The 32nd edition of Aviatická pouť (the Aviation Fair) air show took place during the weekend of 1st and 2nd June 2024. Despite the challenging weather conditions, the biggest civilian aviation event in the Czech Republic attracted more than 27,000 visitors who enjoyed an excessive static exhibition and approximately five hours of flying displays.
There is such a saying that history repeats itself and it obviously came to mind of many aviation enthusiasts who planned to visit the 32nd edition of the Aviation Fair. That´s because the obvious parallel with the air show held in Pardubice more a decade ago.
The 2013 edition of the show was going to become one of the best aviation events in Europe, with participation of several unique and attractive aircraft, including Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, as well as wide programme of side events and music concerts. Sadly, weather interfered with the organizers´ ambitious plans. Heavy rainstorms prevented most of the air show participants from arriving to Pardubice. Those who were at the airfield on the Friday evening, to witness the arrival of the B-17 and other warbirds, surely remember the almost empty area of the static display with the lone L-29 Delfín training jet standing there.
Nevertheless, the Aviation Fair finally took place, despite the heavy rains that came during the weekend. It was possible only as a result of enormous work of the organization team who had to forget about all the previous months spent on preparations to the show and arrange new – mostly local – participants to make it happen.
In many respects, the 2024 edition was impacted by similar factors. Without any doubts, flying displays of two famous German aircraft from the World War II years – a replica of Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (more about the aeroplane in our article – Messerschmitt Me-262A-1C ´Schwalbe´) and a restored Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-14 – were planned as a highlight of the show.
In addition, the initial programme of the 32nd Aviation Fair included the Royal Jordanian Falcons aerobatic group, participation of the Flying Bulls aircraft from the Hangar 7 collection, premiere display of the new Czech training jet Aero L-39NG, as well as flying display of the famous Hungarian aerobatic pilot, Péter Besenyei.
Regrettably, as it often happens, the early plans were affected by some cancellations. The first to delete their participation in Pardubice air show were the Royal Jordanian Falcons, then, display of the Bf 109 had to be called off, due to operational reasons. However, the latter had to be replaced by another Messerschmitt, no less famous Bf 108 Taifun.
However, the real challenge for the Aviation Fair organization team began just a few days before the show. And once again it was weather that disrupted the plans and, for several participants, made flying to Pardubice too risky.
Heavy storms and rainfall forced cancellation of several displays, including the Me 262, the Bf 108, the Flying Bulls, the L-39NG and Péter Besenyei. The Hungarian pilot hoped until the last minute he would arrive to Pardubice, but eventually considered it impossible.
Therefore, just a few hours before the event, the organizers again faced the challenge of preparation of an interesting and eye-catching air show but without many of the previously announced displays. And it should be explicitly mentioned they have done an excellent job by adding some new, last-minute displays. Eventually, the poor weather conditions did not affect the quality of the show to such extent as it occurred in 2013.
As already mentioned, the flying displays of the 32nd Aviation Fair lasted about five hours. The Saturday and Sunday programme slightly varied due to the weather conditions. On both days, the opening display was performed by the Czech Air Force. It included a flypast of two JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft, as well as parachute jump from CASA C-295M tactical airlifter.
Soon after, the visitors to Pardubice airfield were amazed with premiere joint display of the Flying Bulls Aerobatics Team and the JAS-39. That unique show was, without any doubts, one of the most attractive performances of the 2024 edition of Aviatická pouť. Although it was not easy to keep the four XA42 aerobatic aircraft and the Gripen fighter in one tight formation, all the pilots proved their skills and offered the public an outstanding and uncommon display.
Further on, both the Flying Bulls Aerobatics Team and the JAS-39, flew by the Czech Air Force display pilot Capt. Ondřej Španko, performed separately their usual aerobatic shows.
The aforementioned Gripen display was not the only solo performance of the Czech Air Force. The spectators had also an opportunity to admire exceptional manoeuvrability of PZL W-3A Sokół multipurpose helicopter and excellent skills of its crew. As it is usually the case, the rotorcraft performed a dynamic and breath-taking search-and-rescue (SAR) display, so beloved by the air show guests.
What´s more, the visitors to Aviation Fair show had also a possibility to compare the military SAR performance with its civilian counterpart – the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service display, flew by Eurocopter EC135 helicopter of the DSA company from Hradec Králové.
