European airshows

A very full programme of events is lined up for mainland Europe in 2017, even though there aren’t many really big military shows. For the historic aircraft enthusiast, the much-loved Meeting Aérien at La Ferté Alais, France, is the obvious highlight; what a shame it clashes with another historic-oriented occasion, the Aviation Fair at Pardubice in the Czech Republic. Norwegian enthusiasts are well catered for by the traditional display at Kjeller, as well as the less regular shows at Sola and Andøya. The latter base in the Arctic Circle, home of the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s P-3 Orion maritime patrol fleet, marks the station’s 60th anniversary and 333 Squadron’s 75th. Will we see Friends of the Starfighter’s newly restored and airworthy CF-104D flying at any of these events, one wonders? Elsewhere among the Nordic nations, the Helsinki seafront show is a special one-off, organised by the Finnish Aviation Museum as part of celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of Finland becoming an independent state, and including “a unique cavalcade of flying aircraft from the past and the present.”