Air Total Newcastle Airshow 2018
(first published in African Pilot)
The town of Newcastle, nestling in the foothills of the Drakensburg is home to the only airshow currently held in the KwaZulu-Natal province. This is the 8th year that Champ Marketing have successfully organised and run the airshow.
Air Show
The airshow opened with the customary parachute jump and this was followed by Glenn Warden flying the Goodyear Eagles L-29 jet. Glenn always performs a polished display. Then a change of pace as Ivan van der Schaar took to the skies in his classic Boeing Stearman biplane. The South African Air Force (SAAF) Silver Falcons Team 82 inaugural display followed. This is a proud moment in the history of the Silver Falcons. Neville Ferreira followed with his Slick 540 dancing in the skies.
Derek Hopkins gracefully displayed the grand old lady of the skies, the classic Douglas DC-3 Dakota, an aircraft that was instrumental in bringing air travel to the masses. He returned during the lunch break with team Extreme on his wingtips before departing for home.
The SAAF had two helicopters present for the airshow and a display was flown by an Agusta A-109. The other helicopter, an Oryx was kept busy providing many under-privileged children with their first taste of aviation.
The pace picked up again, with Nigel Hopkins and Mark Hensman from Team Extreme performing their high energy display. Later in the day Nigel performed a solo display in his Porsche branded Extra 330SC. Patrick Davidson then took to the skies in his Red Bull branded Sbach. It is great to see Patrick becoming a more regular participant on the local airshow circuit.
It was back to the classics with Scully Levin leading the Puma Energy Harvard display team. The Goodyear Eagles Pitts display team (another classic design) followed them.
The afternoon was more of the same with the highlight of the show when a 2 squadron SAAF Gripen fighter flew in from Makhado Air Force Base for a short display. This is always a thrill to the crowd.
In the late afternoon, Mathew Zalewski, who had experienced a snag on the gyrocopter managed to get it all sorted out to allow his display to be performed.
Silver Falcons
The South African Air Force’s premier display team, The Silver Falcons were in attendance for the show. In a major historical milestone for the team this was the first team to be led by an African pilot. Major Omphile Mutloane replaced Major Mark Gentiles and has had the team working up in the past few months. Now they were ready. All that training has paid off and the display was as smooth and polished as ever. Currently the team is a flying 4 ship display whilst they evaluate and select the 5th team member who will eventually slot into the number two position.
The newest team member is Major Corné van Deventer and he earned his Silver Falcons team patch after flying two displays with the team. His patch was presented to him by Brian Emmenis during the function following the airshow.
Eagle Air, a flight training academy based in Wonderboom were the gracious hosts for all the visiting display pilots and crew in their VIP hangar. Thanks guys for the relaxing area one could chill out in. Champ Marketing must be congratulated on a successful and safe airshow. We thank them for the facilities offered. It is amazing that this small town hosts a major airshow when other flying clubs in KwaZulu-Natal, with longer histories and traditions are unable to do so. Comprehensive commentary, provided by Brian Emmenis and Capital Sounds kept the airshow attendees informed constantly throughout the event.
