QUÉBEC INTERNATIONAL AIR SHOW QUÉBEC CITY, QC JUNE 14-15, 2008

Photography and Story by Adrian Lang

With its picturesque views of the St. Lawrence River, historic buildings and plush street side cafes, Quebec City celebrates 400 years since its founding in 1608 and its inhabitants have no intention of keeping this party quiet, but, instead have chosen to make some noise for all to hear.

 

  In November of last year, the Quebec City Airshow committee announced the theme for their show; The Get Together. Speculation rose as to what the organizers were planning behind closed doors as this would be no regular airshow, but, rather one in which major international participation would be necessary in order to honor this special anniversary appropriately. Soon after the theme was announced, the performers list was released. The North American airshow world was rocked by the news that 4 of the worlds most renowned jet teams would partake in what would be an historic aerial spectacle.   The Canadian Forces would naturally provide the 9 famous red and white Tutors of the Snowbirds and in a rare joint appearance both the USAF Thunderbirds and USN Blue Angels would come together. As if that wasn’t enough to fill every hotel room in the city, the Royal Air Force had committed its aerobatic team, the Red Arrows to highlight the event.

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    Upon arrival at Jean-Lesage Intl Airport on the Friday afternoon, it was clear that the twilight show headlined by the Reds was not going to be missed by anyone within city limits. Traffic to get into the parking grounds was backed up for miles and the use of shuttle buses was a necessity for most patrons. This repeated itself over the weekend, but, getting out of the airport grounds was extremely fast – a mere 25 minutes had passed after getting into my car until I was parked at my hotel.

 

  With some early figures being bounced around, it appears as if a record number of people came out on the Saturday to witness this once in a lifetime event. Between 100-160,000 patrons walked through the gates – a staggering amount which was noticed not only by airshow enthusiasts, but, by the performers themselves.

The weekend weather dampened some performances and we saw a mish-mash of high, low and flat shows from all participants. The persistent rain kept the blue and gold Hornets idle on the Sunday and the winds held fan favorites like the Skyhawks parachute team and hang glider extraordinaire Dan Buchanan on the ground. The damp and chilly crowds were not deterred, however, and the combination of Skip Stewart with Gene Soucy and the Shockwave had them trekking through the muddy airfield to get a closer look at the riveting and fiery triple threat demonstration.

 

  Also introduced was the new and improved CF-18 demonstration complete with tighter repositions, loaded rolls and sneak passes. The Quebecois were touched by the significant markings on the jet that were dedicated to the city’s anniversary.

 

  The Quebec City Airshow brought us an incredible weekend of flying with displays we will not soon forget. In a twist of irony, the incredible success of this event was marred by the news that it was to be the last. Due to the expansion of the airport (the new terminal opened on the weekend of the airshow) and growing commercial operations, it was said that too large of a disruption would be caused over the course of a week if another show were to be held. One could say that Quebec City Airshow organizers had foreseen this and planned more around the theme, “Go out with a Bang”!