2018 Rocky Airshow finishes off with a boom

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“We have this amazing, very small group of people that pulled off the event that you just saw today.”

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Fowler and his partner Eric Hansen make up Team Rocket, which performed in the show.

“This is year 16 for us. We fly Airshows all over Canada, US, Mexico and Central America,” says Fowler. “I mean we’re all over the place, we’ll even go overseas if shows want us.”

In addition to Team Rocket, the Snowbirds performed their nine-plane aerobatic demonstration, showcasing the skill and precision of the Canadian Forces.

Fowler says despite seeing the Snowbirds in some amazing locations, watching them perform in Rocky Mountain House is the most impactful.

“I get to watch the Snowbirds all over North America,” says Fowler. “I see them everywhere and I always enjoy it but watching the Snowbirds while I was sitting in my airplane, and watching this excitement happen and listening to the crowd cheer and clap, it was very emotional for me because its home.”

Some other featured performances included Yellow Thunder in two Harvard aircrafts, a Sea King Helicopter and aerobatic pilot Jerzy Strzyz in his Russian Sukhoi 26MX.

About halfway through the show, the RCMP put on a performance of their own, chasing a vehicle and connecting it to a helicopter. The vehicle was then released and dropped about 400 feet, setting off explosions when it hit the ground.

“There is a performance at play, it’s kind of like a theatrical production,” says Ken Hildebrandt, one of two main announcers for the show. “There’s choreography to it, there’s performers, all to entertain the crowd, hopefully inspire them and also hopefully to educate people a little bit about aviation.”

The Royal Canadian Airforce CF-18 wrapped up the show, causing the audience to jump every time it passed from an aircraft that can reach speeds up to 1800 km/h.

The finale included pyrotechnics, with huge explosions as the plane made a final fly-by.

When the show concluded, the Snowbirds walked around signing autographs, connecting with the audience.

Hildebrandt says a big advantage of performing in a small community is the intimacy it allows.

“One of the cool things about doing small town airshows is that everybody just jumps right in and really wants to put their best foot forward. You get to know the volunteers, you get to know the community, you get to connect with all the performers in a much lower key kind of environment and that’s what makes Airshows so much fun. It’s as much about the people as it Is about the airplanes.”

The airshow has been around the community for last 16 years.

The Rocky Airshow Association says it hopes to put on another show two years from now.