Category: Airshows Downunder Shellharbour

About 20,000 people took in the newly renamed Airshows Downunder Shellharbour 2024, held just over 3 weeks ago.

This was the 1st edition, renamed from Wings Over Illawarra, to be organised by Aerospace, Maritime & Defence Australia Foundation after taking over from Bright Events.

Attendance was well down on last edition – by about 16,000 people. This is significant given they were expecting 40,000 – 4,000 more than last edition. This was probably as a result of a lack of brand awareness given the new name after 15 years of Wings Over Illawarra. This would be of concern particularly given the next edition is not for another 2 years!

It began on the Friday with the returning Schools & Careers Open Day (a non-general public day). It was headlined by a flypast of “Connie”, a Lockheed C-121C Super Constellation based at the nearby Historic Aircraft Restoration Society, at 11:21am, which was viewed by students and prospective aviators. It was accompanied by a TBM Grumman Avenger, North American P-51, CAC CA-18 Mustang & 2 P-40 Kittyhawks.

Saturday’s weather didn’t start out well. It caused an approximately 45-minute delay in proceedings with the YAK-110 eventually starting the flying program with its air show debut. This aircraft is nothing short of amazing. Aerobatics aside, it’s combination of radial & jet engines makes any flight of this aircraft one of immense skill. It concluded with a ground fireball effect.

Each day’s flying program was to start with a Flag Drop but on both days it didn’t occur. An extra wall of fire was added to Paul Bennet’s aerobatics with the Wolf Pitts Pro, when he did his signature ‘Knife Edge’ manoeuvre. However, unlike previous years where the Wall Of Fire was on both the northern & southern sides of the east-west runway, this year it was only on the northern side.

Around 1:30pm, the Hawker Sea Fury made its Australian air show debut with a handling display. 30 minutes later, there were a few adjustments – 3 P-40 Kittyhawks were to appear for a formation flypast but only 2 ended up flying. Paul Bennett’s was out of action. Shortly after, the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly were brought forward by 20 minutes & combined with the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules’s display. This was due to the non-flying appearance of the CAC Sabre MK32, which was to be flown immediately before the Hercules. However, the earlier weather & the resulting wet state of the runway prevented its take-off.

In some good news, for the 1st time ever, The Sky Aces performed with 4 aircraft at the air show. In all previous editions, they have flown 3 aircraft. Meanwhile unfortunately news for the Simulated Ground Attack, only 1 Supermarine Spitfire took flight to give chase to the ‘attacking’ Focke-Wulf F-190.

Even though the Saturday ended 45 minutes late & the headline act – the F35 Lightning II – was understandably out of action due to a hailstorm at their air base near Newcastle (which also resulted in the Heritage Flight with the CAC CA-18 Mustang not occurring), the next major headline act, the Balbo, surprisingly didn’t occur despite all but 1 of the Balbo aircraft flying during & around its designated time slot. The Balbo‘s non-appearance is more perplexing when one of its planes, the CAC CA-18 Mustang, took the F-35 Lightning’s place for the day’s final Wall Of Fire, which closed Saturday’s flying program.

Sunday turned out, as forecasted, to be the better day of weather at the 2024 public air show days. However, it was not without its problems. A boost in attendance, due to the better weather, didn’t occur & as stated earlier, the Flag Drop didn’t go ahead again, though the weather was better. Paul Bennett in his Wolf Pitts Pro didn’t go ahead in its scheduled slot, most likely due to him making repairs on his P-40 Kittyhawk, though his Wall Of Fire did take place with his aeronautic partner, Glenn Graham, in the Edge 540, wowing the crowd with aerobatics in the Wolf Pitts Pro slot. This meant Glenn & the Edge 540’s slot was left vacant. The slot immediately & originally preceding Glenn Graham & the Edge 540’s slot, held by the Lockheed AP-3C Orion had its own issues with the Orion making a non-appearance on Sunday’s flying display program. It remained a static display on the ground though, which you could walk through.

A full complement of 3 P-40 Kittyhawks was hoped for on the Sunday with Paul Bennet making efforts to repair his but after the non-flying appearance of 1 P-40 Kittyhawk on the Saturday, instead, worse news was received: only 1 P-40 Kittyhawk would end up flying during its designated Sunday flying display program slot as another Kittyhawk became mechanically unfit for flight.

The CAC Sabre MK32 was anticipated to make it’s display after the Saturday’s wet runway stopped its appearance but on start-up, the ground power starter unit failed, resulting in the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly to repeat its Saturday duo with the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules.

