Airshow gains altitude following pandemic break

By Lethbridge Herald on July 28, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Dallas Harty, president of the Lethbridge International Airshow, poses by an aircraft that will be part of the static display when the show takes flight Saturday and Sunday at the Lethbridge airport. The show will be the first here since 2017.

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge International Airshow is set to take flight this weekend for the first time since 2017.

The show runs Saturday and Sunday at the Lethbridge airport with gates open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Airshow president Dallas Harty, among several organizers who have been with the show since its beginnings, said Thursday fans can expect a wide range of performers and a unique static display.

Organizers just got word the CF-18 Hornet demonstration team will be performing at this year’s event and the Canadian Forces Flight Training Centre is sending a Bell 412 helicopter crew for the static display.

Because of world military conflict, organizers have taken a different approach to the static display which Harty says he’s excited about.

The show this year will feature what he calls the most unique assemblage of civilian aircraft on the grounds.

Harty said organizers are putting in the effort to run the show in honour of longtime airshow president Brent Botfield, who died in May of 2018.

“The air show was his baby,” said Harty.

To Botfield and Dick Hayward, the air show was a 10-month event, said Harty, with the pair constantly at the airport fixing or building.

“A huge part of the air show that you see as it is, is all Brent and Dick and we’re just trying to carry on the tradition,” added Harty.

Numerous aerial performers will be on hand including Ukrainian Anna Serbinenko, a Class 1 aerobatic instructor who runs a charter operation and flight school teaching commercial as well as aerobatic pilots and instructors. She will pilot a C-GAKG-Sky Dancer, a plane that will do a slow graceful dance in the sky accompanied by classical music.

Harty says she has lost four family members in the ongoing Russian invasion of her homeland.

Also performing will be Alberta flier Bill Carter in his Pitts Special S-2S, a plane specifically designed for airshow flying with a 260 + hp high-performance engine and top speed of 212 mph.

One of Canada’s top aerobatic pilots, Mike Tryggvason, who comes to the city with more than 7,000 hours in aerobatic and commercial aircraft, will be piloting his Giles 202.

Professional pilot Steven Bennett will be here with his Christen Eagle, a plane that will be easily recognized thanks to its feathered paint scheme.

Flying a Pitts Special S-2S will be Yuichi Takagi while Dan Reeves will perform in a Super Decathlon/Yak 55M.

Veteran airshow performer Good Price will helm a Yakovlev YAK-50.

Harty says the show will have a beer garden that will be serving morning breakfast daily as well as a dozen food truck booths.

There will also be an autograph booth where sunscreen and water will be available. In addition, there will be a trade show and a special area for the kids with a bouncy castle. Also on hand will be the monster truck Jurassic Attack providing rides.

LeBarons’ Car Club will be hosting a show ’n shine at the event, as well.