AFB Waterkloof
Thanks Tim & Others. Yes the wx was superb for the AAD air show. Quite a few novelties though. The crowds were queuing at the gates for entry to the show at 06.30 hrs. My first display was for 08.45 hrs. And the air force ground crew were a tad wary of the opening 'Pirouette' manoeuvre thinking I might scrape a hole in their new tarmac, so the fire guys flooded the lift off position with foam!
And a big AND ... Waterkloof is a whisker under 5000 feet ... mid day temperatures circa 90 degrees, so shades of my Salt Lake City faux pas! Hopefully none of us make the same mistake twice but since the display machines were the MD530F, 630 SHP C30 to be followed by Enstrom's highly manoeuverable 480B, the resultant DA was well within the types handling.
Air Shows are big in South Africa. I'm told the daily attendance was circa 35,000 with a show total of 130,000! I'd have to say one of the ... if not THE most enjoyable flying week of my career. Best wishes to all pps. Dennis K.