PolskiThese wasn’t a standard AirShow… 3 days of amazing air experiences, 2 evenings of night shows, excellent soloists and aerobatic teams from all over Europe. This is how, briefly, Gdynia Aerobaltic 2018 show can be described. The event took place on August 17-19, 2018 at Gdynia-Kosakowo airport and at the city beach in Gdynia.
It was the second edition of the show in this location, and, after the successful completion of the first edition, the organizers decided to extend this event to three days and two locations. The whole event has started by night show over the city beach on Friday evening, Saturday was full of attractions day airport and the evening again over the beach, while the Sunday was restricted to only airport part.
The organizer of the event was Aeropact company with the support of the main sponsor Lotos Air BP Poland. I must admit that Aeropact “learns from mistakes”, and from the organizational point of view it is difficult to accuse them of anything. And the fact that the shows were visited by over 300,000 people only confirms this.
Friday was a day dedicated to training for all teams and soloists – both those flying during the day and during night shows. It was also a time for spotters and media representatives to participate in aviation photography workshops or get to know the crews better, to be 100% prepared for the shows. Naturally, they had at their disposal a special zone with a dedicated platform in both locations, as well as professional equipment from Canon Polska for testing purposes
Friday and Saturday evening shows on the city beach attracted a huge crowd of spectators each day. Every performance was unique, and the people behind the controls gave their best. In the rays of the setting sun, first jumpers from the Sky Magic S3 team of the Military University of Technology appeared first. White-Red Wings Foundation presented the famous biplane An-2 presented in the sky with the company of the 3AT3 Formation Flying Team, and later also during a dedicated photo flight.
Another attraction of each of the two evenings was the 57-My Team show, and after dark twister swirled in the air brightening the sky with rain of sparks. For dessert, the crowd of spectators present at Gdynia’s city beach had the opportunity to admire the irreplaceable Artur Kielak in a duet with Mateusz Strama, piloting the legendary Yak-3 plane. The soaring feats, the brightness of the neon lights of the aircraft and the stunning pyrotechnics created at the bay magical evenings, an unforgettable atmosphere that resulted in wonderful memories and beautiful photos.
Daily shows on Saturday and Sunday were inaugurated the drop of paratroopers. Performed by the flight masters, Sky Magic S3 WAT, the presentation of their skills was breathtaking. For the first time in front of the audience, there were also jumps with the largest flag in the history of Poland (240 sqm) attached to the paratrooper. In the morning block you could also admire the only flying civilian TS-11 in Europe from the White-Red Wing Foundation with Tadeusz Zaworski at the controls – the excellent and very correct pilot’s display aroused the Gdynia audience’s ovation.
Shortly after noon, the antique T-6 Harvard machines appeared in the sky in the company of the Orlik Aerobatic Team. Foreign aerobatic groups have also arrived, and here, in particular, the Royal Jordanian Falcons should be mentioned, who came to Jordan from the show and presented incredibly precise figures in a very close formation. Baltic Bees Jet Team from Latvia made even more noise – 6xL-39 Albatros, stunts up to + 6.5G, complicated figures and team flights showed that “Bees” really spent a lot of time on preparing the choreography. Noteworthy is also the group “Patrouille Reva”, which, despite the unusual design of the aircraft (canard layout) and the seemingly poor structure, presented a really amazing bunch of figures in the air.
There is no doubt that Gdynia Aerobaltic is a show with a lot of air potential. Great location, better organization and more and more prestigious teams makes this airshow more significant in the calendar of more and more people. See you next year!
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