Saturday, July 13, 2019 (Qualicum First Nations Campground, Qualicum Bay, BC)

Today is the Qualicum Beach Air Show...and one of the reasons why Rob and Angie decided to stay for another couple of nights (and move their tent to our site). Steve and I headed off at about 9:00...we'll meet the others there a little later.

There was parking in a huge grass field along the side of the airport. As we were going in, one of the parking volunteers asked if we were part of a display...LOL! We were early, so had no problem parking. As we were gathering our chairs, backpack and camera to walk over to the entrance gate, a volunteer in a golf cart came by and offered us a ride. He probably saw me limping with my walking poles and took pity on my having to walk a fair distance...very nice of him!

If you have no interest in aviation or aircraft, you might want to skip to the end...I'd hate to see your eyes glace over!

After paying the admission fee ($12 each), we found a spot along the edge of the tarmac to set our chairs up. I sat down and Steve immediately took his camera and headed off to check out all the aircraft. This is his happy place...so I'll pass this over to him now...

Never seen a helicopter like this without a tail rotor. It's a McDonnell Douglas 902 Explorer that uses NOTAR Technology in the tail boom. Click here to see how it works. This one is available to BC Ambulance, BC Hydro and Search and Rescue...

Canadian Coast Guard Bell 429 Helicopter...

 I think this is a Yak-52...a Soviet trainer that were built in Romania...

 A family arriving for the show...must be nice!

 The crowd is still fairly small...

Transport Canada De Havilland Dash 7 Surveillance Plane... 

Conner wanted me to take him back to the Parksville District and Qualicum Flyers Association display so we headed that way, but first he wanted to check out this plane... 

A remote controlled jet being assembled...

Conner checking out Snoopy...

Parksville District and Qualicum Flyers Association display...

 I want one Grampa!

The show opened with a parachutist...that tiny black spec free falling...

The biplane flew circles around him as he floated back down to earth...

After the parachutist landed, Brent Handy in his Pitts Special biplane began his stunt show...

 He's a former RCAF CF-18 fighter pilot and also served with Canada's Snowbirds Air Demonstration Team.

 Wow...that's close to the ground!

A few Radio Controlled planes took to the sky...

The jet was fast and loud...

 Even Snoopy...amazing that this thing can fly!

Next up was stunt woman Vicki Benzing in her Boeing Stearman biplane...

Vicki Benzing has a PHD in chemistry, has over 8500 hours of flight time, done over 1300 parachute jumps, holds an airline pilot transport rating, a commercial rating in helicopters, seaplanes and gliders, and set a record as the fastest women ever in the history of the Reno Air Races in a jet.  Man I feel inadequate! 

Firetrucks were pumping water into a containment area for...

...a fire fighting demonstration. The Bambi Bucket is a Canadian invention and is used worldwide...

Sky Dive Vancouver Island Demonstration Team getting ready to take off in two planes...

After climbing to 10,000 feet they jumped...

Free falling as 6 of them join up, I'm guessing the 7th was filming...

They separated...

And continue in free fall...

Several aircraft did a fly-by...

The MD-902 did a rescue demonstration...

A rescuer is lowered... 

A stretcher is raised...

Two other members hold a line on each end of the stretcher to prevent it from spinning. Remember a few months ago on the news, that poor women in Arizona that was rescued and the stretcher spun out of control...

Canada's main ship-borne maritime Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone helicopter. It conducts surface and subsurface surveillance (sub hunter) and control, utility and search and rescue missions...

Being lowered by hoist...

The show was from 9 am to 3 pm which made for a long and very hot day. For such a small community it was a good show. The only negatives were that there was no itinerary handed out so we didn't know what the schedule was and there were a lot of lulls between demonstrations...a few times we even thought the show was over.

Back to me...

We got home about 3:30...a good, but very hot day sitting in the sun with no shade. Rob, Angie and the kids stopped to pick up pizza for dinner, along with some appetizers, so they arrived a little later. We were all sitting outside in our site enjoying a beverage when a pumper truck came in to pump out the campground septic tanks. And guess what direction the wind was blowing? Yup, directly towards us...and the stink was disgusting! It was also making one hellava noise. We just could not believe they would be doing that on a Saturday evening when the campground is full...and during the dinner hour! (They must have been there for at least 2 hours!)

So we decided to take our chairs down to the waterfront...besides the view was better down here! Our last night with Conner, Bryce, Rob and Angie...they pack up and head home tomorrow...