A RECORD crowd of 9500 plane enthusiasts helped make this year’s Tyabb Air Show the best ever, Peninsula Aero Club president Jack Vevers said.

The 21st show, which saw 65 aircraft take to the skies Sunday 8 March, was the culmination of an “almighty effort” by club committee members to overcome last year’s uncertainty and doubt during the spat with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council that the event would get off the ground.

“This show was put together in only seven months as opposed to the usual 14 months,” Mr Vevers said. “It was a great success and we’ve had lots of positive feedback from those who attended.”

The show included a flyover by a RAAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster III from Queensland piloted by a former Peninsula Aero Club student, Squadron Leader Tim Smith, who performed his first solo flight at Tyabb a decade ago. This time around he staged a “missed approach” landing, flying about 50-metres high under full power.

Other highlights were performances by the Southern Knights Formation Aerobatic Team which and Paul Bennett’s aerobatics in his Wolf Pitts Special.

Mr Vevers said proceeds from the air show would go to Chasing Change – a volunteer group focused on suicide prevention in Frankston and on the peninsula, Tyabb CFA, Mt Eliza Lions Club and Tyabb’s football and cricket clubs.

First published in the Western Port Times – 18 March 2020