46th International Sanicole Airshow
The International Sanicole Airshow returned for its 46th edition in September 2026. The event faced numerous challenges in the build up to the show and during the two public days, not least some very poor weather on the Sunday of the event. The event marked the 85th anniversary of the Pearl Harbour attack and the 80th Anniversary of the Belgian Air Force. Sanicole also marked the 75th anniversary of 31 Tiger Squadron which shares very close links with the Sanicole organisation.
Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports. All photography by the author.
There is little question that 2026 proved to be a difficult year for the International Sanicole Airshow. The event hosts one of the most varied flying programmes of any European airshow but this year faced issues with both the weather and the availability of aircraft and pilots. Sanicole was dealt an early blow with the withdrawal of the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight AJS37 Viggen and J32 Lansen due to pilot health issues. To the credit of the organisers, they worked quickly to find suitable replacements for the Swedish jets. However, a bigger blow occurred in the week leading up to the event with two very significant cancellations. First, the Royal Air Force Red Arrows cancelled their appearance due to the lack of resources available for the team to deploy away from its Waddington. Then, on the same day the TLG31 Eurofighter EF2000 solo display also cancelled its appearance. Though we cannot make public the reason for the cancellation of the EF2000, it was not a decision taken lightly and was made for very good reasons. Those final cancellations came too late for replacements to be found but the show still boasted a decent line-up of international flying and parachuting displays.
The challenges continued into the show days. Saturday’s sunset flying display was brought to early end when pyrotechnic dross caused some fires in the heathland to the south of the airfield. Flying was suspended leading to the loss of two acts, though the event did end as intended with a spectacular drone display in the dark sky. However, Sunday proved the most problematic day. It had long been forecast that Sunday would be a grey and damp day, but all the forecasts predicted conditions would improve during the day, and even within the wetter periods there would be windows where some flying could take place. Reality was very different with more persistent rain and poor visibility which moved more slowly than the forecasts and weather radars predicted. Though some acts did fly earlier in the day in one of the all-too short breaks in the rain, much of the flying was cancelled until there was a break in the clouds around 3pm. It must be said that the hastily re-jigged flying display for the last two and half hours of the day was quite impressive and praise must go the way of the display crews involved for being flexible. Also, praise must also go to the vast majority of the airshow audience who endured some pretty miserable weather for several hours – at least they were rewarded with some decent flying in the end! One thing Sanicole organisers could look at in the future is improving the communication for people on the showground which at times was lacking.
Sanicole is not just about the flying displays. There is a very long thin showground to enjoy which over the last 16 years that we have visited has been enhanced greatly. There is also a small static display of aircraft. A personal highlight of the static for me was the AirTractor AT802 Fireboss. These imposing aircraft have been recently employed in Europe and Turkey to enhance the ability to fight wildfires. The Belgian Air Force was also represented with a SIAI-Marchetti SF260D training aircraft, Agusta A109BAi Hirundo and its latest acquisition, the Airbus H145M Dragonfly utility helicopter. The H145M entered service earlier this year and has already replaced the NH90TTH helicopters and will eventually replace the last of the A109s. The Royal Netherlands Air Force also three aircraft on static display including the Pilatus PC-7 Turbotrainer, NH90NFH Caiman and Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian.
The star of the military static displays was the Airbus AS365N3+ Dauphin from the Lithuanian Air Force. The aircraft which is operated by Sraigtasparniu Eskadrilé is used for Search and Rescue duties over the Baltic Sea and is a rare visitor to western European airshows.
There were also several vintage and civilian aircraft along the flightline including the rare Vultee BT-13 Valiant from the Dutch based Early Birds Foundation.
The Saturday Sunset show saw near-perfect conditions, with some light clouds illuminated by the golden light of early evening. The display was opened with a joint display by the Canadian Armed Forces Skyhawks Parachute Display Team and the Belgian Army’s Black Devils team jumped from a Royal Canadian Air Force Lockheed Martin CC-130J Super Hercules. As well as filling the sky with colourful flag, the Canadians demonstrated some outstanding canopy formations as some very original and dramatic solo parachuting. After all the jumpers had landed, the CC-130J performed a single flypast as the VIP area took a salute from both teams.
The Latvian based Baltic Bees Jet Team were one of the late additions to the Sanicole line-up and opened Saturday’s aircraft displays. Flying four Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros training aircraft, the team have displayed across the globe recently completing a winter tour in the Middle East. With just four jets, they only have a very limited combination of formations they can fly but do include some exciting opposition passes as well as their own version of the ‘Apache roll’ and some solo flying.
