Mazury Air Show. 2019.

Mazury 2019-09-05

Mazury Air Show. 2019 year.

Mazury Air Show is an aviation event that has been on the calendar of aviation events for over a dozen years and attracts thousands of participants every year. The shows are known in the Republic of Poland and abroad, and their hallmark is the presentations of aircraft at Lake Niegocin. That is why the shows are always full of flying boats, amphibians and water-planes. Thanks to this, they are the only such shows in Poland.

Masurian air shows have a long history. From 1999, the shows were held under the name of the Masuria Aviation Festival, gathering the audience in love with sky evolutions at the organizer's airport (Aero Club of the Lake District) in Wilamowo near Kętrzyn.

In 2009, the organizers decided to interest a wider audience in aviation and moved some of the shows to the Niegocin Lake in the vicinity of the city beach and the Giżycko port. The idea turned out to be successful and the show confirmed that this location is the best for the event and that is why the next editions are held at Lake Niegocin.

The event is not ticketed, and the organizers provide excellent sound. The performances of aviators can be observed from the city beach in Giżycko, the local pier, port and Saint Bruno Hill. Of course, you can go to Niegocin Lake (outside the zone reserved for airplanes) and watch the shows from the yacht. Thanks to this, each spotter can choose the most suitable place for himself. The shows are complemented by a static exhibition at the Kętrzyn-Wilamowo Airport, i.e. at the Lakeland Aeroclub. The main organizer of the shows is the Aero Club of the Lake District and its president, Mr. Stanisław Tołwiński. Masuria Air Show 2019 was carried out with the support of the City of Giżycko and the Self-government of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

As in 2018, the "Program 1 of Polish Radio" was invited to the Mazury Air Show. Thanks to this, the event received great advertising. Through the Air Show Radio on the 89.1 MHz frequency, the commentary of the announcers-specialists was heard within a radius of 30 km from Giżycko, in radios and smartphones, in all places around the Niegocin Lake and, of course, on the lake itself. The shows were also broadcast via the Internet ONLINE "Mazury AirShow TV" (TV MAS Studio).

This year's Mazury Air Show 2019 was already the 21st edition and lasted on August 3-4, 2019 (Saturday-Sunday). The commentator of the event was Captain Witold Sokół, a former combat aircraft pilot, so a man in the right place. Personally, we highly appreciate the professional commentary of Mr. Witold Sokół.

The course of the event was supervised by representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority, which guaranteed the highest level of safety, both for aviators and spectators.

The organizers provide a framework program of the event, which is always implemented. The detailed program is difficult to present due to various factors such as weather, hardware failures or other random events.

Mazury Air Show 2019 framework program.

Saturday 2019-08-03.

Official opening at 11:00 on the stage at the Ekomarina Port in Giżycko

The first block of shows 12: 00-14: 00

The second block of shows 16: 00-18: 00

Airplane night show with lighting and fireworks 22:00

Fireworks show 22:30

Sunday 2019-08-04.

Final block of shows 10: 00-14: 00

At the same time, from 10:00 to 19:00, Kętrzyn Wilamowo Airport was open to viewers. Following the example of other local events, sightseeing flights were organized at Wilamowo Airport on board the Robinson 44 helicopter.

This year, the weather was good and it is estimated that up to 200,000 people could watch the shows.

We know from other reports that a specific event on the eve of the show was a kind of preview of Mazury AirShow 2019. On Friday, August 2, 2019, four seaplanes participating in the 21st International Rally of Friends of Aviation and Masuria landed on Lake Mamry, and later enter the Ekomariny port in Węgorzewo via Węgorapa.

Air shows.

Each day of the show began with the ferrying of seaplanes from the airport in Kętrzyn, which launched on Lake Niegocin, mooring at the city beach in Giżycko. There were parachuting jumpers of the SGP SkyMagic team from the board of the Antonov An-2 "Wienczyk" plane, which came to the show from Krakow. Then An-2 Viennese made his individual show.

Later, the 2nd Search and Rescue Group from Mińsk Mazowiecki from the 3rd Tactical Aviation Wing presented their show. There were lifeguards jumping directly into the water and taking them aboard the helicopter.

In turn, the ULS (Ultra Light Airplane) 3Xtrim 550 aircraft, registration OM-M 457, presented at the lake. The aircraft could be seen already in 2018.

Then there was the Eurofly Minifox mini plane, registration SP-SCPT. The plane in the "kit" version was built by Captain Wiesław Jedynak, a pilot and instructor of airplane, helicopter and balloon, professionally associated with LOT Polish Airlines. It is currently the smallest utility plane. Eurofly MiniFox is a single-engine, single-engine high wing manufactured by the Italian company Eurofly srl. It is a new philosophy of flying born of minimalism. The plane weighs only 115 kg. It has a fuel tank with a capacity of only 15 liters. 70 / 75m is enough for take-off / landing. The plane is able to withstand a load of + 6 / -4 G. It uses a 35-horsepower Cisco Motor 250 cubic cm, which thanks to the use of a Helix propeller achieves a thrust force of 90 kg. The maximum flight weight is 230 kg.

The next aircraft was the Thorp T-18 Tiger registration SE-XGA. The aviator was the Swedish pilot Mr. Johan Gustafsson. It is this pilot and this plane that performed in the night show with lighting and fireworks (pyrotechnics). The night show took place on Saturday from 22:00 to 22:30.

Then two Alpi Pionieer 300 STD planes presented themselves. SP-SEWA and SP-SATP registrations.

The next ones were two L-4 Piper Cub - Grasshopper planes. One is yellow, the other is green. The planes are known for their numerous performances at the Air Show in Poland.

Then two Harvard planes presented themselves. Airplanes are already well known from numerous Air Shows. There are currently two Harvard and a third flying planes in Poland, as a museum exhibit at the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow. Another great attraction was the performance of the Lithuanian ANBO aerobatic group. Presidential Team ANBO - Lithuanian aerobatic team. Presidential ANBO trio, led by Rolandas Paksas, former prime minister and president of Lithuania and former member of the Soviet and Lithuanian national aerobatic teams. The team consists of three pilots who fly three Yak-50 planes powered by M14P radial engines. The team in the show uses colored streaks in the national colors of Lithuania.

Then there was a small Schwelzer helicopter registration SP-AYA in the air, which gave an individual display. There was another helicopter of the same type at the event, registered as SP-YMA.

Another attraction was a water rescue demonstration using the PZL W-3 Anakonda nb 0304 helicopter from the base in Babie Doły. From that moment on, the lake was visited by ever larger and louder aircrafts of the Polish Air Force.

The Mil Mi-24 combat helicopter, which is stationed at the base in Pruszcz Gdański, has appeared on the Niegocin Lake. This helicopter still attracts a lot of attention, although the time of its decommissioning is slowly approaching.

Then there was the Lockheed C-130 E Hercules military transport plane, which flew directly from its base in Powidz to the show. This is another time when Lockheed C-130 Hercules presents itself in Giżycko. The plane made several laps over the lake, demonstrating an open rear loading ramp and an extended landing gear. These planes have been in service with the Polish Air Force since 2009. Currently, the Polish Army is considering replacing these machines with the younger Lockheed C-130 E Hercules, also from USAF reserves.

A big attraction was the arrival at Giżycko of two Suchoj Su-22 attack aircraft from the base in Świdwin. Both planes were the Su-22 UM 3 K versions, i.e. two-seater versions that have recently undergone major repairs to extend their service life in the Polish Army. The planes have gray camouflage.

The highlight of the military part of the show was the American Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter, in one of the newest versions of the Boeing AH-64 E Guardian. It is the most modern combat helicopter flying in the US armed forces in Europe. This helicopter supports the US Army troops stationed in Poland on a daily basis. Usually, these helicopters can be found at the Powidz Airport.

From 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. there was a second block of shows, where some of the planes from the previous block were presented once again: the ANBO aerobatic group from Lithuania, two L-4 Piper Cub planes, and others.

On Saturday, August 3, 2019, from 22:00 to 23:00, there was a night show that consisted of two points. The first was a show by a Swedish pilot, Mr. Johan Gustafsson, who performed an acrobatics show with a Thorp T-18 plane equipped with special lighting, using pyrotechnic elements and LED lighting. The show aroused great recognition of the gathered audience. Immediately after the departure of the Thorp T-18 aircraft, a fireworks show began, which are a permanent element of the Mazury Air Show.

On Sunday, August 4, 2019, one block of shows took place from 10:00 to 14:00. It was a copy of Saturday's shows.

However, Mazury Air Show is not only a flight show at Lake Niegocin. At the airport in Kętrzyn, from where the aircraft presented at Niegocin took off, you could see the planes and helicopters participating in the show up close. The Kętrzyn-Wilamowo airport was traditionally open to the public on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 19:00.