in the main static display.

Unfortunately the Vintage Wings of Canada P-40 and Lysander did not make it to the show, and the Golden Hawks Sabre was relegated to static at the last minute.

Despite this it was an enjoyable day out, though not quite the spectacle of last year (understandable, as last year was an anniversary year). Photos to come!
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PeteFenwick
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Re: Hamilton Airshow 15/16 June c/w Mossie

Post by PeteFenwick »

Also back from Canada after a 3 day trip to Hamilton. Agree that there were frustrations but hey after 20 years of airshows when has there not been frustrations.

The overall mix was sheer quality, only flying Mosquito, unique flypast (lancaster, mosquito, 2 spitfires and 2 hurricanes on sunday-10 merlins). One of the only two flying examples of a Lancaster and Firefly, other rare warbirds and a very rare appearance together of a Fw190 and 262 new builds but quality). The no flying Sabre was a disappointment (flew friday but as I was told pilot not yet cleared for display flying). The P40 went tech- sad but it happens). The friday Mosquito Memories in the Museum when the NZ rebuilder, test pilots, and canadian WWII Mosquito pilot spoke was exceptional and the several hundred attendees obviously enjoyed the talks with the Mosquito backdrop.

Sunday started grey with low cloud and drizzle. No point in going on the early ramp photo opportunity (just like the UK really) but the cold front went through a pace and scattered clouds with lots of sun after about 1pm was the great result. OK the cloud base for the first few flyers caused cancellations (Canso taxied out but returned and sadly no trainers). The 262 only did 1 pass after take off because of a tech problem and was parked on the taxiway for a while until a tug- again tech problems, happen on these rare/old aircraft. But the sunday pm light was much better than the later saturday afternoon light and great photo opportunities particularly for the highlight Lanc/Mosquito/Spits/Hurricanes formation.

Overall the weekend was well worth the effort and cost, and the the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Staff and volunteers, and Jerry Hagen's military Aviation Museum should be congratulated.

Lots of pics to go through and hopefully post later.

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