The Old Station Fly-in and Heritage Show 2022 at Raglan - Many Photos from a Wonderful Long Weekend!

What a wonderful long weekend!

The Old Station Fly-in and Heritage Show at Raglan was held over the long weekend of Friday 27 May to Sunday 29 May, with 1000's of people from all over the region in attendance over the three days enjoying the sights and sounds as over 200 aircraft and helicopters flew in from all parts of Queensland and interstate! There was also an impressive truck show, some classic cars, and plenty of new and old machinery. Meanwhile, the tractor pulling was extremely popular with big crowds enjoying the action during the weekend!

The entire weekend was hosted by the Creed Family and the Old Station Flying Club. There was support from numerous sponsors and various charity organisations, along with other local flying groups, who not only had their aircraft on display, but also assisted with the ground marshalling, parking all the visiting aircraft and helicopters.

Most aircraft had arrived by Friday with pilots enjoying dinner and entertainment on Friday night.  From early on Saturday, one of biggest crowds seen at the Old Station Farm came to and wandered amongst the visiting aircraft (with even more arrivals!) and enjoyed car and truck displays, market stalls, various machinery and of course, the tractor pulling!

For most of the weekend, the crowd was entertained by some spectacular Warbirds which operated regular aerobatic joyflights out of the Old Station.  

Paul Bennet Airshows had all their 'regular' aircraft in attendance - plus their merchandise truck!

Inverted Downunder / Matt Hall Racing Extra EA-300L VH-IOG and MX Aircraft MXS VH-CQE also operated several aerobatic joyflights during the weekend.

Slightly more sedate was Rockhampton Helicopters Robinson R44 helicopter which also operated joyflights over the Old Station and surrounds.

While McDermott Aviation Group / Machjet International are always great supporters of the Old Station Fly-in and this time they sent three helicopters - new registered Bell Helicopter Textron 214B-1 Biglifter VH-SUF and Aerospatiale / Eurocopter Dauphins N365JA and N366SR.

During the middle of Saturday afternoon, the crowds settled in for a spectacular airshow which featured aerobatic displays by Paul Bennet Airshows and Australia's own Top Gun pilot Matt Hall.

The skies above the Old Station came alive as the airshow started with a four-ship formation featuring Paul Bennet and Gary Graham in Wolf Pitts Pro VH-PVB and 'new' Edge-540 VH-PBU, along with Matt Hall and Emma McDonald in MX Aircraft MXS VH-CQE and Extra EA-300L VH-IOG.  They then performed a missing-man flight in memory of late Old Station Flying Club president Allan 'Kiwi' Andrew who recently passed away.

This was followed by a patriotic parachute drop from Skydive OZ Cessna U206F VH-OZP with the parachutist accompanied on his descent by Paul Bennet himself in his Wolf Pitts Pro VH-PVB.

Matt Hall and Emma McDonald in MX Aircraft MXS VH-CQE and Extra EA-300L VH-IOG then completed a display with Matt Hall later returning to the skies to complete a spectacular solo display.

The Old Station's own Bell 47G-2A-1 helicopter VH-AKN then took to the sky to complete a spirited display.

It was followed by the unmistakable Grumman TBM-3E Avenger Warbird VH-MML.

And then Paul Bennet returned to the skies putting his Amateur-built Wolf Pitts Pro VH-PVB through its paces with a truly spectacular aerobatic display which had the massive crowds buzzing!

Caboolture-based Commonwealth CA-16 Wirraway Mk3 VH-MFW was next up completing several nice flypasts.

The ever popular North American T-28 Trojan VH-TRO then put on a great display featuring several flypasts.

Performance Aero / Flying Fighters Museum (Brisbane) Aero Vodochody L-39C Albatros VH-SIC then completed a spectacular high-speed display.

Rockhampton-based R-Mach Aviation PZL Warszawa-Okecie M-18B Dromader VH-MDR and Ayres S2R Turbine Thrush VH-NFF then put on a great combined handling and then water-bombing and spraying display.

New Zealand Aerospace Industries Ltd CT-4A Airtrainer VH-CTQ then took the skies over Old Station.

And finally, Paul Bennet and Gary Graham in Wolf Pitts Pro VH-PVB and 'new' Edge-540 VH-PBU flew together for the last act of the day. 

In all, a 2-and-a-half hour airshow. 

After the airshow, the people that stayed at the Old Station - including a large amount of on-site campers - were entertained with live music, bonfires and a spectacular fireworks display.

It was a wonderful weekend with most aircraft departing for their home airfields during a cool but clear morning on Sunday.

It should be pointed out that all proceeds from the weekend - from admissions, auctions, food and drink sales, and part of the joyflights - will be given back to all the volunteer associations that assisted with the weekend.  This includes the Capricorn Helicopter Rescue Service (CHRS) and as always, the CHRS (Babcock Mission Critical Services Australasia) Agusta S.P.A. AW139 Helicopter VH-YXR proved again to be a popular visitor on the Saturday after it flew down from Rockhampton Airport as "Rescue 300".

Finally, one other touching tribute to the late Leonie Creed was seen with a lovely gathering area and lookout over the entrance to the farm bearing her name.

We would like to congratulate the Creed Family and the Old Station Flying Club for running yet another very successful weekend! Their hard work and commitment are remarkable and should be heartily congratulated!

Sincere thanks to the local plane spotters for their help in compiling this article!