On 6th June 2023, Aeroklub Jaroměř held another edition of its traditional open-door event, combined with Children’s Day festival. The show returned after a long, four-year gap caused by coronavirus restrictions and, as usual, was organized at the aeroclub´s airfield, located in the East Bohemia region.
Previous edition of the show was organized in 2019 and then, no one could yet assume that it would take the four long years to meet again at Jaroměř airfield. Therefore, it was good to hear that Aeroklub Jaroměř did not get discouraged and decided to hold its traditional event in 2023 again.
Programme of the event was similar to its older editions and included static exhibition of aircraft and historical vehicles, flying displays of radio-controlled model aircraft, as well as games, lottery and other activities for children. As usual, the open-door event was concluded with short, but attractive, flying programme.
As mentioned earlier, the annual open-door day in Jaroměř is always combined with children´s festival. It means that not only aviation enthusiasts were warm welcomed at the airfield that day but also – and above all – families and children. From the morning hours, the youngest guests could learn basic facts about the aircraft, see them up close or even take a seat in one of the gliders. The older youth could also get to know how to start their aviation career in the aeroclub.
However, games and activities for children were not only limited to aviation-related ones. There was a Water Rescue Service stand, fire brigade truck and – a must-have at any children-focused event – an inflatable bouncing castle. Therefore, every young person could find something interesting for oneself and therefore spent great day at the airfield. In addition, admission tickets were also lottery tickets, with sightseeing flight for three persons as the main prize.
There was a number of various aircraft exhibited at the static display, including ultra-light aeroplanes, airworthy replicas of the well-known Great War biplanes, historical aircraft, modern aerobatic specials and helicopters.
Visitors to the airfield could see the aeroplanes on daily basis being based at Jaroměř airfield on daily basis, such as Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee, FM-250 Vampire and Vampire II, as well as Zlín Z-42M. The biplane era of aviation was represented by Caudron G.III and Nieuport 12 replicas, as well as by two training aeroplanes developed from the famous Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann – CASA 1.131E and Aero C-104 (replica). Special attention must be given to Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser. The aeroplane, being a part of static display at Jaroměř, was manufactured in 1946 and wore a livery of the PA-12 ´City of Washington´, the aircraft that successfully circumnavigated the world in 1947.
The next aircraft displayed at Jaroměř airfield during the open-door day were Dingo ultralight biplanes, Extra 330SC aerobatic special, two XtremeAir XA 42 of the Flying Bulls Aerobatic Team and, last but not least, MD 500E helicopter. The visitors could also get acquainted with so-called micro aviation – powered hang gliders and paragliders.
Simultaneously with the children´s day, the radio-controlled model dynamic displays were taking place. The modellers arrived to Jaroměř with plenty of amazing scale models, representing literally the entire aviation history, as well as a broad range of aircraft types. It is impossible to mention them all, so here are just a few examples – there were MiG-3, P-40 Warhawk and P-51D Mustang fighter aircraft from the World War II; Zlín Trenér and Z-50 aerobatic aeroplanes; MiG-29 and JAS-39C Gripen modern jet fighters; MiG-15UTI and Soko G-4 Super Galeb trainers and Z-37A Čmelák cropduster.
The radio-controlled aircraft were exhibited at separate sector of the static display; therefore, the visitors were able to see closely how scrupulously the models were made, with paying attention to details and their marking.
In the afternoon, the main flying programme began. The first to show their skills were parachutists from Aeroklub Nové Město nad Metují. They arrived to Jaroměř with another interesting aeroplane, 1976-built Antonov An-2T (check our article from 2020 to learn more about the An-2 aircraft family). The jump from the second-biggest biplane in the world was a great opening of the show and the parachutists received a warm round of applause from the spectators.
Then, there was a helicopter flying display performed by Eurocopter AS350 B3e Écureuil that belongs to the DSA aviation company and arrived from the nearby Hradec Králové. The AS350 was flown by Daniel Tuček, DSA Head of Training, who performed an amazing flying display, fully showing capabilities of that light helicopter.
The AS350 was followed by another dynamic and breathtaking display, this time performed by well-known training biplane – the CASA 1.131E. That aircraft was developed from Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann – German basic training aeroplane from the 1930s, widely used by the Luftwaffe – and built under license in Spain. The red-painted biplane nicely contrasted with the deep blue sky and performed another astonishing show over the Jaroměř airfield.
The Great War Flying Circus was another, just as special, participant of the flying programme. The team already participated in two previous editions of the Jaroměř Open Day, in 2018 and 2019. In both cases, that unique performance of the radio-controlled models of the World War I aircraft was enthusiastically greeted by the spectators.
