2007
African Bush Pilots Fly-In and Airshow.
The fourth
annual African Bush Pilots Fly-In was held once again at the Barberton
Airfield between Wed 8 and Sunday 12 August. The main difference this
year apart from previous years was it was held over two main days
instead of one. The second day was reserved as an airshow. The event
was organized and hosted by CC Pocock and Shirley Johnson of Bush
Air, who own and reside on the airfield. It was an outstanding success,
better than all previous years. A total of 47 aircraft flew in to
the Barberton Valley Airfield over the weekend (Confirmed by individual
photographs).
Aircraft started
to arrive on Wednesday 8th. Most pilots camped out along the runway,
with their aircraft, the entire weekend. Some local pilots and their
aircraft from Nelspruit and surrounding private airstrips participated
in the flying competitions on the Friday then departed back to their
home base airfields but drove back to the event so that they could
stay and enjoy the Airshow day and party on the Saturday evening.
Friday was
reserved for display authorizations and numerous flying competitions
which included Spot landings, Short Field operations, Flour Bombing
and Toilet roll cutting.
Saturday was
reserved as the Airshow day and started off with an air race to the
Barberton Town and back to the airfield. The airshow program included
many different types of General Aviation flying displays and skydiving
displays. The day ended with a Pyro-FX Air Raid war scene incorporating
a 2nd World War twin radial engine Beech-18 "Bomber", owned
by Mercy Air in White River, as well as live explosives simulating
machine gun strafing and bombing runs. The "Target" was
a min-bus vehicle sponsored by F&H Tow-In, Barberton. The mini-bus
was blown up during the display. The Air Raid ended with a massive,
hot and loud "Wall of Fire" Napalm explosion which sent
a shock wave for many kilometers around the airfield.
A high impact
fireworks display by Pyro-Fx was held after the prize giving and the
after-party continued until early Sunday morning. Flips were given
in a World War 2 Tiger Moth all weekend. Air Traffic Control was supplied
by Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) from Rand Airport Johannesburg.
Emergency Services participation: Barberton Fire dept: Clarence Hobbs,
Jan van Vuuren, Allen Sampson. Provincial EMS: Jan Oberholser.
Phoenix
Hotel Sponsored rooms for all the officials and also supplied all
the catering for the event over the entire weekend. Jock of the Bushveld
Huts Sponsored the media accommodation. Barberton Pick n Pay supplied
Goodie bags to pilots that flew into the event. PYRO-FX (Based on
the Airfield) Supplied the Pyrotechnic Special Effects and the Fireworks
display. Aerial-FX Skydiving sponsored the Skydiving displays and
Bruce Robson Fencing sponsored the crowd line fence.
