2009 Brantford Air Show Review by Laszlo.

2009 Air Shows

The 2009 Rotary Brantford Charity Air Show

Location: Brantford Airport, Brantford, Ontario.

Admission: FREE!

Parking: $10 donation per vehicle towards the charity.

Value: Excellent

The 10 th Annual Rotary Brantford Charity Air Show is unique and admission is free. Donations are accepted at show entrances for support of their Charity and on site parking is available for $10 per vehicle. Brantford airport is located approximately 35 miles west of Hamilton and is about 1.5 hrs west of Toronto. While it is not a large air show as air shows go, it is a very good one, and truly worth attending if you have the time to visit. This event is usually a couple of days before the CNE Toronto International air show. Some of the advantages of Brantford’s vs. Toronto’s air event, there are static aircraft at Brantford’s show, and one can see, and even talk to the pilots, which of course are simply not possible at the Toronto, unless one is working for the media.

The event this year Brantford was headlined by several major acts who also would participate at the CNE such as the Snowbirds, and the CF-18 Demo Team. However, there were performers such as the Skyhawks Parachute Team, who by the way had a fantastic show, and several rare WWII aircraft from Hamilton, that will not be at the 2009 CNE event.

I would like to thank especially Dave Durant, Inspector, Detachment Commander, Brant County Western Region of the Ontario Provincial Police, for their gracious cooperation and help that I received during the show. My ever lasting thanks also goes to the Skyhawks, and to Captain Ian J. Laporte, PAO, of the Canadian Forces Parachute Team, for allowing me to see them in action at 12,500 ft above the airport.

The flight line layout gave a very good view of the event, and of the pilots getting ready for their performances. The performances by all the teams, such as the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association Aerobatic Team, the CF-18 Century of Flight 3 ship fly-by, were excellent.

There were plenty of concession stands for food and beverage. Sanitation facilities were acceptable; my suggestion for the future though, there might have been more such facilities and dispersed better. Over all, the 10 th Annual Rotary Brantford Charity Air Show was well organized, and even the weather cooperated with warm sunny skies. There were approximately 20-25 thousand people at the show, considering that it was held just after noon on a Wednesday,(while majority of people work) an excellent turnout, considering the variety of aircraft at this free event. The 10th Annual Rotary Brantford Charity Air Show was a success, and deserves our rating of 9.5 out 10.

Some of the participants were:

The Snowbirds
The CF-18 Hornet Century Demo Team
Avro Lancaster bomber
Westland Lysander
B-25J Mitchell
Fairey Firefly
Skyhawks Parachute Team
the Harvard Aerobatic Team
Hawk One F-86 Sabre

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

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