For weather reasons many biplanes unfortunately could not attend the Stampe Fly In. However, on Sunday there was a ray of sun peeking through and a big crowd showed up!  Only a total of 14 biplanes were on duty this year. Nevertheless, the small scale and warm atmosphere of this fly in gave to this event a nice ambiance which made enthusiasts flock in with pleasure.  Only a  total of 14 biplanes were on duty this year. The flying activities on Sunday kicked off with a formation of 8 Chipmunk-trainers, flying in from Zoersel. Shortly afterwards, as per tradition, a group of 9 SV4 trainers took to the skies from Deurne airport, most of them wearing different colour schemes. They in turn performed a formation fly-by over the airport.

Belgium has quite an important SV4 community totalling more than 25 airworthy SV’s and many projects under rebuild to airworthy condition. The museum at Deurne also has some SV-4 aircraft preserved indoor, apart from other aircraft that are part of Belgium’s aviation heritage. This collection is supplemented by countless scale models.

This 16th edition of the Stampe & Vertongen fly in was also the opportunity for OO-PAX and OO-GWB to show their new colours. Former Belgian Air Force V-5 (OO-PAX) is now painted in the first colour scheme (black and yellow) of aerobatic team ‘Les Manchots’.

For ex-29 (OO-GWB), the choice was more neutral. RAF type overall silver with yellow stripes on wings and fuselage. About half of the 65 ordered SV4bis biplanes were delivered as such before changing to the orange colour.

Some other aircraft which are rarely seen on larger fly in also paid a visit to Deurne. These included a Pilatus P.3, Piaggio PA-149, Boeing Stearmans and a Piper Super Cub in classical Belgian military colours.

Other interesting guests were 2 planes of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht Historical Flight, the Beaver and T-6 Harvard.

To everybody’s delight two Supermarine Spitfires also joined the static show at Deurne after an outstanding arrival in formation at low altitude during. One of the two Spitfires, a IXT-model, got airborne again, to perform a graceful demonstration. The second one, a Mk XVII, unfortunately stayed on the ground due to technical difficulties.

At the end of the afternoon late visitors still got an opportunity to watch both aircraft in the sky over Deurne together when they departed home again.

This fly in proved to be a successful start to the Belgian airshow-season. Despite the rather difficult weather conditions and the small number of aircraft present at the show the weekend of 27-28 May saw a very successful fly in at the Antwerp Airport.

Text: Pascale Tant
Photos copyrighted by Alain Thimmesch - Digital Eyecatcher Photography
For further information about Digital Eyecatcher, click here