The Sky Aces appeared with a full complement of 4 aircraft again on the Sunday indicating repairs on Paul Bennetts’ P-40 Kittyhawk were on hold until the event finished at 5pm.

Whilst Paul Bennett’s Kittyhawk was still not fixed, the other was in time for 2 Kittyhawks to fly in the Balbo, replacing the Lockheed Hudson & Focke-Wulf 190 probably to make up for the reduction in the earlier Kittyhawk display. The 7-aircraft Balbo was thus reduced to 6 aircraft, due to the grounded Supermarine Spitfire but unlike Saturday, it went ahead. The Heritage Flight & the F-35 Lightning II (with Wall Of Fire) finale went ahead in their Sunday slots with the latter given an extra ground fireball effect to start its display.

Despite these flying program amendments, both days’ flying programs were relatively as advertised unlike the 2022 edition which saw the Sunday flying program completely rewritten. The Southern Cross replica made its air show return, aerobatic displays by Matt Hall and his aerobatic up & comer, new to this event, Emma MacDonald as well as a plethora of warbirds & historic aircraft, both in the air and on display on the tarmac. In the air, there was an English Electric Canberra and an AP-3C Orion among others while on the ground, there was an F-111 and of course, the iconic City Of Canberra Boeing 747. There were also static Australian Defence Force aircraft, exhibits and stalls including the Royal Australian Air Force Balloon.

Drone racing returned bigger and better than ever. It was once again, live streamed in full over the 3 days, hosted once again by Race Director, Tim “TimmyTron” Crofts with extra commentary by William “Bear” McCann. The tournament was won in the end by DimSim (Mason Grunsell) with last edition’s winner, Davey FPV (David Newman), finishing 6th. A new team classification was introduced this edition with Outer Heaven Drone Racing winning on 99 points. DimSim‘s team, Eastside FPV (1st-person-view), came 2nd on 91 points & Davey FPV‘s team, Canberra Multi-Rotor Racing Club finished 3rd on 47 points. On the Saturday, the drone racing tournament also acted as a qualifying tournament for Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel to represent the ADF at the Military International Drone Racing Tournament, to be hosted in London later this year.

A German World War II exhibit (complete with tanks) & the return of a full classic vehicle display rounded out the static exhibits which were accompanied by market stalls, general aviation exhibitors & scenic helicopter flights by Touchdown Helicopters. An amusement ride carnival provided some alternative entertainment.

While this is the 1st edition under the management of the AMDA Foundation, the year-long lead-in since the announcement of the event’s new management probably led the AMDA Foundation to, despite having more resources to put on a bigger air show as the announcement indicated, keep the event relatively similar to the previous Wings Over Illawarra edition. With a now 2-year lead-in until the next edition, which is unusual for this event, it is likely the 1st major changes will be made to make it a bigger air show than ever before in early March 2026. Crucially though, they will need to sort out the attendance drop, which was the 1st in the event’s history outside of weather-affected editions.

Remember, if you missed the air show, the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Museum, which is based at Shellharbour Airport, is open nearly year-round and holds monthly Tarmac Days, which if you’re lucky, may feature their historic aircraft taking flight.

But the time to be at Shellharbour Airport is Airshows Downunder Shellharbour – now held biannually – so until early March 2026!

• SCAMS……………………Check For
• TICKET………………….Buy
• WEATHER…………….Check
• TRANSPORT………….Select
• EVENT…………………..Travel To
• VANTAGE POINT…..Find
• LIVE STREAM……….Watch
• AIRCRAFT……………..Look Up For!

This article will be updated daily until Sunday’s flying program.

Ticketing

For the 1st time ever, tickets can only be bought online. They will not be sold at the gate. Remember, if you want to drive and park at the official car park, your car parking needs to be pre-booked at a price of AUD$10.

Attention has also been drawn to the existence of multiple social media pages impersonating Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, who are direct messaging their “followers” offering “upgrades”. In order for you to receive your “upgrade”, you need to provide your information to them. If you receive a message like this, please be very aware that this is a scam. As always, please be cautious & if it sounds too good, it generally is.

The event does not send friend requests, group invitations, direct messages asking for your information nor are offering upgrades & they advise against accepting any such requests, invitations, messages & offers. Furthermore, they request users to report any pages that impersonate Airshows Downunder Shellharbour.

Apart from official main & merchandise websites, the event only uses Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn social media sites, the official links of which are below:

• Main Website
• Merchandise Website
• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

For ticket purchases, rely solely on the official ticket provider, LUP, which is linked to here.

Sydney Spectaculars is not part of the organisers of Airshows Downunder Shellharbour. However, we always provide the official links to the event’s websites & social media webpages.

