This was the second year of our club's involvement in the Brantford Rotary Airshow and again it was a success, with many spectators and over $40,000 raised for charity! Below please find a review of the show from the airshowreviews.com website, which rated us 8.5 out of 10. Well done team!
 

The 11th Annual Rotary Brantford Charity Air Show in 2010 was not much different than in 2009 accept for some of acts. Same policy as last year, admission is free. Donations are accepted at show entrances for support of the 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 held mid-week, 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.

This year the weather was very sunny, hot and humid. Due to the heat plenty of water consumption is a must. At most air shows this can be quite expensive up to $4.00 per bottle of water however, in Brantford the price of a bottle of cold water ranged from $1.25 to $1.50! A bargain! There were plenty of food vendors with a wide variety of selection for such a small show and sanitation facilities were acceptable.

This year's line up was not as good as last year's. The advertised and confirmed CF-18 never showed up neither did the Spitfire. The main headliners were the Snowbirds, which always close the show and thrill the crowds. The Canadian Forces CT-114 Tutor Centennial (a repainted Snowbird) was also present. Other performers included the Skyhawks Parachute Team, Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association Aerobatic Team, Rob Holland, and several rare flying aircraft from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum both as static and flying. As for photography a lens in the 400mm plus range works the best for any aerial, a smaller wide angle zoom works best for static. However, with all the school buses parked (as markers) one has to be careful with the background for shots for take-off and for landings.

Over all, the 11th Annual Rotary Brantford Charity Air Show was well organized, and was well worth the visit.

Some of the participants were:

  • Canadian Forces Snowbirds
  • Canadian Forces SkyHawks
  • Canadian Forces CT-114 Tutor Centennial
  • Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team
  • Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Avro Lancaster bomber
  • Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Westland Lysander
  • Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum B-25J Mitchell
  • Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Canso PBY
  • Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum C-47 Dakota
  • Rob Holland
  • Danny Richer - T-28 Trojan
  • Rick Volker -SU-26
  • Martin Mattes - L29 & YAK 55
  • Beechcraft King Air B-200
For those that would like to watch more pics, here is a good link: http://www.pbase.com/dgeall/brantford_2010