Airshow London 2020 (Now "Sky Drive" Presented by ASL)

Discussion relating to 2020 airshows/fly-ins/exercises/other events. Post news before the event and post your photos afterwards! Please create only one thread per event.
Ack
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:55 am
Location: Michigan

Post by Ack » Tue Sep 15, 2020 3:17 am

Didn't have much time to go through pics yet, but here's a few from the Selfridge side......
TBIRD_01_s.jpg
TBIRD_01_s.jpg (52.78 KiB) Viewed 889144 times
A10_DEMO_01_s.jpg
A10_DEMO_01_s.jpg (64.89 KiB) Viewed 889144 times
F22_01_s.jpg
F22_01_s.jpg (49.08 KiB) Viewed 889144 times
More to come!
Last edited by Ack on Tue Sep 15, 2020 3:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Chris Smallenberg
Posts: 209
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 8:30 pm

Post by Chris Smallenberg » Tue Sep 15, 2020 3:26 am

Bingofuel wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 3:44 pm
As a displaced Abby Airshow veteran I finally had the opportunity to compare the two shows. Albeit this one being different for several reasons.

London has a massive advantage in terms of Runway proximity, and especially lighting. Wow, the runway orientation in London is perfect for photos! I'm not a photographer but being spared 7 hours of staring into the sun was a welcome experience. Kinda like RIAT and Oshkosh in that way.

I give massive kudos to the show organizers for pulling this off. Traffic management was pretty good to and from the Red Zone, and barely spent half hour trying to leave which is quite reasonable. Any large aviation event at all this year was a welcome distraction.

Really unfortunate the F-22 had its show slot exactly when a cloud decided to hover over the showline, which prevented most "Raptor-ish" maneuvers like the power loop, tailslide, and pedal Turns. Still impressive though.

F-35 was definitely being flown by BEO like she stole it. Wow, it's not the prettiest jet but its acceleration is unreal. Too bad it went mechanical. Was looking forward to seeing the 4 ship heritage flight.

F-16, C-17, and A-10 were amazing as always. You can tell the ShiV is a third year demo pilot, he flies that thing lower than anyone I've ever seen.

The abbreviated Thunderbirds routine caught me off guard a bit, but I totally get why they did that.

Maybe I'm just jaded now and seen too many shows but I would have killed for a warbird or two. They had the Red Knight T-33 sitting outside as a tease, and the Waterloo warbirds are barely a 5 minute flight from Kitchener. Back to back to back modern military is cool but I enjoy variety. Isn't Pete MaCleod based in London?? I realize airworthiness certificates and costs can be prohibitive for getting warbirds at a show but it would have rounded it out a bit more I think.

Some might call the variety an advantage of Abbotsford, while many like the military-theme of London more. To each their own I guess. I know the 25 and under crowd likes jets and I don't blame them.

Aside from the announcer...Was a great day in the pandemic! I'll be back for sure.
I've always wanted to go, but usually a show down south (Nellis/Chino/Miramar) wins out if I do manage to find the time to squeeze in another show. One day....

One other thing I found kind of randomly interesting was the Thunderbirds #2 and #3 flying two-seaters with belly tanks, just like Abby last year. Maybe that is their Canadian performance profile. And also both had abbreviated shows, albeit for different reasons.

Chris
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martin_sam_2000
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:57 pm

Post by martin_sam_2000 » Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:09 am

A few of my pics...

the full album is here: http://www.martinsammodels.com/Webpage/ ... London.htm

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Sean
Last edited by martin_sam_2000 on Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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n33d4sp33d_85
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Location: Fairfax, VA

Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Fri Sep 18, 2020 12:39 pm

Awesome pictures. :D
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Bingofuel
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Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2017 11:59 pm

Post by Bingofuel » Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:20 pm

One other thing I found kind of randomly interesting was the Thunderbirds #2 and #3 flying two-seaters with belly tanks, just like Abby last year. Maybe that is their Canadian performance profile. And also both had abbreviated shows, albeit for different reasons.

Chris
I heard one of their single-seaters had a bird strike during Friday practice, so the two tandems on the weekend were probably a result of that.
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FlyRed
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Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:37 pm

Post by FlyRed » Fri Sep 18, 2020 5:34 pm

Bingofuel wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:20 pm
One other thing I found kind of randomly interesting was the Thunderbirds #2 and #3 flying two-seaters with belly tanks, just like Abby last year. Maybe that is their Canadian performance profile. And also both had abbreviated shows, albeit for different reasons.

Chris
I heard one of their single-seaters had a bird strike during Friday practice, so the two tandems on the weekend were probably a result of that.
They were flying the D models already on Friday. Lead had bird strike Friday and was in a C model on the weekend so unrelated.

At least 4 F-16s went mechanical at times during the show (not including the bird strike). 3 Thunderbirds and Venom (twice). Tough weekend for the maintenance personnel.
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FlyRed
Posts: 192
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:37 pm

Post by FlyRed » Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:26 pm

The Skydrive presented by Airshow London review is now online at CHECKSIX!
https://www.checksix-online.eu/review/a ... ndon-2020/

Also posted this morning is an incredible article about the Sukhoi-27/30/34/35 family of aircraft by Managing Editor Robert Kysela.
https://www.checksix-online.eu/review/p ... 7-flanker/
Attachments
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor - F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team 850_4031.jpg
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor - F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team 850_4031.jpg (89.64 KiB) Viewed 888667 times
Su-34 Su-35.jpeg
Su-34 Su-35.jpeg (76.45 KiB) Viewed 888667 times
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Ack
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:55 am
Location: Michigan

Post by Ack » Sat Oct 03, 2020 3:24 am

A few more......
F35_01_s.jpg
F35_01_s.jpg (68.08 KiB) Viewed 888580 times
A10_02_s.jpg
A10_02_s.jpg (62.53 KiB) Viewed 888580 times
A10_03_s.jpg
A10_03_s.jpg (71.39 KiB) Viewed 888580 times
C17_01_s.jpg
C17_01_s.jpg (32.61 KiB) Viewed 888580 times
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RyanS
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Post by RyanS » Thu Oct 08, 2020 2:22 pm

Dennis Ryckman generously shared his video from the show with us to put up on Youtube. Here's the first part out of three!

https://youtu.be/dNlQTTusxKg
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Ryan Sundheimer
www.AirshowStuff.com

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