Boundary Bay Airshow 2025
The 15th year of the annual Boundary Bay airshow (Covid excepted) located in South Delta BC about half an hour south of Vancouver, 15 minutes from YVR. In years past there was a greater static display with local warbirds and GA and more access to the hangars with local residents on display. This post covers all the aircraft present, first of all those in the flying program, followed by those in the static display.
*** .AERIAL PERFORMERS - IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE ***
CF-PST ~ North American Harvard 2 ~ c/n 3776 built 1941 ~ base Ponoka AB
This WW2 classic was the standard advanced trainer for the allied forces, designed and built by North American Aviation of Los Angeles CA, a conglomerate of various companies. Designated the T-6 Texan by the USA first flying in 1935, it was called the Harvard by the commonwealth nations. Power is a 600hp P&W R1340 Wasp. This is a genuine WW2 original flown by Drew Watson who also flies with his brother Dave with another machine in a team called Yellow Thunder.
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N545BW ~ MX Aircraft MX2 ~ c/n MX2-003 built 2021 ~ base Logan UT
MX Aircraft of Perth Western Australia make these very custom built carbon fiber bodied aerobatic aircraft first flown in 2002. Powered by 360hp Lycoming IO-540 with a beautiful sounding exhaust system and expertly flown by Brad Wursten. It is a kit aircraft and would seem to have been assembled by Brad himself.
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N49AD ~ Eurocopter EC120B Colibri ~ c/n 2264 built 2002 ~ base Bellingham WA
Flown every year by Grace Borsari who is president of Altair, owned by the Alpha Group who own the airport. This French helicopter was designed by Eurocopter who were the amalgamation of Aerospatiale and German company MBB, it first flew in 1995 and production ceased in 2017 when Airbus ceded the low end of the market due to declining orders. Typically seating 4 plus the pilot, it was the first Eurocopter clean sheet design to use the Fenestron enclosed tail rotor which has become standard on all models since, which greatly reduces noise. Colibri is French for Hummingbird and was built in their factory in Marignane near Marseilles.
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N8061J ~ Pitts S2-S Special ~ c/n 434 built 2003 ~ base Apple Valley CA
Another custom built acrobatic aircraft dating back to 1944 designed by Curtis Pitts and originally built in Gainesville FL. Production continues today by Aviat Aircraft of Afton WY as this aircraft is, it is a kit aircraft assembled by the owner. The S model is modified from earlier variants to take the 260hp Lycoming IO-540 engine, but this one is tuned to 330hp. Flown by Yuichi Takagi who flies as REDFOX Airshows on a first visit to the show.
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N64CL ~ North American F-51D Mustang ~ c/n 122-40963 built 1944 ~ base Monterey CA
Named "Plum Crazy", flown by Vicky Benzing who in the past has flown Stearman biplane and L29 Delfin jet trainer aircraft at the show. This aircraft is one of the WW2 great fighters and was very fast for it's time and had a long enough range to escort Allied bombers into Germany from Britain. Power is from a Packard built version of the legendary Rolls Royce Merlin. Originally designed by North American, a conglomeration of various companies in Los Angeles CA, this frame served with the USAF and after the war was sold to the RCAF and was actually briefly stationed right here in Vancouver at the main YVR airport which was also CFB Sea Island at the time. It became a racing aircraft most of it's life, the Mustang is popular at the Reno Air Races and Vicky has raced it there too.
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N98AD ~ Gulfstream G280 ~ c/n 2018 built 2015 ~ base Bellingham WA
Flown by Fred Kaiser, the owner and CEO of Alpha Group who own the airport who displays every year, previously he flew a smaller Cessna CitationJet Cj2. This business jet is the largest and final development of a family originally designed and continued to be built by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) near Tel Aviv. The family was purchased by Gulfstream Aerospace of Savannah GA to provide a small to medium size family below their own large jets. The G280 can carry up to 10 people up to 3600nm, power is the 7624 lb Honeywell HTF7250.
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C-GZGT ~ Rutan Long-EZ ~ c/n 568 built 1986 ~ base Rocky Mountain House AB
Flown by Kyle Fowler as GO EZ Aerobatics, this is not designed to be an acrobatic aircraft, but a home built designed by Burt Rutan. His company Rutan Aircraft Factory of Mojave CA is owned by Scaled Composites who in turn are owned by Northrop Grumman. It first flew in 1979 and is famous for a round the world flight in 80 days in 1997. Power is a Lycoming 180hp IO-360 which is larger than original 115hp O-235 and there any many other modifications to perform aerobatics.
