Gothenburg Air Show was held over the weekend 28/29th August at the city's Säve Airport, which is also home to Aeroseum (more on this later), the organisers of the event. Ryanair fly direct from several UK airports so my travelling companions and I flew out from Stansted late on Friday, returning late on Sunday, and giving us both days at the show.
In the weeks preceding the show the Viggen was unfortunately removed from the programme, however the prospect of Draken, Lansen, Tunnan, SK60, Hunter and Vampire all flying was still too good to miss. The tragic loss of the Biltema Spitfire XVIII and pilot Bertil Gerhard the week before also cast a shadow over things and, understandably, their P-51D Mustang was also cancelled.
The weather forecast building up to the show was dire and we had even considered cancelling the trip. On Saturday morning we awoke to very damp and misty conditions and began wishing we had! Things soon improved though and, with the exception of a shower early on, the day was dry with plenty of sun and some wonderful cloudscapes. That said the sun had a frustrating habit of hiding whenever something special took off!
It had been suggested that we might do a day inside and a day outside so we made our way to a location that my travelling companions had used on a previous trip. However, no sooner had we arrived, we were moved on by several police motorcyclists and, with the decision made for us, we went inside on both days! On reflection I think this turned out for the best, as I'm not entirely sure we would have seen much of the show from that location.
The organisers had advertised a 'spotters area' for those registering in advance; we'd all done this and on arrival 'signed in'. This gave us access to a viewing area overlooking the southern apron as well as the opportunity to tour both ramps at allotted times - all for no extra charge! It would be great if more UK shows could be this accommodating.
Our view gave good ground shots of the items located on the apron, which included the classic jets although one suggestion would be not to park aircraft in front of the enclosure barriers as this did limit shooting opportunities. Take off shots were also possible although this was hit and miss as they used both ends of the main runway, seemingly without any particular pattern. The display axis was a curving line inside the main runway that allowed for some nice top side passes.
Saturday's display started sedately with the Danish AF 'Baby Blue' in their Saab T-17s followed by an Su-29, DC-3 and SK61 Bulldog. Whilst all gave impressive displays they were a bit distant and unfortunately coincided with the worst of the day's weather. A memorable moment occurred when, whilst taxiing in, the Sukhoi pilot decided to showboat for the spotters' enclosure with a 'smoking doughnut' prior to parking!
Then came the first of the classic jets and the unmistakable whine of the J28 Vampire starting up. It gave a spirited looping display before landing and returning to the southern apron.
Rotary next and the first helicopter display of the day came from a Swedish AF HK15 (Augusta A109 to you and I!). It looked great in its splinter scheme but again was a little distant from our location. The same could be said of the SAR demo from the based Sikorsky S-76C that displayed shortly afterwards.
In between these more modern types came one of the day's anticipated highlights - the arrival of the HKP4 (Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight). The type is being retired from service and the airframe was on its last flight for delivery to the museum. It flew once down the crowd line, did a brief turn at the northern end and then parked up out of sight! It was a shame that it could not have been shown off a little better on its last outing, particularly for those of us at the southern end. Why it was not parked in the static display will also remain a mystery!
The J29 Tunnan was next and a first for me. It's a unique and ugly looking aircraft, well deserving of its nickname 'The Flying Barrel'. Despite its appearance it is very quick and agile in the air and, after a take off with afterburner (I didn't know it had reheat to be honest!), gave a great display.
Then the pace changed again with a quartet of Tiger Moths giving both formation and individual displays. The first of two displays from Mikael Carlson followed with his beautiful Tummelisa replica. This lightweight biplane was flown extremely gracefully in conditions that would have kept many aircraft of the same vintage firmly on the ground.
Things then turned noisy with the distant whine of the Danish F-16 starting up while in the background the unmistakable shape of the J35 Draken appeared to the south. It was a great relief to see, as it had not been on the ground when we arrived and we wondered if it had actually cancelled. It then landed, keeping the nose high along the length of the runway, and parked up to refuel and display later in the day.
The F-16 display, in the hands of Captain Peter Vejling Kristiansen, was another highlight - very noisy and very fast. I'd not seen the Danish display this year and, despite a tip off, was caught out by the flares as it pulled up into the blue yonder. Its rate of climb was impressive and, unrestricted; it kept going until out of sight, punching out a single flare at regular intervals followed by a slow spiralling descent.
A pair of Sk16 Harvards was next, flying two tight and very low formation passes followed by a break and individual display. Then came the turn of the J32 Lansen and another first for me. A much better looking beast than the Tunnan and surprisingly large; we watched it start up in front of us then taxy out to display. For me this gave the best display of the classic jets. A loud, afterburner take off followed by a dynamic yet graceful display including a couple of topside passes. Sadly it was over too quickly.
For a relatively small, non-military show, the organisers had done well to attract the Swiss PC-7 Team and the Frecce Tricolori. The Swiss gave a very polished and precise display with some very tight formations as a nine ship. They also looked great against the blue skies with broken white clouds. That said I couldn't help thinking how much better they would look with some smoke.
Mikael Carlson then took the stage for a second time in his Bleriot XI. Conditions were quite breezy and once again he gave an amazing display in such a fragile looking aircraft, side slipping along the crowd line and at times almost hanging in the air.
Two historic helicopters then took to the air; the HKP5 - a variant of the Hughes 300 - and HKP6 - a variant of the Bell 206. Both came from the Swedish Air Force Museum and, wearing splinter camouflage, looked great against the dramatic cloudscapes that had developed.
Then came the star of the show for me, the J35 Draken of the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight. Having arrived earlier and parked on the northern apron it blasted off towards us providing a great photo opportunity as it passed by. A fantastic display followed including fast passes, rolls, topside passes, afterburners and lots of vapour. It looked superb against the moody skies that were developing. As with the Lansen, it was over all too quickly. On landing it thankfully parked on the southern apron alongside the other classic jets providing yet more great opportunities for pictures.
Bringing things up to date next was the JAS39 Gripen. Display pilot Anders Bjork gave a fine display although unfortunately the light was poor during his slot. Next up was the J34 Hunter. Another great looking aircraft this was flown beautifully, if at times a little distant from our position.
We had expected to see a classic jet formation close proceedings but this did not happen on the Saturday (I'm sure the Swedish commentator explained why but this passed me by!) so instead the honour fell to the Italians. The Frecce never fail to impress and this was no exception, immaculate flying against a wonderful sky - I just wish they'd use the coloured smoke more often as in my opinion it's the best of all the national display teams.
With the flying display complete, and in no hurry to leave, we decided to have a look around the museum. This is located inside one of two huge rock shelters that have been carved out of the landscape. Originally constructed in the early 1950s the shelter descends some 30 metres below ground and was built to provide protective hangars for the Swedish Air Force squadrons based at the airfield. Designed to withstand a nuclear blast it is an amazing piece of engineering and today contains a wide range of exhibits including a not insignificant number of airframes. To do it justice would require a separate report, but suffice it to say it is well worth a visit. As you might expect the light is tricky (in as much as there isn't an awful lot!), so a tripod and flash are needed to get any acceptable photographs.
We then headed for the car parks. Fortunately we had parked right by the entrance and made a sharp exit, but it looked like some of the other car parks may have taken a while to clear. We headed into Gothenburg for some food before returning to our hotel to recover and prepare for day two.
Sunday started off much brighter and we got to the museum as the gates opened. Once again we checked in as 'spotters' and joined the 09.30 tour of the southern apron. We were glad we did this as it was the only chance to get close to the PC-7 team, the spare F-16, Gripens and the HKP4 that had flown in on Saturday.
I elected to stay at the southern end on Sunday looking for some variation in my shots. The flying displays seemed to come closer to this location and I also got to watch the activity on the south apron, which included the Frecce and the PC-7 team. Most of the static displays and ground attractions were also located at this end.
The flying display on Sunday was essentially the same as Saturday and weather conditions were almost identical with one brief but heavy shower in the morning. All the classic jets flew solo displays and, as with the previous day, their pilots really put them through their paces, giving superb, dynamic displays showing the aircraft at their best.
Subtle differences from Sunday were the inclusion of a Stearman alongside the Tiger Moths and a fly by from the based police helicopter. There had been a TP 84 Hercules (C-130H) in the static display all weekend and on Sunday we were treated to two flypasts from another example; the second pass was very low along the main runway.
The notable extra on Sunday was the formation of Saab jets that closed the show. The SK60, Lansen, Tunnan, Draken and Gripen launched consecutively before forming up as a five-ship and flying two formation passes before heading for their respective home bases. This was a fantastic sight and, apparently, the first time it's been done.
With the main show over, and a 10pm flight home, we watched the An-2 and DC-3 start up and depart in glorious evening light before having another wander round the museum. We left the site around 6pm and saw none of the queues we had on Saturday.
This show is essentially a small scale, non-military event organised by a museum - somewhere between Duxford and Old Warden in terms of size and atmosphere. It offered a diverse display, with some unique items, all of which effectively showcased 100 years of Swedish Aviation.
The flying display was a little disjointed at times, mainly due to gaps to allow civil movements to take place - Ryanair and Wizz operate scheduled flights from the airport, the air ambulance was busy and a couple of biz jets flew in. Flying was also paused to allow some ground displays that you would miss if you weren't at crowd centre, however what did fly was high quality and flown well. The organisers should also be applauded for their 'spotter friendly' approach - the dedicated viewing area and ramp tours (all free) were very much welcomed.
Weather wise I think we were very lucky with lots of storm fronts passing around us. We also benefited from some wonderful cloudscapes and superb, crystal clear light. It was a weekend of firsts for me - first trip to Sweden and the first time I've seen a Lansen and Tunnan in the air. Would I return? Probably. Make that definitely if they manage to get the Viggen flying!
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2010-09-10 - Roger Helliksson
The JAS 37 Viggen is coming next year. Don´t miss it.
2010-09-07 - Tony Strother
Great article Steve. Looks like a fantastic event, shame about the Viggen, I'd be tempted to go an the basis of your report especially with the Viggen in the show.
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