Location: Windsor International Airport, WindsorAdmission: $12 for adults and $6 for youth
Parking: $5
Value: Excellent
The 2nd annual Windsor Air Show was held at the Windsor International Airport, aka “The Sound of Freedom II” on August 21 and 22, 2010. In addition, on August 20 th, Friday, a special day for kids was held. They received a tour of the static aircraft parked and met the crews of the aircraft from Brazil, USA, and Canada while sharing some pizza, soft drinks, and juice with them. The Windsor air show also caters to all the veterans who can attend the air show as VIP guests at no charge! What a great way to honour our Freedom by saying thank you to all who served!
The Gates open for the general public at 9:00 a.m., however a special "Photo Pass" would allow serious photographers in at 8:00 a.m., to take photos of static displays and pertforming aircraft on the hot ramp! Well worth the additional cost.
The venue has plenty of food vendors and sanitation facilities. It is also a good place for families since there are many activities for children.
The Windsor air show was an outstanding effort, despite the weather not cooperating much. On Saturday, most of the performances did take place, although some were cut short due to rain and low visibility. Most air shows that we have attended in the past would have cancelled, however, the organizer wanted to give the attendees their moneys worth as long as the safety of everyone was not jeopardized. They certainly succeeded in their efforts, as the attendees were dazzled by the precise flying display of the Brazilian Team: The Esquadrilha da Fumaca who flew as per schedule, and what a great performance that was, especially under these circumstances! The Lancaster bomber, from Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, made several nicely banked low level passes and it was good to hear the sound of those 4 Royce Rolls V12 engines. The Canadian Harvard Associations 3 ship Aerobatic Team did a solid performance. The Viper North’s MiG-15Uti was a real hit, even with a very short performance due to the weather. While the CF-18 Team lost their plane a of couple weeks ago, the Canadian Forces sent two CF-18; one static, and one to perform at Windsor. However, the CF-18 had to land shortly after it took off due to deteriorating weather, and just after it landed, the show was called for the day without the Snowbirds flying on Saturday. As for the show announcer – the only “snowboard” at the air show was you!
On Sunday, while it started a bit overcast, at least it did not rain and toward mid-morning the weather started to clear a bit, and toward mid-afternoon it was very pleasant. All the scheduled acts flew, although some of their performances were a bit on the short side. The highlights for me, were the Brazilian Smoke Squadron who did a precise and interesting show, the WWII Warbirds: P-51D Mustang, Hurricane, Lancaster, Lysander, and the Firefly, the rare MiG-15Uti, and the Harvard Aerobatic Team. The CF-18 while it flew, it was very short, just wetting the appetite for more, but at least the CF-18 was at the show. The Snowbirds finally performed too.
The Windsor air show organization, led by Keith Baxter, did an excellent job, and the show deserves a 10/10. But please for next year have a Canadian announcer, who knows the difference between a “snowboard” and “Snowbird”, who can identify aircraft properly, who can actually announce the direction aircraft is coming from before it arrives to show center, and can tell the difference between an aircraft already landed, vs. one which is still flying!
Major Aircraft/Performers Presented:
Brazilian Smoke Squadron
Snowbirds
Canadian Harvard Associations Aerobatic Team
MiG-15 Uti from Viper North
B-52H Bomber
C-17
CF-18
(2) F-16
F-15C Eagle
Lysander
Lancaster
and too many others to list.
Over all the Windsor air show is not only an excellent value for the money spent, but it was the BEST Canadian Air Show so far in 2010!
Rating: 10 out of 10
Photos by Laszlo Nyary and R. von Puttkammer for www.AirShowsReview.com
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