Lodrino Sub Alpine Airshow

Switzerland
Sept 1 & 2, 2006


At Tannkosh we were located opposite to the friendly folk of the
Swiss P3 aerobatic display Team.

After one of their performances they dropped by our stand with a brochure for an Air Show in Lodrino and the suggestion that we might like to attend.

After much searching of our maps we finally located Lodrino in the far south of Switzerland, not that far from Milan. And I guess that’s pretty much where our Lodrino adventure began. We soon discovered that with Lodrino being very much in the Italian part of Switzerland neither Lillian’s German nor my English were going to be that helpful! But thanks to the patience of the organisers and the local tourist office we eventually got ourselves sorted and headed south, through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and eventually over the San Bernardino Pass to the small hillside village of Claro where we had arranged farmhouse accommodation.

The airfield was just up the road beside the Ticino River and set amidst some pretty impressive mountain scenery. ‘Eddy’ Reinhart, the communications man helped get us set up and the stage was set for a special experience.

On the Friday afternoon the flying participants began to arrive, many with an impromptu show. The UK Fighter Collection’s Griffon powered Spitfire Mark XIV, Mustang P51C and the rare Curtiss Hawk 75 were amongst those arrivals and with virtually no crowds around there was a great opportunity to see these wonderful aircraft at close quarters.

We also got a preview of Christian Moullec with his powered ultralight and formatting geese! This is only incidentally an Air Show performance – the driving force is a desire to save a rare species of a wild goose and Christain has undertaken this endeavour to help the geese with their migrations. You are encouraged to read more of this fascinating enterprise at www.vol-avec-les-oies.com.

So on to the Air Show itself. The weather forecast wasn’t the best but the worst never eventuated and we were blessed with two days of good flying weather. The Fighter Collections’ Warbirds were supplemented with a rare Morane D-3801, a beautifully restored Mitchell B 25 of the Swiss JAF http://www.jaf.ch and an ex Swiss Air Force Hawker Hunter.

Lots of aerobatics – from a Pitts right up to La Patrouille Suisse and the Breitling Jet Team. The latter two gave magnificent performances – how they manage to hold their formations so tight is a source of wonder. I’m not a great jet fan but I have to say these displays were something special.
Now, what I didn’t know as a new ‘kiwi’ spectator to the European Air Show circuit is that the crack display teams, or many of them at least, have their own fan clubs with all the supporting regalia! Creates a rugby game sort of an atmosphere.

You can get more info on these two teams at:
http://www.breitling-jet-team.com

http://www.armee.vbs.admin.ch/internet/armee/de/home/lvbfl/links/ps.html

Finally mention must be made of the P3 Flyers. These guys (and I think some gals) are the only civil P3 Team around and their enthusiasm is infectious. At Lodrino, they managed the flight line, did their displays and could be found every evening in front of the video / TV reviewing their performance.

And that exemplifies one of the things that’s so great about Air Shows - its obvious enjoyment for participants and spectators alike.

The Lodrino show is a direct descendent of a regular nineties Air Show that was held further up the same valley. It was very popular but needed to be moved due to lack of local support.

Let’s hope Lodrino doesn’t suffer a similar fate.

And if you are able to attend in future, leave yourself lots of time to explore the surroundings. The countryside, the history, the food and the wine - you won’t be disappointed.