Air Shows

I’ve been writing about aviation for over twenty years. Occasionally I get out from behind the desk and go to an actual air show.

Legacy of Liberty 2026

Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico — April 2026
Legacy of Liberty 2026: The 49th Wing Puts on a Show

My first US military base air show: F-16 Fighting Falcons breaking the sound barrier at 18,000 feet, an F-35 demo cut short for reasons no one explained, a beautifully preserved MiG-17 in American airspace, new recruits sworn in on the show line, and the Patriots Jet Team drawing hearts in the desert sky with six L-39 Albatros jets. Also, a lot of beer and absolutely no coffee.

I approach a friendly-looking man selling tickets for food. He looks eager to fulfil my culinary needs.
“Do you do coffee?”
He shakes his head no. No coffee. “We have beer,” he says helpfully.
In the distance, two F-16 Fighting Falcons take off with a gentle roar.
It’s 10am. Beer doesn’t seem like a good idea. “Is there any coffee here anywhere?”
“I wish I knew,” he says with a sigh. “I would really like a coffee.” He leans forward. “If you find any, will you please come back and tell me where?”

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See also: Outtakes from the Air Show

Baltic International Air Show

Liepāja, Latvia — June 2024
More than you ever wanted to know about the Baltic International Air Show

Thirteen thousand people descended on a former Soviet military aerodrome in Latvia for two days of Gripens, Eurofighters, aerobatic competitions, and a pair of crazy Lithuanians. The highlight was a bright yellow Piper Cub landing on top of a moving van that took four attempts in a crosswind and brought the entire crowd to its feet.

The spectacle requires excellent piloting skills, of course: the Cub needs to line up exactly with the van and nothing but an utterly flawless landing will do. But it also requires immense skill from the driver: the van must accelerate into position quickly and then perfectly hold a specific speed until the front wheel of the Cub has touched down, at which point the van needs to carefully decelerate so that the tail of the Cub slowly drops.

Three times, the pilot threw away the attempt with the Cub pulling away at the last minute, but his failures just added to the audience’s respect for how difficult the stunt was.

On the fourth attempt, everyone leaned forward instinctively and the response when the Cub successfully touched down was momentous.

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Swiss Air Force at Axalp

Ebenflüh Shooting Range, Bernese Alps, Switzerland — October 2023
Axalp Fliegerschiessen

The Axalp Fliegerschiessen is not an air show, the Swiss Military are quick to explain. It is a live-fire training exercise to which the public is invited. To attend, you buy tickets for a shuttle bus and then hike up to 2,244 metres in the Bernese Alps, where fighter jets fly past at eye level against a backdrop of snow-capped peaks. I was quietly losing the will to live on the climb when the show found me first.

Combined with the thin air at high altitude, I was quietly losing the will to live when a fighter jet blasted through the valley in a practice run for the demonstration. Petrified that I was going to lose my balance and tumble down the mountain, I threw myself backwards to watch from a semi-prone position, gaping at the unexpected sight of aircraft flying past at eye level. One turned upside down just as it passed me.

The 30-minute impromptu airshow revitalised me and I made it the rest of the way up the mountain.

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Spirit of North Weald

North Weald, Essex, UK — September 2009
Spirit of North Weald

A Fly-In and Community Day at a wartime airfield in Essex, featuring Norwegian Air Force F-16s returning to their Second World War home. The real guests of honour were Norwegian veterans who had flown from North Weald during the war; one commented that it was sad to think it would be the last time he would fly from there. I watched a Spitfire and a Hurricane fly past at Battle of Britain heights, and discovered what happens when an F-16 melts the runway.

The Norwegian Air Force attended with two F-16s, a Falcon and a de Havilland Vampire. I fell a little bit in love with the Vampire. The pilots were pretty cute, too.

I got to see the Norwegian Vampire on the ground after the display – it had a Mickey Mouse sticker on the side and a Norwegian flag lying on the dash. I wasn’t sure which of these was the pilot but the way the man in green leaned on it like he owned it, I suspected he was the one that flew it.

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More air show coverage

Air show accidents (general)

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Fast jets and bad decisions