Iqaluit's first Air Show was quite a success.  It brought together a number of static displays, plus a fly-by featuring two Canadian Forces CF-18s, and a show by the Canadian Forces Skyhawks parachute demonstration team.

Overcast skies and cooler temperatures didn't stop hundreds of people from coming out on Saturday, August 22nd to the north apron at CYFB in Iqaluit.

There was lots to see.  On display were First Air's new Boeing 767 cargo plane and an ATR42; four aircraft from the Canadian Forces (CF-18, Aurora, Twin Otter and Seaking helicopter), Transport Canada's ice surveillance DASH-7; a Canadian Helicopters Bell 212; a Canadian Coast Guard BO-105-CBS helicopter; and Cessna 172 C-GOLJ.

Canada's Defence Minister Peter MacKay dropped by, along with then Chief of Defense Staff General Walt Natynczyk. They were in town to observe the Canadian Forces northern military exercise, Operation Nanook, which was underway that week.

Along with the static displays came a chance to see local aircraft at work. Throughout the show, just about everything was on the move: charters, scheduled flights and medevacs: including Kenn Borek Twin Otters, King Airs and DC-3, Air Nunavut's King Airs (which did a fly-by mid afternoon); a Canadian Forces Hercules, a Canadian Forces Challenger jet, and the First Air and Canadian North B737s, DASH-8s, and ATR-42s.

We had a couple of hundred kids (and quite a few adults, too!) visit OLJ during the show.  As you can see from the photo above, the chance to get behind the controls of even a small airplane was irresistible to many.  As one child was heard to say, while pointing across the tarmac at OLJ,  "Mom, I want to go and see the kids' plane!".

Credit for the event goes to Iqaluit Airport Manager John Graham, and Eric Leuthold and his crew at Frobisher Bay Touchdown Services. It was an excellent volunteer effort that brought rave reviews from those who attended.