The first pilot I met on the Roskilde Air Show Friday afternoon was Kenneth, by the side of his L-4 Grasshopper:
Many special guests were expected, and one of them – B-17 The Flying Fortress with the nickname Sally B that flew in from the UK. From my office at work, I monitored its flight on the Flightradar24 app:
Sally B is the last remaining B-17 in Europe that is still flying. I’ve seen it a couple of times before on other air shows, but it was fist time this aircraft was coming to Denmark. It was built in 1945, and never entered the was service. The aircraft was used for training purposes in the US, and later for surveys and mapping work in France. In 1975, a businessman and a pilot Ted White bought it and brought to the UK. There this aircraft was named Sally B, after Ted’s long-time companion Elly Sallingboe. Elly was born and grew up in Svendborg, Denmark; hence our special relation to this B-17. Ted was killed when his Harvard crashed during an air show in 1982. In his memory, Sally B’s inner engine cowling will always carry the same black and yellow chequered markings as Ted’s Harvard:
During the years, Sally B continued to display at air shows throughout the Europe, as one of the most popular attractions on the warbirds displays. And now, we could also welcome Sally B to Roskilde!
The Rvators formation team of homebuilt aircraft on static display:
They did a beautiful aerobatics airshow for us:
Transall medium transport aircraft:
It was developed in the early 1960s by a Franco-German consortium. The German Air Force still operates 85 of them, for the transport of passengers, cargo, parachutists, and as MEDEVAC.
And look, what your aircraft else could be used for:
A perfect place for a baby under the wing!
One of the four Hercules from the Royal Netherlands Air Force that made it way to Denmark:
There were many nice aircraft to see. Two Saab Safir from Sweden:
A remarkable Storch from Norway:
The Midnight Hawks, an aerobatics team from The Finnish Ar Force:
They did some stunning aerobatics in a very close formation. We were informed, the distance between those aircraft was only 2 metres, and that it was the only aerobatics team that could do it.
Sally B taxiing by spectators:
The thing, I liked most during the Friday twilight show, was performance of two Grob-109 motor gliders from The Airborne Pyrotechnics, UK. They had led lights over the fuselage, and 4 kg of pyrotechnics on each wing tip.
The Airborne Pyrotechnics did a breathtaking, colourful, and graceful aerobatics display accompanied my music. It was so beautiful, everybody was filming, though it was difficult to get a decent photo or video with a mobile phone:
The evening ended up with an impressive fireworks show:
More than 4,000 people attended the Friday twilight air show in Roskilde airport.
Most of the visitors headed for their cars; Vagn and I decided to have a walk in the dark before going home. I asked Vagn to pose for me as a cool military pilot:
Vagn was grinning from ear to ear, but he didn’t know I could easily see the light from his camera – he tried to film me whist I was taking pictures of him.
The new F-35 of the Royal Danish Air Force:
This year, we celebrated the 800 years birthday of Dannebrog, the Danish flag. On this occasion, The Danish Defence and Fighter Wing Skrydstrup painted an entire F-16 like Dannebrog to mark the flag’s anniversary:
Ans the last photo that night, with me in the dark and almost empty airport:
It was first time I attended a twilight air show, but definitely not the last one – so spectacular it was.