F/A-18 Hornet

2 F-16s (one each from the Netherlands and Belgium) had put on stunning displays of manoeverability and missile avoidance, and now it was the turn of the F-18 from the Aérea de Torrejón Base in Spain which is the Ala 12 squadron's home.

The F-18 is an extremely versatile military aircraft, used in providing air defence for navy fleets, fighter escort for transport and bomber planes, air-to-ground and air-to-air combat, and reconnaissance.

In comparison to the single engine F-16, the twin engine F-18 is quieter, in that its engine noise isn't as harsh and doesn't rip up the air.

Where it shines is that it's highly manoeverable owing to its powerful thrust to weight ratio, and the pilot demonstrated this ability very well, by tail-walking the F-18 at low altitude along the beach, and then applying thrust to take the plane into a steep ascent at low speed. It was awesome to watch.

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Antonov 2R

As far as Russian planes go, there are 3 manufacturers whose names stand above the rest - Antonov, Tupolev and Yakovlev.

The 1st and 3rd had representation at Festa al Cel this year, and Antonov's 2R biplane was the better known.

This remarkable aircraft is a derivative of the original An-2 which was manufactured in its model variants from 1946 until 1991.  It stood in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest production run of any aircraft, but was only recently overtaken by the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

The An-2 had many guises, but was better known as a crop-duster for which it was initially built.  It has also been used as a people and cargo carrier, firefighter and a parachute drop aircraft. 

The Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya plane on display at Festa al Cel was a 2R which is a crop-dusting derivative of the An-2, and originally fitted with a large tank to hold the chemicals.

An interesting feature of the Antonov was that it had no stall speed - the speed at which aircraft stop flying and fall back to Earth.

The pilot's handbook said, "If the engine quits in instrument conditions (blind flying when you can't see the ground) or at night, the pilot should pull the control column full aft (it won't stall) and keep the wings level. The leading-edge slats will snap out at about 64 km/h (40 mph), and when the airplane slows to a forward speed of about 40 km/h (25 mph), the airplane will sink at about a parachute descent rate until the aircraft hits the ground."

Pilots also report that the aircraft is fully in control at 30mph - incredible! A modern-day Cessna has a stall-speed of about 50mph.

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Catalina over Catalonia

The plane that captured my heart at this year's show - the Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina!

My fascination with "flying boats" or "amphibious aircraft" began at a young age, when my father would drive my family down to Laucala Bay in Suva, Fiji to watch the New Zealand Air Force Sunderlands take off and land.  These were the quietest moments for my parents, as my brother and I would sit spellbound, watching these huge craft either disengage out of a watery clasp, or climb ashore after landing, seawater streaming off every curve.

The PBY-5A Catalina is a wondrous beauty of classic aviation.  I would run onto my verandah in Auckland to watch the local Catalina fly by.  The engine noise is distinctive, and she's up there on my list of "must-view-at-every-opportunity" aircraft, along with the DC-3 and Harvard.

The plane on show at Festa al Cel is owned by The Catalina Society based at Duxford Airfield in the UK.  The full history of this aircraft records her beginnings with the Canadian Airforce, before various stints as a transporter and a firefighting water-bomber.

Retractable floats are lowered for water landings.  When retracted, the floats become the wingtips.

She was then converted to a passenger carrier for a sight-seeing venture in Zimbabwe but that fell through, and after some time in storage in Nanaimo, The Catalina Society purchased and flew her from British Columbia, in Canada, to the UK. She is now used in airshows and sightseeing flights.

More posts on the Barcelona Airshow can be viewed by clicking the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Helicopter Displays

Festa al Cel wasn't short of helicopter displays this year, with a couple of rescue choppers as well as the display team of the Spanish Air Force.

Helicóptero Salvamento Maritimo (Spain's Coastguard), based in Reus, flew in an Agusta Westland 139 to rendezvous with a coastguard vessel.  They then demonstrated a personnel transfer between the helicopter and boat.  Spain's coastguard helicopters are used for Search and Rescue operations in the Mediterranean, as well as the monitoring and detection of water pollution.

A Puma helicopter from Mallorca's SAR Escuadrón 801 performed a simulated rescue of a man in the water.

Spain's Air Force flew in Patrulla Aspa, or Blade Patrol in English.  Using 5 Eurocopter EC120B Colibrí helicopters, the team was formed in 2003 and is based at Armilla. Their display is always a popular one with the spectators and touted to be the best in the world, out of all the helicopter formation teams.