Flying Program Changes

On the 28th of February, the flying program timings were significantly updated. The update also made 1 significant change: the addition of a 5-minute Heritage Flight formation flypast at 3:47pm featuring the CAC CA-18 Mustang & F-35A Lightning II.

You can find the latest flying program here with any future updates to the flying program, if any, to be posted there directly rather than through an article.

Event Map

There, you can find the event map, which was revealed last week:

From the 2024 event map, new features can be spotted including a new taxi/rideshare pick-up/drop-off area at the corner of the Princes Highway & Station Road. A new Veterans’ Retreat is located right next to the main air show runway in front of but a bit to the south of the main Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) Hangar. The Aviator Bar, food and wine tasting & Wings Winery are no longer features with bars instead being dispersed throughout the event site. There are still food stalls dispersed throughout the event site.

Along the southern runway is a new shaded seating section. The general aviation exhibitor area, now called ‘general exhibitor area’, has expanded to the market stall area, of which has also been relocated itself to the west of the carnival rides/family zone (formerly The Captains’ Carnival). Classic vehicles also return south of the market stalls, while at the northern end of the site is a ‘Chalet‘, an organiser-only area for their VIPs (probably sponsors & local politicians). Defence Exhibits & Australian Defence Force (ADF) Careers have relocated from just south of the Gold Pass Grandstand to approximately north of the general exhibitor area & drone racing big top. To the north of the ADF Careers area are the ADF’s Flight Simulators. At the western end of the general aviation exhibitors is the Air Force Shop.

Live Streaming

Like last year, the drone racing tournament will be live streamed over all 3 days.

Weather

The event, for the 1st time since 2008, is being held in March – the 2nd time ever to be – but it is also the 1st edition to be held on this particular March weekend (back in 2008, it was held the following Saturday) so previous events’ weather cannot be compared.

Weather has plagued the event before – mainly in 2014 & 2015, when high crosswinds cancelled the flying program (except 3 morning displays) and when an East Coast Low cancelled the whole event respectively. There is no sign of similar weather this year.

A low-intensity heatwave warning has been issued for the event on Saturday. It’s advised to seek a place & if available, use fans or air-conditioners, to keep cool. It may take some days to recover from a heatwave.

Forecast

The below paragraph is for the Wollongong area.

Sunday is looking better than Saturday at this stage with less rain and no chance of a thunderstorm in the Wollongong area. Saturday has a chance of a thunderstorm while Sunday will be a mostly sunny day. Saturday has a high chance of showers, most likely during the afternoon & early evening while Sunday has a medium chance of showers late this afternoon & evening. Saturday is cloudy but Sunday is partly cloudy. Both days the winds start light. On Saturday morning, the wind becomes 20-30km/h southerlies while around midday on Sunday, the winds begin 15-20km/h north-northeasterlies before, during the late afternoon, they become southeasterlies at 20-30km/h.

The amount of rain forecast is not enough to cancel the entire event or most of the flying program. However, the chance of a thunderstorm on Saturday may ground the flying program for the duration of the storm, if any. Previous editions have seen the flying program run overtime until 5pm if conditions necessitate it. Safety is paramount so if there is a delay in the flying program, please be calm and patient. Organisers will try their best to ensure a great safe air show. If a severe thunderstorm does appear, a warning will be issued by the Bureau Of Meteorology, which can be found here.

The below details are for Albion Park:

• General Forecast: (Late on Sunday) Shower Or Two
• Minimum Temperature: 21 (Saturday) & 17 (Sunday)
• Maximum Temperature: 25 (Saturday) & 30 (Sunday)
• Possible Rainfall: Up to 3mm (Saturday) & Up to 1mm (Sunday)
• Rain Chance: 70% (Saturday) & 50% (Sunday)
• Sun Protection: Recommended 9:30am to 4:40pm
• Maximum UV Index: 10 (Saturday) & 9 (Sunday) (Very High)

The Bureau Of Meteorology’s MetEye service predicts the following for Shellharbour Airport:

