SimHQ.com - Air Combat Zone - Feature: Al Ain Aerobatics Show 2006

The Mazda "Zoom-Zooms" are, similar to the Sasol Tigers, another company-owned air show team which flys the majority of their performances in South Africa using Zlin 50 aerobatics planes. To their credit, they have a very interesting display choreography where one aircraft usually mirrors the other upside-down during most of the maneuvers. Certainly an interesting way to advertise a car brand!

Watches…

Breitling certainly is a well-known name in the aviation business and they always made a point to maintain their own corporate air show team in one way or another. After disbanding the Breitling Fighters (very sad to see the four old warbirds based at Duxford gone) and procuring their Breitling Super Constellation, they are now also operating a 6-aircraft jet formation on L-39 Albatros Trainers. They're perhaps the largest privately owned jet formation in the world, based out of France. This team isn't unknown in the European area. They have been performing at major air shows already, but I've never seen or heard about them personally, and so it was a joy to watch them for the first time.

…and Combat Helicopters!

I guess I'm not the only one here at this web site who has grown up with Jane's Longbow as his first serious helicopter simulation. But I never had a chance to see an AH-64 Apache in the flesh. Well, the UAE Armed Forces were so kind to show me one, and in perfection. It's interesting how used we've gotten to see them in the desert; it looks right at home in those pictures.

I also learned that the UAE was the only Arabian country to send forces into the Kosovo conflict — the pilot of this beast had flown sorties there.

Going for another world record was Will Curtis, Pilot-in-Chief of British Team Honda, who holds the record for the longest "limbo" under 12 ribbons in a row which he set at RIAT 05. Now he was out to get himself a second world record for the most ribbons cut. It took 16 brave volunteers to hold up the 8 ribbons for him to fly under and cut through (on the first pair was his girlfriend and his team manager). After three abandoned attempts to cut them upside-down, his fourth attempt flown upright succeeded.

Greetings from Mother Russia

After he left the airspace, we already could hear a loud rumbling to our left. We were about to witness the heaviest fighter formation to ever fly team aerobatics — the Russian Knights.

Formerly only known to visitors of MAKS, the Russian Air and Space Exhibition held yearly in Moscow, this team is relatively new to the European air show circus. Sadly they left their brothers-in-arms, the Russian Swifts in their MiG-29s at home this year. I've lamented the ever growing reduction of Russian jet planes at the AirPower show for a while, but for this year I definitely got my fill. They were also the only team to release flares during their show.

Go To Page 5

Click here to go to top of this page.