Held for the very first time, a new airshow in the Netherlands. The Buurse Airshow 2008 goes together with all kinds of festivities on a large open area, known as the Volksfeesten, which means something like town festivities. Don't think this is relatively new, it was held for the 110th time. Goto www.buurse.nl for more info (unfortunately only in Dutch).

The airshow was held august 17th of 2008. The parking lot was a short walk from the display line. Let me first say the things I did not like at the show, not alot of toilets close to the display line, nor alot of eating/drinking possibilities, which meant for long lines. Don't get me wrong though, they didn't expect for so many people to show up for a first airshow (15,000 people attended).

The first performer at the airshow was Robert "Redyak" de Vries and no slow start, right away it was bam, ACTION!!. Which is a good thing, the crowd immediately responded. With good loops, barrel rolls and stall turns. Being the great guy Robert is, he made a nice wave to the crowd at the end of his show, which was appreciated by the crowd. The sound of the Yak-52 is like music in your ears. Next up was one of the Pitts from Wings over Holland, which showed what this unlimited aerobatics plane can do. Flick rolls was one of them, I get to Wings over Holland later, as they also did a double display.

Then it was time for the Captens team from France, having never seen their display, I was curious to what they were able to do in their Cap 10 aeroplane. I was happily surprised. The team consist of Marianne and Adam Shaw, Adam is originally from the United States, but has moved to France, where his wife already lived. Their show consists of tight formation loops, barrel rolls, cloverleafs, loops in trail, breaks and crosses and ... the final heart. Both members are professional pilots and aerobatic instructors. Marianne was on the French national aerobatic team for 15 years, and a 7-time French National champion. Adam was a foreign correspondent for UPI, a staff reporter for the Washington Post wrote a book SOUND OF IMPACT 'The Legacy of TWA # 514", and has been teaching aerobatics for 20 years.

Next up was the Robin 2160 from the aeroclub Rotterdam. It showed good aerobatics, 4 and 8 point rolls, loops, accelerated snaprolls, where sometimes the crowd had the idea the engine was about to fail. When it flies inverted the engine doesnt get enough fuel and starts to stutter, but the pilot rolls the plane in level flight again and all is ok. Seagull formation team was the next performer, the show has formation flying and a big break at the end. The team is based in Hoogeveen at Hoogeveen airport which consists of a small grass strip. Wings over Holland was back again, but this time with two Pitts, one of them being a Pitts Special if i'm not mistaken, tight formation flying and a nice mirror fly past by the two Pitts planes.

The Saab Safir, flown by Robert van Zwieten, is a simple plane if you look at it, but this plane can do quite some nice maneuvers. This plane with registration PH-RLA was once on top of a company in the Netherlands, which is a big big shame, since planes are supposed to fly. The Fokker Four formation is a great example of what can be done with very old planes, the team consists of four Fokker S-11, hence the name Fokker Four. Despite its age it can still do aerobatics, be it simple. The Cap-21 was up next, followed by Red Sensation.

Red Sensation gave a great show, tight formation flying, which is not that strange, since both pilots are ex-airforce pilots. The bright red General Avia F.22c is a feast to the eye, looking very slick. Nice clover leaf maneuvers. Great thing was the intro, done by Rob Grotendorst, Red 1. He talked to the crowd, which the crowd noticebally loved. Some para's from the Dutch Army then dropped out of an Antonov An-2. After which the Antonov itself gave a great display. The guys from Classic Wings gave a great display, showing that this bi-plane can do some tight turns. The Zlin 526 was up next, a Russian trainer, flown by Victor Telkamp.

The nostalgic part came next, with the RNLAF Historic Flight, in Dutch it's Stichting Koninklijke Luchtmacht Historische Vlucht. Flying with two Harvards and a Beechcraft. Nothing spectacular, only fly by's. I always love to see the Harvards though. Aeroclub Rotterdam was up next, showing formation flying in general aviation planes. Onto the P-51 Mustang, absolutely lovely plane from the WW2 era. I've seen this plane for years and years now, but it never gets old.

The Extra 300 from Frank Versteegh, well known for the Red Bull Airrace, did a good show with unlimited aerobatics. The Extra 300 at Buurse was flown by Hendrik Van Overvest (ex- Dutch Air Forcefighter pilot, and now airline Boeing driver), and has been Dutch national champion about 10 times. Frank does commentary for the Red Bull Airrace and was in Budapest that weekend. And last but not least. The B-25 Mitchell. The roar of the engines, is much like the Yak-52, music in your ears. Doing some fly-by's and tight sharp turning.

All in all it was a great airshow, the organisers have already confirmed there will be a second edition next year. I will certainly be attending it.

A special thanks to the Red Sensation team, Captens team and Hans van Geffen(Robin 2160) for supplying additional information.