The city of Augsburg has a longstanding traditional relationship with
aviation matters. In 1897 a balloon factory was founded there, which is still in existence today. Although this factory doesn’t produce gas anymore – or
captive balloons, its association with the aeronautical industry is still valid. Together with other leading international companies, the Ballonfabrik Augsburg (BFA) is deeply involved in the development and production of the
Eurofighter Typhoon’s pilot’s gear and equipment. The greatest level of awareness created by Augsburg as an aviation location was attained with relation to one of the finest aircraft designers, Prof. Willy Messerschmitt. In
1926 this young design engineer was working for the Bayrische Flugzeugwerke AG, where he became their chief designer. After the BFW went bankrupt he merged his own company with the remains of the BFW and founded the Messerschmitt AG
Augsburg. As the company’s airport, the closely situated Gersthofen-Gabling was used for almost all test flights. This airport’s location was not far from the current Flughafen Augsburg, which was founded in 1968.
This domestic airport is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
The desire to celebrate this jubilee with an auspicious event, matched with
the planning of the ABACUS AIRSHOW Inc., lead to the organisation of a big airshow somewhere in the Federal State of Bavaria. This family-owned enterprise had already organised a great airshow at Hof/Plauen in 2007.
And once again the team headed by its CEO Uli Menzel did a great job in organising an event for everybody, for the aviation enthusiast as well as for Joe Public. Around 10,000 visitors came to see an outstanding show on the
weekend of the 26th / 27th of July 2008. The show had to take place on the airfields grass strip, (positioned on the southern side of the airfield, where normally gliders would take off and land). The more than six hours
flying programme left, (almost), nothing to be desired and pleased the young and the young at heart. The repertoire of the show started with the training glider SG 38, through to
the Messerschmitt 262, and almost all of the aircraft on general display at Augsburg also took part in the flying display. One of the rare exceptions was, most unfortunately, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Currently all
flyable One-O-Nines of the Messerschmitt Foundation are grounded due to landing accidents and engine trouble. So the only Bf 109 on display at Augsburg was a display model (Bf 109 G-2), which is normally
stationed at Augsburg’s EADS facility. Also as already mentioned the Me 262 replica did a flying display, nevertheless it wasn’t able to take of and land from the short airstrip at Augsburg so it was operating from
its home base at Manching).
The emphasis of the Augsburg airshow was focused on the products
designed by Prof. Willy Messerschmitt and of course one of the most important aircraft could not have been missed. The reference is, of course in respect of the Bf 108. In total, three of these beautiful aircraft were flying
together. Besides the well-know Taifun (Typhoon) of the German Lufthansa Foundation (Bf 108 B-1, D-EBEI), flown by Flight Captain Uwe Badow and the Messerschmitt Foundation’s own Bf 108 B-2 (D-ESBH) another B-1,
owned by four Pilots from Hessia was on display. This specific model was built in 1937 and is probably the oldest model of this type in flyable condition. In contrast to the former mentioned One-O-Eights this type is still
using a two-bladed wooden fixed propeller. The original designation of the Bf 108 was BFW 37. With this aircraft Willy Messerschmitt set new standards. The famous aviatrix Elly
Beinhorn, whose name the German Lufthansa Foundations Bf 108 is carrying, contributed to its fame with many of her record-breaking flights. Unfortunately this last grand dame of aviation died in November 2007
shortly after her 100th birthday. Even in our days the Bf 108 is still a modern looking aircraft. In case of elegance she’s still one of the most attractive aircraft ever built. The formation flying of all three Bf 108`s
was definitely one of the shows highlights.
Another aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt was the M 17. The model
on display is a replica of Messerschmitt’s first aeroplane. This tiny little airplane weighted only 198 kg. Between 6 and 8 M 17s had been built in 1925 with only one survivor, which is on display in the Deutsches Museum
in Munich. The M 17 was powered by a two-cylinder Bristol Cherub II boxer motor rated at 30 HP. The same (original) engine could be used for the replica as well. This was built by Bitz GmbH Flugzeugbau, which has an
international reputation in restoration and reconstruction of old aircraft. This company is located in Augsburg! Currently Bitz is working on a reconstruction of the famous Focke Wulf FW58 “Stoesser”!!!
Of course there weren’t only Messerschmitt designed aircraft on display in
Augsburg (even if the vast majority was). To the delight of all spectators Paul Ressle displayed with his Yakovlev Yak-3 (D-FYAC) on both days and demonstrated perfectly the power and tremendous speed of his Allison
–powered Yak. This American made V-12 (Allison V-1710-111) is rated at 1475 HP at 3200 r/pm (full military power is even higher at 1600 HP), and replaces the original Klimow WK-105PF-Z rated at 1240 HP. This small,
Soviet – era fighter was one of the most capable and fastest Allied fighter aircraft in World War II, only it’s short range caused some disappointment. No problems with range were apparent from the next participant of the
show. The Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair didn’t only have an outstanding speed combined with lots of firepower from its 6 x .50 cal machine guns, but also had a great range of 932 miles (compared to the Yak-3`s 440 miles).