The active-service HEMS rotorcraft are a rare participant of any air shows, due to their duty obligations and heavy workload. Therefore, the display performed by the DSA reserve helicopter was really a great addition to the Aviation Fair programme. Moreover, it was also the debut performance of the civilian HEMS helicopter in Pardubice.
Speaking of premieres at Aviatická pouť show, Letov LF-107 Luňák glider must be also mentioned. That interesting sailplane from the late 1940s was recently restored to an airworthy condition and returned to the Czech skies. Interesting fact is that the flying display of the LF-107 was performed by David Jágr, the Director of the Civil Aviation Authority in the Czech Republic.
The Luňák glider was towed into flight by another captivating aeroplane, Bellanca 7GCBC Citabria. And if you would like to know more about the interesting history of both aircraft, we recommend the respective articles issued within our Photo of the Week series – Letov LF-107 Luňák and Bellanca 7GCBC Citabria.
Another debut display in Pardubice was the one performed by Pilatus PC-9M Hudournik of the Slovenian Armed Forces (Zračna komponenta Slovenska vojska), piloted by the First Lieutenant Andrej Fiorelli. It should be emphasized here that it was not only the first flying display of the PC-9M at the Aviation Fair, but also the first performance of the foreign military aircraft in active service after a few years gap (more information about the PC-9M in our article from December of 2024 – Pilatus PC-9M Hudournik).
Last but not least, there was also a premiere performance of the French training jet, Fouga CM.170 Magister. Initially, the aircraft was planned to be exhibited at the static display only. However, the aforementioned issues with the weather made the CM.170 one of the last-minute additions to the flying programme of the 32nd Aviation Fair. And it should be noted that it was an excellent decision of the organizers´ as the Magister stole the spotlight and became one of the best displays of the show.
Without any doubts, the CM.170 Magister is an aircraft rarely seen in the Czech Republic. The jet that participated in the Pardubice air show came from the Classic Trainers association, located in Hangar 3 of the Plzeň-Líně airfield (more about that aircraft collection here). The aeroplane, built in 1961, was restored to airworthy condition in 2013 and, on regular basis, the Magister is being based at Valenciennes-Denain airport in France.
At the beginning of 2024, the CM.170 was temporarily moved to Plzeň and, almost immediately, began to participate in the Czech aviation events. The Magister had its premiere display during Den ve vzduchu air show held in Plasy on the last weekend of April, then also appeared at the Aviation Fair and Letecký den Cheb in August of 2024. During all those shows, the CM.170 was the darling of the crowd and both aircraft and its pilot received loud cheers from the spectators.
The 20th anniversary of Centrum Leteckého Výcviku – CLV (Flight Training Centre) in Pardubice was another highlight of the 32nd Aviation Fair. The Czech military pilots´ school is a long-term partner and participant of the Pardubice air show and celebrated two decades of its operation with a few interesting displays.
They included joint and solo performances of C-11, the iconic training aircraft from the 1950s based on Yakovlev Yak-11, and L-39 Albatros, the world-known Czechoslovak jet trainer, as well as solo display of Zlín Z-142C AF. The latter was flown by Martin Šonka, the most famous Czech aerobatic pilot, who joined the CLV flight instructors´ team in 2020.
Later in the day, Šonka performed another breath-taking show, this time flying his Extra 300SR aerobatic special.
Obviously, it was just one of many high-class aerobatic displays of the 32nd Aviation Fair. The spectators could enjoy a few more fascinating performances, including the show of the famous Czech aerobatic pilot Petr Jirmus flying Zlín Z-50LX, Jan Sobotka with his Sukhoi Su-29 and Miroslav Červenka in the Spanish-built variant of once popular German biplane, CASA 1.131E Jungmann.
The air show in Pardubice is already famous for its performances of historical aircraft that are made in form of a combined show, enhanced by simultaneous ground displays, played by reenactors, and related to years the particular aeroplane was in regular service. The 2024 edition of the Aviation Fair was no exception and offered three of such spectacles, based on the years of the Great War, the Second World War and the Vietnam War.
The aviation part of the first show was performed by airworthy replicas of the aeroplanes from the era, such as Morane-Saulnier MS-139 Avionnette, Nieuport 12, Fokker D.VIII and Pfalz E.I. The aircraft participating in the display came from the Aviation Fair Squadron and Letecké Muzeum Metoděje Vlacha (Metoděj Vlach Aviation Museum) in Mladá Boleslav.
