In western Quebec, in the National Capital Region, lies a relatively small airport that is home to the only airshow in the region, the Aero-Gatineau Airshow at the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport (CYND). It is also home to the Vintage Wings of Canada vintage aircraft collection by Michael U. Potter.

Vintage Wings of Canada, at one time, held an open house, inviting other aircraft owners and anyone who wanted to visit the airport to come and see the collection of aircraft that, at one time, including several more aircraft than VWC is currently home to. Unfortunately, many factors intervened to reduce the number of aircraft in the collection but, what they do have is impressive and enjoyed by visitors.

Eventually, the decision was made to expand the open house idea to a full airshow and, borne from that idea came the Aero-Gatineau Airshow. This year saw the airshow invite 3 of the world's top military aerobatic teams, the Royal Air Force Red Arrows, the United States Air Force Thunderbirds and the Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Forces Snowbirds along with the Vintage Wings of Canada fighters and a number of other performers.

Unfortunately, the weather over the weekend was less than ideal with weather that was more suited to early November temperatures, low overcast and some rain, including heavy rain on Saturday that ruined the day for many, despite some late day flying by a few performers for those who stayed and braved the lousy weather. Fortunately, the weather improved, somewhat, for the Sunday show.

Over the weekend visitors could browse vendors, grab some food, talk to aerobatic team members and performers and enjoy whatever flying happened to take place. Though low cloud kept the jet teams from performing their 'high show' aerobatics, they still managed to put on a great show and everyone on hand enjoyed their performances. Other performers included Rick Volker, Nathan K. Hammond, warbirds and the RCAF Demo Hornet.

The Royal Air Force Red Arrows were in Canada in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. It is also the Red Arrows 60th anniversary season and Canada opened up their arms for the Red Arrows team. They performed at several shows in Canada and put on a great show at Aero-Gatineau 2024. Their 9 aircraft team thrilled visitors with full team passes, opposing solo passes, and 4 & 5 ship passes.

The Red Arrows team consists of 9 performing aircraft known as the BAE Hawk, a jet used by many air forces as a training aircraft before moving on to the more high performance jet fighters such as those that the RAF use, or once used, such as the Panavia Tornado, Hawker Harrier, and the Typhoon. Their support aircraft flew in to Ottawa International Airport (YOW) and remained there during their stay in the Ottawa region. All their support staff as well as maintenance equipment and non-flying team members were transported across the pond and around Canada during their stint in the country.

Also performing at the airshow was Rick Volker in his high performance SIAI Marchetti SC260C. Rick has performed around North America in several aircraft over the years including his Sukhoi SU-26 and his Canadian built Harvard before moving on to his newest acquisition, the Marchetti. Rick put on a series of aerobatics in his typical high standard of performance. The Marchetti is an Italian designed aircraft built for use as a military trainer and aerobatic aircraft. The first prototype flew in 1964 and, since then, there have been as many as 24 variants operating in a multitude of countries. Depending on the variant, the Marchetti has a maximum speed of 207mph (333kmh), cruise of 190mph (300kmh), stall speed of 78mph (126kmh) with a range of 1,030 miles and a service ceiling of 15,300 feet (1,650km).

Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport (CYND) has a single, lighted runway that is 6000' x 150' asphalt (1,829m x 50m) situated east-west (09/27). The airport has numerous hangars as well as a full service terminal with tenants including Go SkyDive (skydiving), Helicraft 2000 Inc helicopter pilot training, International Pilot Academy offering private, commercial and airline training/licensing and Select Aviation College offering private, commercial and airline pilot training/licensing. It is also home to Vintage Wings of Canada, a not-for-profit, nationwide organisation that educates youth by means of vintage aircraft where Mike Potter decided to build a gorgeous 23,000 square foot hangar, designed to resemble hangars from World War II, for his collection and to operate from. It's a short, 10 minute drive from Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario and not far from the Ottawa River in the National Capital Region.

Vintage Wings of Canada has been in operation since the early 2000s after Mike Potter first began operating his first warbird aircraft in 2000. As the years went on he added to his collection with aircraft such as a Beechcraft Staggerwing, Boeing Stearman, Canadair CL-13/F-86 Sabre Mk 5, Fairey Swordfish, a stunning P-40 Kittyhawk, Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVIe, Hawker Hurricane Mk IV, Waco Taperwing ATO, Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, de Havilland of Canada DHC.82 Tiger Moth, Harvard, Fleet Cornell, de Havilland of Canada Beaver and more. Though the collection has seen some aircraft damaged or destroyed in accidents and some aircraft sold off, the collection that remains includes a Spitfire Mk IX and Hawker (CCF) Hurricane Mk XII that were both restored by Vintage Wings along and a North American P-51D Mustang all wearing liveries honouring Canadian airmen.

Of the fighter aircraft in the Vintage Wings Collection that flew in support of the airshow, the Hurricane, Mustang and Spitfire flew individually and in a 3 ship Heritage Flight formation. The Spitfire was flown by Dave Hadfield while the Hurricane was flown by Joe Cosmano and the Mustang by Dave Hewitt. These three highly experienced pilots offered visitors to the airshow a glimpse at what these very effective World War II allied aircraft could do. Capable of reaching speeds in excess of 340mph to over 400mph, these fighters could handle pretty much anything the Luftwaffe could throw at them from 1939 to 1945. If you're ever in the Ottawa area a visit to Vintage Wings of Canada is highly recommended.

This week we had a look at some of the aircraft that performed during the Aero-Gatineau 2024 airshow. Next week we'll return to the airshow to have a look at other performers and we'll see what the capital region has to offer when in the area. You can combine a visit to both.