Although it was just the model show, the performance was realistic and combined with some additional pyrotechnic effects, as well as ground display of an airfield from the era. Together, it created marvellous spectacle from the Great War years.
The aeroplanes used by the team were approximately 1:3 scale models, made to represent the most-known aircraft from the World War I, such as Albatros D.V, Fokker Dr. I, Sopwith Pup, Morane-Saulnier N and many others. It is worth to mention here that the Great War Flying Circus is performing its model show since 2005, on regular basis participating in several aviation and model events in Europe. Moreover, the team is two-time winner of the ´Best of Show´ trophy at Internationaler Großmodellflugtag Lehrte, Germany.
Next on the flying programme was presentation of home-based aircraft. It meant a pair of the aforementioned FM-250 ultralights, as well as two gliders, L-13A Blaník and L-23 Super Blaník.
Then, one more time, the visitors to the Jaroměř Open Day 2023 travelled back in time into the Great War years. This time, it was thanks to two flying replicas of the World War I biplanes, the Caudron G.III and the Nieuport 12. Both aircraft came to Jaroměř from Letecké Muzeum Metoděje Vlacha (English: Metoděj Vlach Aviation Museum) in Mladá Boleslav and performed several flypasts over the airfield, showing the fragility and grace of the early biplanes.
Another biplane replica followed the Great War aeroplanes but representing significantly younger design – the Aero C-104. The original biplane was a post-war variant of the aforementioned Bü 131 Jungmann, manufactured between 1946 and 1949 in Czechoslovakia. The full-scale replica that participated in the Jaroměř show was built in 2017, with use of original technical documentation. The aircraft is powered by Walter Mikron III C engine, the same used with the factory-made C-104s.
The last biplane to perform flying display during the Jaroměř Open Day 2023 was the Dingo ultralight. That aeroplane is a single-seat, open cockpit biplane designed in pusher configuration, developed and being manufactured by the Future Vehicles aviation company from Hradec Králové.
During the open-door day, the company presented two biplanes on static exhibition and then a flying display of both aircraft. It is interesting that development of the Dingo was directly inspired by Hovey Whing Ding, an extremely minimalist ultralight aircraft built in 1971 by Bon Hovey. The Czech-designed aircraft performed its maiden flight in June of 2022, just there, at the Jaroměř airfield.
The Dingo display was followed by another glider aerobatic show, performed by Schleicher ASK 21. However, it was just a prelude to powerful aerobatic performance provided to the spectators by the Extra 330 SC. The aircraft represented the Future Vehicles Aerobatic Team – a quite new Czech aerobatic team, established in 2020 and consisting of three pilots: Lukáš Pařízek, Petr Jonáš and Jan Jílek. As the name of the team says, it is closely related to the Future Vehicles company mentioned above.
The flying programme of the Jaroměř Open Day 2023 was concluded by two incredibly dynamic and powerful displays. The first of them was performed by Bell AH-1S Cobra, an iconic attack helicopter from the Vietnam War era.
The AH-1 is being owned by HeliCzech company, based in Hradec Králové, and is a quite frequent participant of Czech aviation events. Nevertheless, the spectacular performance and characteristic sound of that legendary helicopter always is an undisputable highlight of any air show it participates in.
As usual, the final display of the Open Day 2023 was performed by the Flying Bulls Aerobatic Team. This time, due to technical reasons, the team flew with only two aircraft formation, commonly known as the Flying Bulls Duo. The XA 42 aerobatic specials were flown by Jan Rudzynskyj and Stanislav Čejka, who delighted the spectators with thrillingly beautiful performance.
The Jaroměř Open Day 2023, despite the long, four-year gap between the latest consecutive editions, once again proved that local air shows may be a purpose for spending the perfect day at the airfield. Although not so spectacular as those big, commercial events, smaller shows can offer a lot more than could be expected – especially a set of interesting flying displays and opportunity to see aircraft that usually do not participate in the commercial air shows.
In addition, the event formula used in Jaroměř – when the open day is combined with the children´s festival – attracts not only the aviation fans but also creates an interesting offer for the local community, presents the purpose of aeroclub activity to general public, as well as allowing the young people to learn about the aircraft and, perhaps, catch the aviation bug.
(If you want to learn more about some of the aircraft participating in the Jaroměř Open Day 2023, please follow the relevant links highlighted in the article)
More images from the Jaroměř Open Day 2023:
