A great day was had by all who came from near and far to the Nhill Airshow 2024.

Planes had been flying all week but on the morning of the show they were coming in from every direction, including the Gooney Bird up from Melbourne and a number of private planes, many of which formed part of the aircraft ground display.

Paul Bennet’s aerial display was, in the words of one visitor, “heart stopping flying, incredible machines and very talented, brave or maybe mad pilots”.

The precision stunt work kept your heart in your mouth as planes seemed to almost kiss wings and skimmed the ground as if they were mowing the lawn.

In between the incredible sky jinks, there was time to stroll around the many and varied ground displays, a plethora of planes, a variety of vintage vehicles and a creative collection of crafters.

Visitors to the Crafters Fair were treated to demonstrations of ancient and new crafts with many of them asking lots of questions and even having a go on the spinners wheel, woodworking tools etc., the kids in particular loved playing with the clay.

Jane Bunn was a delight as our VIP for the opening ceremony, other special guests included Borg Sorenson who built our Wirraway from a bunch of metal ‘pick up sticks’. Borg was presented with Life Membership of Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre on Saturday. Nhill’s 99 year old Merv Schneider who was a radio navigator and trained at the Nhill airbase also spoke. Angela Stevenson commentated with fascinating insights into the history of women in Aviation while her cohorts flew circuits overhead.

I could have listened to the lilting tones of the Pacific Belles all day, together with the Nhill Dimboola Brass band they made a pleasant break from the thrumming of engines overhead.

Tim’s Toasties were the gourmet treat they were promised to be, then there were stir fry, potato spirals, kebabs, donuts a host of other culinary delights

Many visitors commented on the warmth and welcome they felt not only at the show but in our town, everywhere you looked there were happy, smiling faces from toddlers to snow tops,

The general consensus from the visitors was that this was an outstanding event, with an oft recurring question throughout the day of “when is the next one?”

The Airshow committee would like to thank the many volunteers who made this day not only possible but such a resounding success.

See all the photos in the issue.
This article appeared in the Nhill Free Press & Kaniva Times, 17 April 2024.