If there was a prize for the most enthusiastic team of the weekend, that may have to go to the Gazelle Squadron from the UK. Sanicole was the team’s first overseas booking and they presented an entertain duo display in their Westland Gazelle HT3s, one of which was the former QinetiQ operated aircraft still fitted with some test instrumentation and the RAF 8 Squadron marked example. They were also one of teams that managed to display on the Sunday completing two displays before relocating to Kleine Brogel for fuel. More action from the UK came in the form of Team Raven flying six vanilla Vans RV-8s. The team have become very popular at continental displays with a routine keeps action in front of the crowd throughout their display.
In their 50th anniversary year, the Royal Jordanian Falcons flew crisp, precise displays in the sunset show for the first time and also took part in Sunday’s shortened flying programme. The team have a close association with Sanicole which provides some logistical support for the team’s European tour each year as well as often being the final stop before they head home to Aqaba for the winter.
Solo aerobatics came from 3-time World Aerobatic Champion Florent Oddont. However, he was not in his usual French Air Force Extra 330SC, but in his own Raven 2XS biplane which he built himself. The aircraft is beautifully presented in blue and red and Florent flew a barnstorming routine of aerobatics on both Saturday and Sunday which showcased the superb performance of the Canadian home-built aircraft.
The Sunset show saw trio of classic jets in the display. The Flying Bulls Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk6 (equivalent to North American F-86E) was flown with great aplomb by former owner Frederic Akary under a golden sky. A much gentler display came from the Messerschmitt Foundation’s stunning Me262A/B1 Schwalbe. This aircraft had long been on the wish list of the Sanicole organisers, and it was certainly a highlight of the show. Literally lighting up the darkening skies was the WSK-Mielec Lim-5 ‘Fresco-C’ (a Polish produced MiG-17F) from Polish operator FUBAR Aviation. This aircraft was brought into the Sanicole fold when the Swedish jets cancelled and its previous planned airshow, the Hampshire Air Festival, cancelled its appearance. Their loss was Sanicole’s gain as it was another high point of the show for many local enthusiasts. I have been fortunate to see this beautiful restoration several times this summer at various UK events, but will never tire of watching it display, particularly in darker skies when its flickering reheat flame really stands out.
But my personal highlight of the evening show was the formation from the Flying Bulls. Led by their North American B-25J Mitchell, the formation included the Chance Vought F-4U-4 Corsair, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the North American T-28B Trojan and their latest warbird, the Grumman F8F Bearcat. As you would expect from any Flying Bulls appearance, it featured display flying of the highest quality opening with a couple of passes with all the aircraft flying together. The pack of fighters then split away leaving the B-25J and T-28B at centre-stage. Once they were complete, the fighters returned performing some lyrical aerobatics in the dusky skies with the T-28 flying some solo manoeuvres as the fighter formation repositioned. The T-28B is in its own right a stunning display aircraft as it is fitted with wingtip smoke generators. These create some wonderful effects as the smoke twists around the vortices left behind the aircraft. However, it was the F8F Bearcat that garnered the most attention wearing the colours of the US Navy Blue Angels aerobatic team.
The sole ‘modern’ military fast jet in the sunset display was the Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado IDS solo display from Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33. 2026 marked the second season this display had been seen outside of Germany and the crew have developed the display greatly from their 2025 routine. While the Tornado is not the most agile jet, the display highlighted the variable geometry of the Tornado’s wings at both high and low speeds. As well as performing in the sunset display, the Tornado also provided the display finale on the Sunday.
As the sun disappeared below the horizon, the sunset display featured some acts that specialise in displays after dark. First of these were the superb Flying Dragons from Poland. Due to local restrictions on paramotors, they fly earlier at Sanicole than they would at other locations, but this allowed the team to use both daytime and evening pyros during their display.
Another Polish act followed, the Bushcat Demo Team. The team flies the SkyReach Bushcat ultralight and presented a solo display at Sanicole. Like more familiar pyro acts, the team’s aircraft have been modified with LED lights, mounts for pyrotechnics and an air horn which sounded as if it was off an American rail locomotive. It was certainly a colourful and engaging display. However, it became apparent during the latter stages of the BushCat demo that some wildfires had erupted in the healthland. This led to the suspension of the rest of the flying display while the fire crews contained the fires. It should be noted that Sanicole had all the necessary local permissions to have the pyro display, and that the surrounding countryside had been assessed before permissions were granted. The area had also received some significant rainfall in the days before the show.