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Twister Duo

A brand new acrobatic team showed their wings at this year's Festa al Cel.  The UK's Twister Duo uses 2 Silence SA180/SA1100 Twister planes for its aerobatic display. The Silence Twister aircraft is a German design which has been tweaked and modified in order for it to attain UK Group A and aerobatic certification.

The planes are very quiet - hence the "Silence" part in their name - almost too quiet, as they don't announce their arrival like some of the noisier aircraft.  However this doesn't detract from the competent and stunning display of synchronised aerobatics that are part of their routine.

As well as the Twister Duo, one of the planes teams up with an S1 Glider and a Cessna tow-plane for a demonstration with a difference.

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Hispano Aviación HA-200 Super Saeta

When I first saw this jet at last year's Festa al Cel, I didn't know what it was.  Intensive online research revealed why - it's not an aircraft that was widely flown.  The HA-200 Super Saeta was only operated by 2 countries, (Spain and Egypt), and only 200 units were built - 110 for Spain and 90 for Egypt.  The Spanish airforce used their planes for both combat and as trainers.

Willie Messerschmidt assisted in the Saeta's design and, in 1962, Spain rolled out its first turbojet manufactured in the country.  Saeta means Arrow, and the plane is powered by 2 Turbomeca Marboré engines mounted side-by-side, with intakes in the jet's nose. Another design first for Spain was the development of the pressurised cockpit which seated 2 pilots in tandem.

Festa al Cel featured 2 Saetas in its 2010 display.  One is privately owned by Victor Lleó from the Club Acrobático Mediterráneo, and the other is owned by the Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya.

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Planes from Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya

With the Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya based in Sabadell, just out of Barcelona, (and where some of the visiting planes to Festa al Cel were based for the week), it wasn't surprising that they would parade some of their working exhibits.

Unfortunately, some flew too far off the beach to get decent photos, so I missed getting the older biplanes and the T6 Harvard.

The Fundació's website is merely a placeholder as of now but, hopefully with time, they'll start populating it with information as they do have some wonderful aircraft with local origins.

I'll be covering the Antonov 2R and Saetas in separate posts.

The MBB 233 Flamingo is a rare bird these days.  It was built by SIAT (West Germany) in the 1960s in response to demands for an aeroclub training aircraft.  In 1970, SIAT was acquired by MMB which was the successor to Messerschmidt. (Willy Messerschmidt was a big influence on the development of planes in this area.) Production was later handed to CASA.  In 1986, the Flamingo was the test plane in the development of Porsche's aircraft engine.  At present, there are only 2 known MBB Flamingos still flying in the world.

MBB 233 Flamingo

Built in the 60s in Czechoslovakia, the 2-seater Zlin Z-326 Tréner Master was manufactured in large numbers and sold all over Europe.  It was one of the most highly successful acrobatic planes ever made, and won many competitions in its era.

Zlin Z-326 Tréner Master

Following on the heels of the Z-326, the Zlin Z-526 Akrobat was developed specifically for acrobatic events.  The single-seat plane boasted a 6 cylinder, 160hp inverted engine.

Zlin Z-326 Tréner Master

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Pioneer Team, Italy

Festa al Cel 2010 had no shortage of formation teams, and one of the cutest (am I allowed to say that about a formation team?) was the Pioneer Team from Italy.

Flying 4 Pioneer 300 propeller planes, they showed that they could mix it with the big boys when it came to formation flying, and gave a very competent and entertaining 10 minute performance.

The Pioneer 300 planes are categorised as "ultralight" aircraft, basically meaning that they are slower and lighter than most other aircraft, are more affordable, and have less restrictions on them than higher performance planes.  The restrictions differ from one country to another.

A surprise came with a short pyrotechnic display as the planes each fired off a spray of fireworks.

The finale was a slo-mo dance across the sky, the smoke reflecting the Italian flag colours, with Pavarotti blaring through the PA system - very Italy!

Grazie Pioneer Team!

To read more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

P-51D Mustang

I love this little plane for its distinctive engine whine, and certainly because I was once able to climb aboard one in New Zealand and get a photo of its impressive cockpit!

Depending on which website I read, I found that this particular P-51 - Nooky Booky IV - was either listed as a P-51D or a P-51K.  The difference between them was the factory location and the propeller diameter.  The P-51K was manufactured in Dallas, Texas and fitted with a shorter 11" diameter propeller.  It proved to be unreliable, and was later replaced with the original 11' 2" propeller.

Nooky Booky IV has a famous history. In WWII she flew with the 357th Fighter Group over Europe, and her pilot Major Leonard K. "Kit" Carson was the highest scoring Ace in the group with a tally of 18 and a half victories - achieved in only one tour of duty.  Not sure what the "half" was - maybe a shared "kill"!

