Wings Over Illawarra 2019 Airshow

Warbirds Online attended the Wings Over Illawarra (WOI) 2019 Airshow on the 4th and 5th of May. This show has built up a great reputation as one of Australia’s premier airshows over the past few years and this year’s edition was no exception.

The weather could have been kinder on the Sunday and curtailed Sunday’s Warbird showcase somewhat. However over the two days all of the assembled Warbirds got into the air at one time or another, against the fantastic backdrop of the Illawarra escarpment which is surely one of the world’s great backdrops for an Airshow.

Among the flying Warbird gathering were BAC Jet Provost T5A VH-JPV of Zental Aviation, CAC Wirraway A20-176, North American T6 Harvard VH-WHF, Boeing Stearman VH-ILW, Jeff Trappett in his CAC CA-27 Mk32 Sabre, Paul Bennet’s TBM Avenger and T28, the Scone based Hawker Hurricane C/N 60372, C-FDNL, Mk XII / IIB Serial No 5481 VH-JFW and their Curtiss P-40E 41-25109 (RAF serial ET433) VH-KTY as well as CAC Mustangs CA-18 Mk.21 Mustang A68-110 (VH-MFT) from Caboolture in Queensland and  Pay’s Scone based CAC Mustang (VH-AUB) A68-107.  The Temora based Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI, VH-XVI Military S/N: TB863 performed faultlessly, especially when in formation with the Hurricane – a not to be missed display. The fighter displays were varied with the two Mustangs performing together, the Spitfire and Hurricane pair and the P40 flew with the Mustang and Spitfire providing some very memorable combinations of these WWII greats.

HARS also displayed its resident DHC4 Caribou A4-234 which stunned the crowd with its STOL performance as well as the ability to reverse down the runway.

The RAAF as always supported Wings Over Illawarra in fine fashion with an excellent flying contribution by C-17 Globemaster III, P-8A Poseidon, C-130J Hercules, C-27J Spartan and 2 X BAE Hawk 127 lead-in fighter trainers. The RAAF also had its Roulettes display their new Pilatus PC-21 aircraft for the first time in a 4 ship formation.  The new aircraft sounded great compared to the older PC-9 and obviously performed a little more sprightly routine.  We look forward to the team displaying in the future with a full complement. Sadly this year there were no “hairy chested” RAAF fighters as the F/A-18A/B Hornets, F/A-18F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growler were all busy “at work” on exercises and the F-35A  Joint Strike Fighter is not yet ready for regular displays so we look forward to next year’s displays of these types. The P8 was however very nimble in its display as a consolation.

HARS supported the event as always and flew the DHC 4 Caribou and one its C47s as part of a RAAF transport Tableau starting with C47, DHC 4, C27, C130J and finally the majestic C17

The HARS static display of its diverse fleet is always a highlight of the airshow and this year was a comprehensive variation on previous shows with 3 Lockheed P2V-7 (SP-2H) Neptune’s displayed alongside each other for the first time and a very impressive site it was too! 3 Douglas C47 / DC3 machines in a variety of RAAF and Civil schemes were on view as well as the Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina recently refitted with the correct two gun turret and a very rare Radome which has just been completed and is certainly a smart addition to this machine. The HARS Lockheed  P3 C Orion was also displayed as well as the newly acquired F50 Fokker project. Also on static display were the Convair 440 and Douglas DC4 / C-54 Skymaster which is making solid progress to flight and ids finished on one side in a QANTAS scheme and a TAA scheme on the other.

Another beautiful restoration taking place at HARS is the Fokker FVIIB “Southern Cross” Replica (VH-USU) which makes amazing progress every time we see it and this time it has its first of 3 refurbished engines fitted. It will soon make an amazing sight over the airstrip.

Another harbinger of future HARS progress for WOI was the display of two of the recently acquired fleet of RAN Navy Heritage Flight airframes, one awaiting a return to the air being Hawker Sea Fury WG 630 which had been assembled and was on display in HARS main hangar and one of the Westland Wessex on display in the Maintence hangar. It will be great to see the Sea Fury fly in the future along with a Grumman S-2G Tracker and perhaps some of the other aircraft from this collection.

The Wings over the Illawarra airshows continue to grow.  The displays, flying participants, organization and support arrangements are excellent and we can’t wait for the 2020 edition. Warbirds Online thanks the organizers, Bright Events Pty Ltd for their assistance as well as HARS for providing access to their facilities.  We look forward to WOI 2020!

© John Parker 2019