The Corsair wasn’t on the schedule for the Augsburg Airshow, but took part in an open day at the nearby Lechfeld Air Base (FBW 32). On its way home to Salzburg/Austria its pilot, Matthias Dolderer made a few fly
bys and stunned the excited visitors with his unexpected but very welcome surprise.
Of course there is also a must for pleasure flights at any airshow. Augsburg
offered plenty of possibilities to pay for a joy ride on one of the vintage aircraft with more people attending than anticipated. Beside the legendary “Tante Ju” of the German Lufthansa Berlin Foundation, one had also the
opportunity to fly with a Dornier Do-28 of the Reservists society from Uetersen. Those who like it a bit faster could also join a flight in Georg Raab`s North American Harvard II. A very special highlight was the chance
to go on a ride with the only flyable (in Germany) Max Holste MH 1521 „Broussard“. This aircraft was often called the “French Beaver”, relating to the DeHavilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. Even though there are some
similarities there is one distinctive difference between the Broussard and the Beaver. The Broussard is equipped with a remarkable twin tail. Between 1954 and 1960 some 363
aircraft of this type had been built, whereas many of them were still in use with the French Air Force until the mid 1980’s. The Broussard (Bushman in French) has incredible STOL characteristics and is powered by a
single 9-cylinder Pratt & Whitney radial engine achieving 505 HP. This particular aircraft is owned by Bernd Axenbeck from the German Historic flight and was flown as a liaison aircraft within the Armée de l'Air until 1986.
Another highlight of the show was provided by the Musee Europeen De
L´Aviation De Chasse from Montelimar / France. The North American OV-10B Bronco is still using its original colours and markings (99+24) from the German Luftwaffe. The Bronco had its maiden flight on July, the 16th 1965
and was widely used as a light attack and FAC (Forward Air Controlling) aircraft in the Vietnam war. It was a formidable aircraft having excellent flight characteristics and offered the pilot an outstanding view. The German
Luftwaffe ordered some 18 aircraft by the end of the 1960’s but used them in a slight modified version (no weapons, glassy tail gate) as a target tow. After the German reunification in 1990 all of these aircraft were disbanded.
Flown by the museum’s president and chief pilot, Phillip Chabert, the OV-10 B Bronco demonstrated its outstanding performance in a remarkable display.
More smooth and graceful movements were displayed by the next
participants. For all friends of vintage glider aircraft the Augsburg Airshow 2008 was some kind of Eldorado. Beside the bright red coloured Messerschmitt Me 163 (which is actually just in Glider configuration, no
rocket engine is installed) some further curiosities were on display. The Slingsby T.21b, owned by Roland Schmidt, a member of the Verein zur Förderung des Historischen Segelflugs e.V (Historical Glider Association)
was one of them. The Sedbergh, as the T.21b is also named is still flying under British registration (BGA = British Gliding Association)., because there was never any German application for admission done for this aircraft.
About 218 aircraft of this type were built from 1947 on, which were widely used as training gliders within the Air Training Corps as well as the Royal Air Force. Some of these gliders
were discharged from active service in the middle of the 80’s and found their way to private owners. Beside the T.21b the association also owns a very rare Focke Wulf Kranich III.
Another glider club, the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung historischer
Flugzeuge (German Association for Preservation of Historical Aircraft) attended the airshow with its whole fleet of motor gliders designed by the Raab company as well as one Dornier Do-27 towing aircraft. Especially
noteworthy were the types “Raab Motorkrähe” (motor crow) and “Raab Motorraab” - very interesting machines indeed. The first is powered by a Hirth F-10 engine rated at 23 HP. This has a very streamlined fuselage as
well as a pusher propeller, which allows it to take off without assistance. The Motorraab uses a 34 HP two cylinder Boxer engine (the one from the old VW Beatle). Another glider was the SG 38 (training glider) who showed
a very short (unfortunately) display while being towed by a car. The grand finale (in case of the gliders) was performed by the Glider Aerobatic Team Franken with their three Lo100
who were towed by a single aircraft, Uli “the Cobra” Dembinski’s Yak-55 who also did a stunning aerobatic program after the gliders had landed.
Besides the already mentioned aircraft one could also see plenty of
aerobatics in Augsburg, like Peggy Krainz in (or better “on”) her Boeing PT-17 with her wing walking display as well as Ali Oeztuerk flying his powerful
(400HP) strong highly modified Pitts Special, called Acromach. The Augsburg Airshow`s air boss, Flight Captain (Lufthansa) Uwe Schmuck, started the show with a nice display flying his home-built Christen Eagle II. This was
designed by Frank Christensen at the beginning of the 1970ies and is based on the Pitts Special.
At the end of the show, on Sunday evening, one could not only see relaxed and happy spectators, who did see a spectacular and multifaceted event but also lots of satisfaction on the faces of the organisers, volunteers and the performers. The combination of warbirds, oldtimers, gliders as well as spectacular aerobatic displays has once again proven, that great airshows can be held in Germany as well. The team around Uli Menzel, who had already organised the great show at Hof/Plauen last year, once again offered a lot to the aviation enthusiast and to the general public. So this will be definitely not the last show from this organiser, we already look forward to Augsburg 2009 - CU there!
Robert Kysela
Release 1.0/2010
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Release 1.0/2010
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