Rotorfest, the only all helicopter airshow in the U.S., was blessed with great weather for the second year in a row.  With sunny blue skies, warm weather, and the color of fall leaves as a back drop, a large crowd turned out for this annual event, and they were treated to a festival of both civilian & military helicopters.

  This show is held each year as a celebration of the anniversary of the opening of the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center located on the grounds of the Brandywine Airport.  David Schultz Airshows LLC produced this 12^th annual event at the beautiful Brandywine Airport in West Chester, Pa. on October 11 & 12. Although plagued with a series of mechanical failures beyond anyone’s control this year, David Schultz and his crew proved to be consummate professionals putting on a very entertaining show with what they had.

  This year there was a display of one of the smallest helicopters in the world, the Mosquito.  This amazingly small one person helicopter has a maximum service altitude of 8000 feet.  Flying demonstrations this year included the Mosquito, a Bell 47, a Robinson R-44, and an MD-500 on the civilian side.  There was also a brief demonstration of the Sky Flight Care NOTAR helicopter.  Military participation included a UH-60 Blackhawk, a CH-46 Sea Knight, a pair of UH-1 Huey’s, and finally a couple passes of an AH-64 Apache.  There was a CH-47 Chinook, and a SH-60 Sea Hawk on static display.  Highlighting the 2008 show was the USASOC Black Daggers parachute team.  The Black Daggers had to enlist an Army Casa 212 as their jump platform after a mechanical with the UH-60 Blackhawk they were going to use.  The Black Daggers made two jumps each day, their airshow mass jump, and their full combat jump complete with oxygen masks.

  One of the highlights of this show is being able to tour the museum, which is included in the $10 admission price. It was a wonderful place to learn about rotary aircraft and their history.