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N551D ~ North American P-51D Mustang ~ c/n 1364 built 1944 ~ base Madras OR
Like Vicky's "Plum Crazy", this is a genuine WW2 veteran, but like many aircraft during the war to keep up with demand for allied forces, they were built by many manufacturers in several countries. This one was actually built in Australia by Commonwealth Aircraft Factory and served with the RAAF until 1953, then remained in service as a target tug until crashing in 1976. Now owned by the Erickson Aircraft Collection since 1980 and restored by them. While it has a USAF roundel, it never flew for them and this is a very non standard scheme. They are a great supporter of the show in recent years and send up a pair or more aircraft for static and aerial display. This flew with the Corsair.
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N1337A ~ Chance Vought F4U-7 Corsair ~ c/n 133722 built 1952 ~ base Madras OR
Another WW2 great, designed to be primarily a carrier born fighter in the Pacific theatre. The aircraft was designed by Chancey Vought who's company was named after him and power is a massive 2380hp P&W R-2800. First flying in 1940 and was built right through to 1953, so this was one of the last. Carrying authentic US Navy paint to whom it was delivered, but it was soon sold to the French Navy and became an instructional airframe until 1973 when it was acquired by the Erickson Aircraft Collection. It was flown by their legendary pilot Mike Oliver alongside their Mustang.
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Canadair CT-114 (CL-41A) Tutor ~ Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds ~ base Moose Jaw SK
The show concluded with a display by the Snowbirds, the air force display team, formal name is 431 Air Demonstration Squadron who were officially formed as the team we see today in 1971 located at 15 Wing. The aircraft first flew in 1960 in response to a Canadian government requirement for a home grown basic jet trainer to replace the Harvard and early license built jets. The teams fleet were built between 1963-1966 at now closed St Laurent QC and I believe these are now the only aircraft full time operational anywhere, with the majority of the RCAF trainer fleet retired by 2000. Some may still be operational with AETE in Cold Lake AB plus up to four on the US civilian register. The history of Canadair is complicated, but essentially is a government led amalgamation of several British manufacturers primarily Canadian Vickers building aircraft in Canada for WW2 and is now part of Bombardier producing bizjets. 212 were built and the only export customer was Malaysia who took 20. The engine is a very low powered 2650 lb Orenda built GE J85 turbojet.
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*** STATIC DISPLAY ***
The static display on the main apron was busy and impossible to take clean photos of the aircraft, I decided to include people and all the stuff to add to the ambience and give a feel of how well attended the show was.
C-FIOX ~ Denney Kitfox Super Sport Series 7 ~ c/n KA23327605 built 2024 ~ base Vernon BC
Seems to be a demonstrator for engine manufacturer Rotax, the cowl suggests the 916 iS model. Denney Aerocraft of Boise ID are amateur built ultralight kit planes first introduced in 1984 named after founder Dan Denney. The Super 7 is an evolution of performance improvements.
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C-GDBC ~ Icon A5 ~ c/n 00083 built 2019 ~ based Boundary Bay BC
ICON Aircraft are located in Vacaville CA and went into receivership last year, the A5 light amphibian first flew in 2010 entering service in 2014. Production continues under new ownership by the Shang Dong Group who also own fellow ultralight manufacturer Flight Design and power is generally a Rotax 912 unit.
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CF-HOU ~ Fleet 80 Canuck ~ c/n 220 built 1955 ~ base Langley BC
This aircraft is owned by the Canadian Museum of Flight Association and was rebuilt using parts from another aircraft and flew again in 2017. The company was founded by Reuben Fleet of Fort Erie ON to initially build aircraft for Consolidated back in 1928, the Canuck was their final mass produced own design built until closure in 1957. The company still exists supplying components to aviation companies, but the relationship today is in name only after sale. Engine is an 85hp Continental C-85.
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C-FSKL ~ Noorduyn Harvard 2B ~ c/n 07-184 built 1953 ~ base Boundary Bay BC
This WW2 classic was the standard advanced trainer for the allied forces, designed and built by North American Aviation of Los Angeles CA, a conglomerate of various companies. Designated the T-6 Texan by the USA first flying in 1935, it was called the Harvard by the commonwealth nations. Unlike Drew Watson's machine, this one was built by Noorduyn Aviation of Montreal QC, most famous for their own Norseman bush plane, who built 2557 frames as the Mark 2 under the lend lease program for the RCAF which continued long after the war, in whose colors it is depicted here. Power is a 600hp P&W R1340 Wasp.
