Alberta International Airshow ready for takeoff

EDMONTON - Jets will roar and aviation careers soar this August as the Alberta International Airshow takes off from Villeneuve Airport.

The Alberta International Airshow returns to Villeneuve Airport this Aug. 5-6. The annual event drew some 35,000 aviation fans when last held in 2021. (The 2022 airshow was cancelled because its main act, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, was grounded following a crash.)

New to this year’s show is the career expo, where about 17 military and aerospace groups will be on hand to get guests interested in aviation, science, and engineering careers.

Alberta International Airshow president Richard Skermer said the career fair builds on the airshow’s effort to become an investment forum similar to the Calgary Stampede.

“We’re trying to turn this into the Edmonton Stampede,” he said.

There are plenty of trades and manufacturing jobs in aviation besides flying planes, and many involve the same skills used by the oil and gas sector, Skermer noted. Edmonton and St. Albert’s rail, road, and air transport routes make them ideally suited to host industries related to aviation.

This year’s career expo will be housed in a large tent and feature a CF-18 cockpit simulator, educators from IndigeSTEAM (which promotes science and engineering to Indigenous youths), and members of the Canadian armed forces, Skermer said. The expo should be of interest to anyone looking to start a new career.

This year’s airshow also features ground-bound and airborne entertainment. Visitors will get to explore civilian and commercial aircraft, take a spin in the Jurassic Attack monster truck, and gasp as Keith Sayers does back-flips on his motorbike. Doing stunts overhead will be the Snowbirds, the Canadian Forces Skyhawks Parachute team, the American A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration team, and other acts.

Skermer urged guests to arrive early to the airshow in case of traffic jams (which in the past have been hours long) and to buy their tickets in advance — there will be just three cashiers at the gate, and prices will also be 30 per cent more. Guests can take the shuttle bus from the Nakî Transit Centre on Campbell Road instead of driving.

41 years of stunts

One big change to this year’s airshow schedule is the absence of St. Albert airshow performer Bill Carter. Carter, who has been a stunt pilot since 1982 and flown with the Alberta International Airshow since it started in 2015, retired as an airshow pilot earlier this year.

Carter, 78, said there aren’t enough airshows in Alberta going on nowadays for him to keep in practice and justify the expense of his stunt plane.

“I just thought, 'You know what? Maybe it’s time to pack it up,'” he said.

Carter said he learned to fly in Rosetown, Sask., around 1966 after he realized he was too short to make it as a hockey goalie. Earning his commercial licence in 1967, he spent several years flying Twin Otters and DC-3s in the wilderness before switching to Boeing 737s, eventually retiring with Air Canada in 2005.

Carter said he got into stunt flying in 1982 as a way to improve his piloting skills. He initially flew in aerobatic competitions where, as in figure skating, pilots perform set routines before a panel of judges. Impressed by the skills of his fellow competitors, he signed up for his first airshow in 1989.

“We did shows right from Shearwater, Nova Scotia, to Comox, B.C.,” Carter said — roughly 400 total in 186 locations.

Carter said he sold his blue Pitts Special stunt plane to someone in Texas earlier this summer. While he doesn’t plan to get back into stunt flying, Carter said he’s still active as a flight instructor, and was open to giving any airshow newbies some tips.

“I’m going to miss it, absolutely, no question,” he said of stunt flying.

“But at 78 years old, maybe it’s time.”

Skermer said Carter has always been the hometown hero at the airshow and his presence in the sky will be missed. Carter is still working with the airshow as an ambassador and will likely be wandering the grounds this August talking to guests.

General admission to the airshow for those aged seven and up starts at about $21. Gates open at 9 a.m., with the airshow starting at 12:30. Visit albertainternationalairshow.com for details.