Today I attended the “Air Show Atlantic 2023” with Lunenburg County’s
other Scotsman Alan. Like most events during this summer of 2023, it was slightly damp. The airshow was supposed to be a two-day event over Saturday and
Sunday, but yesterday (being Saturday) it rained so much, the organizers decided two days prior to cancel all the Saturday events.
As for today (Sunday), the Weather Network was forecasting a “risk of thunderstorms”
for the whole day. This left me with the thought that only the brave, the insane or the Scots would drive over
200Km to risk thunderstorms while standing out on an open airfield ….!!
But as it turned out there was no thunderstorm, only lots of threatening gray clouds. However, I still got wet, or at least my shoes and feet did. The viewing field adjacent to the runway was absolutely saturated, like a gigantic sponge oozing lots of water.
Air Show Atlantic is one of the productions of the Nova
Scotia International Air Show Association (NSIASA), formed as a Nova Scotian
not-for-profit society in 1996. This year marks the 12th year branded as Air
Show Atlantic, it is the largest air show in Atlantic Canada and one of the larger
and older air shows in Canada. This year will also be the 37th full air show in the organization's history.
About Debert Airport ~
Debert Airport located near Debert, Nova Scotia, has three
runways and one big hanger.
With nothing but farmland and woods, the land was initially purchased
in 1938 with aerodrome construction beginning during August 1940. Opened April
1941 as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), the location
trained pilots in advanced aircraft operations prior to them being deployed overseas.
The airport hosted No. 31 Operational Training Unit (OTU) during
the first part of the war, then in 1944 was redesignated No. 7 OTU. Aircraft
flown from the site during WWII were mainly Lockheed Hudsons and De Havilland
Mosquitos.
At the end of its military use in 1971, Debert Airport and
its surrounding land was purchased by the Government of Nova Scotia for
development as the Debert Air Industrial Park. This was followed in 1972 with the formation of the
Truro Flying Club. Today, the Debert Flight Centre, a division of the original
Truro Flying Club, still provides instruction to pilots, from student pilots to
commercial students.
Below is published list of some of the intended Air Show performers, but I suspect due to the poor weather many did not turn up for both the ground and flight displays ~
E/A-18G Growler Air Show Team, US Marine F-35B Lightning II,
USAF C-17 Globemaster III West Coast Demo, Wings of Blue United States Air
Force, Kyle Fowler Go EZ Aerobatics, de Havilland DH-115 Vampire, Yellow
Thunder, Mike Tryggvason
10g Aerosports, David Costa Renegade AV8R, Tom Larkin Mini
Jet Airshows and Redfox Airshows.
The Ground Displays include ~
USAF C-17 Globemaster III, US Navy EA/18G Growler,
"Alice" Eviation, P-40, HEMTT M984A2 Wrecker US Army, B-25, P-51,
LMTV M1078 Cargo US Army, US Army Chinook Helicopter, M915 Tractor w/ M1062
Fuel Tanker US Army and T-38.
See previous related blogs ~
Air Show Atlantic 2019
https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/air-show-atlantic-2019.html
Blogs about the WWII British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
(BCATP) in Nova Scotia ~
The Lost Voices of WWII RAF/RCAF Greenwood
https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-lost-voices-of-rafrcaf-greenwood_29.html
and
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth ..
https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2020/06/oh-i-have-slipped-surly-bonds-of-earth.html
Today’s pics ….