Although I can't find any mention of it, because of the prancing horse on the plane's tail, I'm also wondering if the original Packard V-1650 V12 piston engine has been replaced by a Ferrari engine.

The distinctive side profile of the P-51D Mustang

American-produced, the P-51 Mustang was actually built to British specifications.  The original design was powered by the American Allison V-1710 engine, but when that proved to be unreliable at high altitudes, the British Rolls Royce Merlin 60 engine was a perfect substitute.  At 30,000' the plane reached speeds of 440mph which was 100mph faster than speeds achieved with the Allison engine. (Later the Rolls Royce engine was replaced by the derivative V-1650 engine made by Packard, under licence to Rolls Royce.)

Speed was essential because the P-51's first role was with the British RAF, during WWII in Europe, escorting bomber squadrons and providing cover by engaging with enemy aircraft in order for the bombers to complete their missions.

The P-51 then served with the US Forces in the Pacific War and in the earlier days of the Korean War, before being superseded by newer jet fighters.  Its popularity still kept it in service until around 1982 before it was retired. The P-51D differed in looks to earlier versions because of its full perspex "bubble" canopy which greatly increased visibility towards the rear of the aircraft.  The popularity of this model ensured its longevity, and it was used by the fighting and defence forces of 55 nations.

Many of the retired Mustangs were bought by private owners and converted into air race specialists, or lovingly restored to become collectors' items and exhibited at airshows and displays such as Festa al Cel.

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Firefighting Planes

This year's Festa al Cel had a good representation of utility planes and helicopters with an interesting display coming from 2 firefighting planes.

The cute little Air Tractor is an extremely versatile aircraft, and can be configured to land on water or land. They can be used for crop dusting, seeding, firefighting, aerial spraying and there's now even a dinky military version to provide cover for ground troops.

The cute little single-seater Air Tractor

In Spain, Air Tractors are used by the Bombers de la Generalitat (Catalonia firefighters), and are usually the first response to bush and forest fires because of their ability to land in smaller lakes to scoop up water.

Able to fly low over a fire, the Air Tractor delivers an effective spread of water to douse flames

Affectionately called Zapatones (boots) by their pilots, these nimble aircraft effectively deliver loads of water over fires in quick succession, providing both extinguishing capabilities and cover for firefighters on the ground.


The Canadair CL-215T Grupo 43 delivers a bigger quantity of water per load, but requires larger and longer stretches of water on which to operate.

Canadair CL-215T Grupo 43

Also known as "Super Scoopers", their tanks can hold 5,300 litres (5,400 kg) of fluid which can be picked up in 10 seconds from the time the plane lands in the water and skims along at 75–80 knots (140–150 kph).  That's impressive!

Scooping up water.  The overflow spills out of the aluminium tubes located just behind the wheels on both sides.

They can land on water or land, and are capable of delivering 75-125 loads of water to a fire every day, depending on the proximity of the water source to the location of the fire.

Delivering a big water-bomb

The Canadair is renown for its ability to be very stable in gusty conditions which are often found above large fires.  They operate well at low speeds with a stall speed of 125kph.

 

 A low-level farewell pass

You can read more posts on the Barcelona Airshow by clicking on the label "Festa al Cel" below.

Holland's F-16

Not wanting to be outdone by their neighbours Belgium, Holland also sent along an F-16 from their RNLAF F-16 Demo Team which opened Sunday's programme.
 

With a plane painted in a metallic orange camouflage design, the Dutch display was also very good. Under the command of Captain Tobias Schutte from Leeuwarden Airbase, it takes a lot of people to keep this plane in the air. Apart from the pilot, the team consists of two coaches, six technical specialists, and two advisors.  As always, there are advisors!

"One Team, One Task" is the motto of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, and the Demo Team is not an exception to this.  Not only do they perform their demo duties but, if required, they can also be deployed to worldwide airforce operations during the demo season.

The F-16 was designed with a bubble canopy, giving the pilot superb surround visibility.  A Heads-up-display is projected onto the canopy, so that the pilot seldom has to look down at his controls.  This greatly reduces chances of motion sickness and dizziness.

Unlike many other aircraft, the joystick controller in the F-16 is not mounted in the center, but on the right-hand side.  This allows the seat to be more reclined which further reduces the motion-sickness and G-force effects.  I wonder if they have left-handed models for left-handed pilots?  Are there any left-handed F-16 pilots?

 You can view more posts on the airshow by clicking on the "Festa al Cel" label below.