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D6289 ~ Sopwith F.1 Camel (replica) ~ no c/n built 1985 ~ base Langley BC
This WW1 great is a replica built by the Canadian Museum of Flight Foundation and is a static exhibit only down to the engine, the original would have been a 130hp Clerget 9 rotary. The original was one of a great stable of fighters and trainers produced by the British Sopwith Aviation Company of Kingston Upon Thames near London named after Thomas Sopwith, first flying in 1917 but retired by the RAF by 1920.
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N6930C ~ Grumman J2F-6 Duck ~ c/n 33559 built 1947 ~ base Madras OR
One of the more unusual designs of Leroy Grumman for the US forces for utility and air sea rescue missions. First flown in 1936, the F-6 model was built by Columbia Aircraft of New York with a 1050hp P&W R-1820. This aircraft is owned by the Erickson Aircraft Collection who are a great supporter of the show for many years now.
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C-GMPF ~ Eurocopter AS350B-3 AStar ~ c/n 4229 built 2007 ~ base Langley BC
This French utility helicopter is one of the most successful ever built, in continuous production since 1975, now re-branded by Airbus Helicopters as the H125. Originally built by Aerospatiale in Marignane near Marseilles, the nationalized conglomeration of French aircraft manufacturers and later re-branded Eurocopter after a merger with German company MBB, then again taken into the Airbus umbrella. In Europe it is known as the Ecureil, in Britain by the English translation Squirrel. In the America's it is branded the AStar and is now also built in Columbus MS. The RCMP have a large rotary and fixed wing fleet across the country. The B3 is a higher power model with the French Turbomeca Arriel 2B turboshaft.
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142805 ~ de Havilland Canada CT-142 Dash 8 (DHC-8-102) ~ c/n 103 built 1990 ~ base Winnipeg MB
With the RCAF 402 Squadron Navigation Unit, the long nose modification holding radar has given it the nickname Gonzo after the Muppets character. The 8th and final design of the Canadian division of the British de Havilland company based in Downsview ON near Toronto, hence the name Dash 8. The -100 first flew in 1983 as a 37 seat regional airliner, taken over by Bombardier in 1992 and remains in widespread service worldwide over 4 variants of different sizes culminating in the 70 seat Q400 flown by Air Canada and WestJet. Engines are a pair of Canadian P&WC PW121 turboprops.
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C-GGZZ ~ Cessna 208 Caravan I ~ c/n 208-00389 built 2005 ~ base Tyhee Lake (Smithers) BC
A very popular design from Clyde Cessna's stable now owned by Textron of Independence KS with the ubiquitous Canadian P&WC PT6A turboprop and found all over BC and Canada on wheels and floats operating in the harshest of environments or equally happy carrying passengers and parcels connecting small communities with big cities. A larger design from their many equally successful piston designs with much larger payload and reliability. This company Alpine Lakes Air have a base here at Boundary Bay, but their headquarters are on Tyhee Lake just south of Smithers in central BC, they have a fleet of 6 floatplanes, 5 of which are Cessna's.
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Clyde Cessna is famous for the most mass produced aircraft in the world at coming up to 45,000 units since 1956 built in Independence KS. This is the bread and butter activity at Boundary Bay, the home to several flying schools and this one is owned by Pacific Professional Flight Center. The aircraft is sometimes known as the Skyhawk which is actually only used for models with higher cabin trim levels. Standard power is the 160hp Continental IO360, it powers its main rivals and many light aircraft and is the by far the most produced aero engine of all time, there must be hundreds of thousands of units.
William Piper was a pioneer of light private aircraft contemporary with Clyde Cessna and all his designs were named after native American Indian tribes.
One of the best selling helicopters of all time with well over 7000 built between 1962-2017 when superseded by the 505 JetRanger X model and they are employed for every use thinkable in every corner of the globe. Founded by Lawrence Bell and one of the great American helicopter pioneers, now owned by Textron (who also own Cessna and Beechcraft) and most civilian machines are actually built at Mirabel airport near Montreal QC. Originally operated by the RCAF and given the CH-139 designation, but now operated by Allied Wings and supported by KF Aerospace as civilian contractors and given civilian registrations for training and support services. These are rarely seen in Western Canada, though the type can be found all over BC and Canada. Power is a 400hp Allison (now Rolls Royce) AN250.
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