The Austrian air show ” AirPower09″ was opened on Friday in Zeltweg, Steiermark, central Austria.
The information officer of the Bundeswehr (Austrian Force), Karl Krainer said that the first day of the show attracted over 80, 000 spectators, far more than the spectators in the first day of the “AirPower” in 2005, which attracted 60,000 spectators.
He also expected that the two-day show this year would attracted about 200,000 viewers in total.
According to the organizer’s plan, in addition to a variety of related exhibitions, the pilots from 19 countries drive a variety of aircrafts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time everyday to show the audience stand-alone, formation and aerobatics skills.
The aircrafts participating in this show are from the old 1908- style wooden plane (imitation) to the advanced supersonic fighters, with a total of 173 planes.
On the first day of the show, the Austrian Red Bull Air Race, as well as the other aerobatic teams from France, Poland, Croatia, Turkey, Switzerland and other countries demonstrated in turn. Tens of thousands of audience screamed and applauded for their superb flight skills and formation flying.
On this day, the air force pilots of Netherlands, Belgium and Austria and other countries also carried out the air show of “F-16 ” fighter, “Eurofighter,” “Black Hawk” helicopters, “C-130” transporter and many other active military aircrafts, displaying a superior performance of various military aircrafts and the well- trained level of pilots.
The purpose of “AirPower09” held by Austria is to display the equipments of their Air Force and the capabilities in implementation of peace-keeping operations, as well as the commitment to international and domestic relief and protection tasks, as well as to popularize aviation knowledge to the public.
This show is also a great stage catering for the public to understand the history and current situation of human flight.