North American P-51D Mustang ´Little Rebel´ was the star of the World War II display. Similarly to the CM.170, that world-famous fighter aircraft is also part of the Classic Trainers collection. More information about the aeroplane and its interesting history can be found in our article from May of 2023 – North American P-51D-30-NT Mustang.
The Vietnam War scene belonged to no less famous aircraft, Bell AH-1S Cobra helicopter, being owned by HeliCzech company, based in Hradec Králové. The rotorcraft is a quite frequent participant of Czech aviation events, being an undisputable highlight of any air show it appears at. Obviously, the 32nd Aviation Fair was no exception from this rule.
Regrettably, both the Mustang and Cobra performances, as well as the related ground displays, had to be cancelled on Sunday, due to poor weather conditions.
In addition to the abovementioned displays, the visitors to Pardubice airfield were also able to enjoy a gentle performance of another biplane from the 1930s, Boeing / Stearman N2S-5 Kaydet (also belonging to the aforementioned Classic Trainers collection); a Czechoslovak-built derivative of Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann training aircraft, Zlín Z-381 Basa.
As usual, the flying programme was just a part of the show and the visitors to Pardubice airfield had also an opportunity to see a broad range of aircraft displayed on static exhibition.
Without any doubts, one of the highlights of the static display was the JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft. In previous editions of the Aviation Fair show, the Gripen was usually part of the Czech Armed Forces exhibition, located a bit away from the apron, and the aircraft flying the solo display was not included in that display.
However this year, the JAS-39 was parked in the main area of the static exhibition and, obviously, drew attention of many spectators. They were able not only to see the aircraft up close, but also follow the pre- and post-flight procedures, including re-fuelling.
Cirrus SR22T-GTS G6 Platinum and a UL replica of Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero were another two aircraft that caught the eye on the static exhibition, although they did not participate in the flying displays.
The aforementioned exhibition of the Czech Armed Forces showcased Aero L-159 ALCA attack aircraft and several vehicles from the ground forces inventory, such as APC Pandur, Tatra 815, Iveco LMV and KMW Dingo 2. Next to them, the full range of the CLV aircraft was displayed: the L-39C Albatros, LET L-410UVP, Mi-17, Zlín Z-142C AF, Evektor EV-97 Eurostar and Enstrom 480B, as well as the preserved Mil Mi-2T.
Commercial part of the static exhibition included stands of the Junkers company, where A60 light aeroplane was showcased (more about the company and new Junkers aircraft here), as well as TL-ULTRALIGHT Aircraft with TL Ultralight Stream Turbo.
Last but not least, there were stands of the Czech academic institutions, which presented their aviation-related projects including UAVs and an interesting air target simulator. There was also a RC-model corner and a hangar full of the flight simulators that attracted attention of the youngest visitors.
Those who dared to walk off the beaten track among the food and toys stands were awarded by seeing an additional exhibit – the Aero L-39ZA painted in a special livery to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first flight.
Obviously, the Aviation Fair is not only about the aircraft and some of its engaging side exhibitions and displays should be mentioned here.
First of all, there was the traditional showcase of classic cars which included an interesting collection of Škoda models, as well as several vehicles made in the Eastern bloc countries – Dacia 1310, VAZ 21011 and GAZ-21 Volga. Much modern vehicles were presented at stands of the Czech Police and other law enforcement agencies, including the top-class police patrol car, Ferrari F 142 – 458 Italia.
For the first time, Prison Service of the Czech Republic (Vězeňská služba České republiky) and Immigration branch of the Czech Police (Policie České republiky – Služba cizinecké policie) participated in the Aviation Fair programme, both with static exhibition and impressive dynamic displays presenting their everyday duty.
In conclusion, the 32nd edition of Aviatická pouť was again a fantastic show, which offered two days full of eye-catching flying displays and interesting static exhibition of aircraft, as well as broad range of static displays. Despite the weather conditions and the fact that a large part of the flying programme was made ad hoc, the event not only maintained its usual quality but also included several attractive premier displays and unique performances. Therefore, the extraordinary performance of the Aviation Fair organisation team should be mentioned here once again.
The next, 33rd edition of the Aviation Fair will take place on 7th and 8th June 2025, at Pardubice airfield. Tickets to the event are already on sale and available here.
More images from the 32nd Aviation Fair:
