A Few Photos from The Whitsunday Airport at Shute Harbour as Final Preparations for The Airlie Beach Airshow are made

I spent a great day at the Whitsunday Airport at Shute Harbour on Friday 25 September as final preparations were made for the Airlie Beach Airshow which will be held over Saturday 26 September and Sunday 27 September.

There was a steady stream of movements - mostly from local operators - however a nice selection of aircraft and helicopters touched down for the airshow either as a participant or a visiting aircraft.

Perhaps the most highly anticipated aircraft to arrive were the six Pilatus PC-9/A's of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) elite formation aerobatic display team - The Roulettes - which arrived directly from Longreach Airport where they have been based for the last couple of days - see Blog Post below.

Around three hours of flying displays are planned for both days from around midday onwards.  The display will feature aircraft from local operators - Air Whitsunday Seaplane, GSL Aviation, Whitsunday Tiger Moth Adventures and Whitsunday Heli Taxi.

Along with flying and aerobatic displays from The RAAF Roulettes and visiting Warbirds including Aero Vodochody L-39C Albatross VH-LCJ, Avioane Craiova Yak-3U-R2000 VH-YOV, CAC CA-25 Winjeel VH-SOB, CAC CA-18 Mk21 Mustang VH-MFT and Amateur Built Spitfire Replica VH-KPW.

Paul Bennet's four visiting aircraft including Grumman TBM-3E Avenger VH-MML, CAC CA-3 Wirraway VH-WWY, Aerostar YAK-52 VH-MHH and brand new Amateur Built Pitts S1-11X (Wolf Pitts Pro) VH-PVX are also due to have a prominent role.

As shown, most aircraft had practice flights on Friday - it was certainly a spectacular day - and it looks like the Airlie Beach Airshow will be a magnificent weekend!