Though the remaining flying displays and parachute drop were cancelled, the evening did end with a short, but eye-catching drone show from Belgian company Aerona. Set to a soundtrack of music curated by local DJ Goldfox, the show told the story of the International Sanicole Airshow painting the shapes of some its most iconic aircraft in the now black sky.
Sunday’s weather was altogether different with low cloud and rain from the early hours. The show was a sell-out and despite the gloom, the showground did fill up quite quickly. There was some early hope for the flying display when an early break in the precipitation allowed local pilot Stijn De Jaeghere to perform a flat display in his North American AT-6D Texan. He was followed in short order by the BushCat Demo Team firing some colourful daytime pyros into the air and some low formation passes by Scandinavian Airshow’s RAGNAROK team of the Grumman AgCat, Pitts Model XII ‘Viking’ and Pitts S2B trailing a lot of coloured smoke. There were a couple of lengthy hiatuses following from these three displays, with just the 40 Squadron NH Industries NH90NFH braving the rain for a search and rescue demonstration in perhaps appropriate conditions.
As conditions improved slowly during the mid-afternoon, flying resumed with a heavily rejigged running order. A standout display from this period was that given by the Polish MBB Bo105 display. This was their second appearance at Sanicole and pilot Maciej Dominiak gave superb account of the former German Army battlefield helicopter with all manner of coloured smoke emanating from racks fitted to the aircraft.
The Scandinavia Airshow team made a second appearance later in the afternoon with the Grumman AgCat, this time in its role for the ‘Catwalk’ Wingwalking display. This sees two fearless women climb around the aircraft in flight using a special rig on the top of the aircraft as well as the rigging wires between the wings. Further colourful flying came from Kristof Cloetens who added some local interest to the flying giving a very punchy display of competition style aerobatics in his patriotic Extra 330SC.
Also making its only appearance of the weekend on the Sunday was the Amicale Jean Baptiste Salis’ recreation of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a central part of the Pearl Harbour theme. This aircraft is actually a North American Texan which has been heavily modified to represent the Japanese fighter for film work and was flown through a short, but energetic routine of aerobatics.
Sunday’s display also saw a contribution from 31 Tiger Squadron. While it was not possible to mount a display by the ThunderTigers who had made multiple rehearsals in the days leading up to the airshow, the Squadron did manage to send its Tiger tailed Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon for some fast passes and tight turns. The announcement than a F-16 would take part in the flying did lead to quite a cheer from the audience.
It was a superb effort to get as much flying in as Sanicole managed on Sunday and it was pleasing to see the crowds still waving and interacting with the displays plus the helicopter departures that occur after the show. This was despite the very long wait in the cold damp weather and an increasingly muddy airfield. It was a great shame that so much of the planned flying couldn’t take place. I was lucky to be able to watch some of the rehearsals and have included some images from theme in this review. The Pearl Harbour theme would have seen FAST Aero’s Curtiss P-40E Warhawk join the A6M Zero and a further pair of T-6 Texans recreating an airfield attack. The Belgian Air Force 85th Anniversary saw several unique displays which would have included a first public flying display appearance by the General Atomics MQ-9B Protectors flown from Florennes Air Base. Frustratingly, this did fly on Sunday to the local area before returning home before the weather cleared. Further Belgian Air Force displays included a Heritage Flight featuring F-16 Fighting Falcon and Kris van der Bergh’s Supermarine Spitfire XVIe. The Belgian Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II was also due to make its Sanicole debut and a pair of them gave a noisy account of themselves during rehearsals. Both F-35s and F-16s would have also featured in a formation alongside one of the NATO Multinational Multi-role Tanker unit Airbus A330MRTTs. Civilian displays that missed out on flying on the Sunday including the Victors Formation Team flying four Piper PA28 Cherokees, the Penguins Formation Team flying four Stampe SV4s and a tribute to the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk featuring eight aircraft.
Leaving Sanicole Aeroclub was a rather flat feeling this year. You have to feel sympathetic towards the organisers and the volunteers who work so hard throughout the year to put on the best show possible only to have it thwarted by a few hours of rainfall that struck just as the main displays took place. There were some errors, and certainly some lessons to learn from both Saturday and Sunday. But I’m sure they’ll bounce back better and stronger in 2027 which will see celebrations to mark the International Sanicole Airshow’s 50th Anniversary.
