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Airshow teaser event rocks and rolls skies over Cranbrook
“I have never felt anything like that in my life!”
The canopy of the Chinese Nanchang CJ-6A had just slid open.
“I held my puke for at least 10 minutes!”
The young woman seated in the rear of the dark green plane was the first passenger of the day for pilot Geoff Latter. She was ecstatic as she clambered down to the tarmac, unsteady in her flight suit and parachute.
More than a dozen regional and visiting members of the media and invited guests were treated to a rare privilege August 17 when the Canadian Rockies International Airshow Society (CRIAS) hosted a final pre-2016 air show teaser event at Canadian Rockies International Airport, with rides in acrobatic and classic planes and access to a CF-18 Hornet.
Captain Denis (Cheech) Beaulieu of 3 Wing out of Bagotville, Quebec, warmly greeted media, guests and CRIAS volunteers and offered fascinating insights into his legendary jet.
The CF-18 Hornet is painted in the colours of a Hawker Hurricane, part of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain this year.
City of Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt was the lone lucky soul to be allowed to venture into the cockpit of the CF-18.
Saskatoon’s Stefan Trischuk in his bright yellow Pipistrel Ultimate 10-150 biplane and Geoff Latter in his Chinese Nanchang CJ-6A, a smooth and powerful training plane from the late 1950s, provided rides for guests during the morning.
Later in the day the Yellow Thunder team and their powerful and loud Harvards and Dave Mathieson, Canada’s number one aerobatic pilot (also known as Super Dave) and his Scheyden MX2 dropped into the airport to provide more thrilling rides for guests.
City of Cranbrook Coun. And B-104 radio station’s Danielle Cardozo said her ride was a lifetime experience, complete with numerous G-force cranking turns, barrel rolls, drop aways and pinpoint accuracy flying by Dave Mathieson.
“I’d do it again, for sure,” she said, eyes wide with exciting recall.
The airshow society also had Mayor Pratt and Capt. Beaulieu assist them in drawing a fundraising raffle prize – two tickets to anywhere WestJet flies. Check HERE to see who the lucky winner is when it is posted.
With the teaser events behind them, it’s now up to CRIAS volunteers and the community to raise the needed funds required to stage an international airshow on August 5/6, 2016.
If you would like to help out or provide funds, please go HERE for more information.
Watch the CF-18 take off from CRIA.
Please click on an image to enlarge and to begin self-directed slide show.
Photos by Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
