After last years B-17 theme, I figured I had to check out the airshow outside of Detroit again this year.
Driving down friday to stay over night allowed for an early start to the airshow day. But again, as was traditional, Friday saw a military parade down the main st of Belleville.
As the parade approached, Havards from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association
flew down the length of the street.
The parade was led by an honour guard from the Police,
with the re-enacters from WW2
along with vehicles, like this Stuart tank following behind.
As they reached the end of the route, a Mig 21 began to make passes over town.
Then everyone looked out to the lake, to watch 4 LVT's demonstrating there ship like abilities. These were used through out the pacific campaign during WW2.
During the airshow, all 4 were involved in a reenactment of a pacific battle.
The next day, bright and early, it was time to head to the show at the airport. The first thing that greets you is the same reenactors in there camp. Lots of soldiers, from allied and axis armies, were on hand,
along with some representing the women of the time, like these ladies!
Then it was onto the aircraft. They ranged from the origins of the navy, a replica of the Curtis Pusher, the first aircraft the navy used on a ship,
to the most modern of aircraft, like the B1 Bone;
the B2 Spirit of Michigan;
and the MV-22B Osprey.
Another 70's generation aircraft, the f-16, showed that it still has the right stuff to battle in the sky.
I also thought it was unusual to see an fF16 with a hornet tail marking, as thats the standard image for a F18 Hornet!
Other periods including the Vietnam era, where an A-4 Skyhawk
battled a Mig 17 over the airport;
while a WW2 battle involving Japanese Zero's
and US Corsairs also took place.
It was amazing to see two real Japanese Zero's, a first for me. They were very capable, and you could understand how the dominated the battle, until one was discovered by the US and flight tested to learn its weakness, which was negative g's and rolling to the right!
Also on hand for a Legacy flight including aircraft like the PBY-5A Catalina
SB2C-5 Helldiver
TBM-3E Avenger
This one is done up like that used by George Bush in WW2
SBD-5 Dauntless
grumman c-1a trader
The show had two battles, which included a american attack on a german strong point, as well as a pacific island battle with Marines and Japanese soldiers.
Strafing runs by the aircraft represented attacks on ground targets. This is where the skill of the pilots was really on display! Simulating ground attacks, the pilots put the planes down as low as your going to see at any airshow!
And the stars of that battle were the Mustangs, a beautiful aircraft that ended up dominating the sky's above Europe.