• 11am Saturday – Thunderstorm chance, 10-25% chance of any rain, 50% chance of 0mm, 10-20km/h winds heading north, feels like 24-27 degrees Celsius, 80-90% relative humidity, 7-8 (clear sky) UV Index
• 2pm Saturday – Thunderstorm chance, 25-50% chance of any rain, 50% chance of 0mm, 20-30km/h winds heading north-northwest, feels like 24-27 degrees Celsius, 70-80% relative humidity, 9-10 (clear sky) UV Index
• 5pm Saturday – Thunderstorm chance, 25-50% chance of any rain, 50% chance of 0mm, 10-20km/h winds heading north-northwest, feels like 18-21 degrees Celsius, 80-90% relative humidity, 2-3 (clear sky) UV Index
• 11am Sunday – 0-10% chance of any rain, 50% chance of 0mm, 0-10km/h winds heading south, feels like 24-27 degrees Celsius, 50-60% relative humidity, 6-7 (clear sky) UV Index
• 2pm Sunday – 0-10% chance of any rain, 50% chance of 0mm, 10-20km/h winds heading west, feels like 30-33 degrees Celsius, 40-50% relative humidity, 9-10 (clear sky) UV Index
• 5pm Sunday – Rain, 10-25% chance of any rain, 50% chance of 0mm, 10-20km/h winds heading northwest, feels like 24-27 degrees Celsius, 60-70% relative humidity, 2-3 (clear sky) UV Index

Sun protection is recommended when the UV Index is 3 or higher.

Transport

Ticketholders to the 2 main public event days are recommended to arrive by train.

Train

The air show is on the South Coast Line (Bondi Junction to Bomaderry via Central). This form of transport is ideal for locals, Sydneysiders and visitors & people from the Shoalhaven. Due to the current low-intensity heatwave on Saturday, if you feel unwell at the platform, see staff to assist you boarding the train. The station the air show is at is Albion Park, which is right across the road from Shellharbour Airport.

These are the last train times before gates open at 9am (arrival station in italics):

• Bondi Junction – 6:15am
• Town Hall/Bomaderry – 6:26am
• Central – 6:29am
• Redfern – 6:32am
• Wolli Creek – 6:40am
• Sutherland – 7:02am
• Kiama – 7:50am (Saturday)
• Kiama – 7:53am (Sunday)
• Albion Park – 8:09am (from Kiama, 51 minutes before gates open & 2 hours, 33 minutes before flying program begins)
• Albion Park – 8:11am (from Kiama, 49 minutes before gates open & 2 hours, 31 minutes before flying program begins)
• Wollongong – 8:16am
• Albion Park – 8:36am (from Bondi Junction, 24 minutes before gates open & 2 hours, 6 minutes before flying program begins) (Saturday)
• Albion Park – 8:38am (from Bondi Junction, 22 minutes before gates open & 2 hours & 4 minutes before flying program begins) (Sunday)

These are the last train times before the flying program begins (arrival station in italics):

• Bondi Junction – 8:13am
• Town Hall – 8:24am
• Central – 8:29am
• Redfern – 8:31am
• Bomaderry – 8:32am
• Wolli Creek – 8:40am
• Sutherland – 9:02am
• Kiama – 9:56am (Saturday)
• Kiama – 9:57am (Sunday)
• Wollongong – 10:08am
• Albion Park – 10:16am (from Kiama, 26 minutes before flying program begins)
• Albion Park – 10:31am (from Bondi Junction, 11 minutes before flying program begins)

Airline

Link Airways is the only airline servicing Shellharbour Airport. These flights are currently only ideal for people travelling from Queensland or Victoria. All Brisbane flights immediately before 12:55pm Sunday still have seats available. Melbourne flights are all sold out.

Coach

The NSW Trainslink Southern NSW Coach Service 749 operates (Bundanoon to Wollongong via Albion Park). This form of transport is ideal for people travelling from the Southern Highlands or via a train from Albury, Griffith or Canberra. You cannot catch a coach from Wollongong to Albion Park. Bookings are required to be made on event day. The stop the air show is at is Albion Park Railway Station, which is right across the road from the air show. Below are the last available coach times to the air show (as of writing) (arrival stops in italics):

• Bundanoon – 6:15am
• Exeter – 6:20am
• Moss Vale – 6:30am
• Bowral – 6:45am
• Burrawang – 7:03am
• Robertson – 7:13am
• Albion Park – 7:50am (from Bundanoon, 1 hour and 10 minutes until gates open & 2 hours and 52 minutes until the flying program begins)

Bus

Premier Illawarra operates 4 bus routes to the air show:

• 37 (Lake Illawarra Loop: Wollongong to Shellharbour anti-clockwise via Dapto & Albion Park Rail)
• 57 (Lake Illawarra Loop: Wollongong to Shellharbour clockwise via Warrawong & Albion Park Rail)
• 76 (Shellharbour Village to Albion Park via Albion Park Rail (Loop Service))
• 77 (Shellharbour to Albion Park via Albion Park Rail (Loop Service))

This form of transport is ideal for people travelling locally. However, they mainly operate on the Saturday. The stops the air show is at is Albion Park Railway Station, which is right across the road from the air show and the Princes Highway. There are 6 bus stops in the vicinity (1 at the Railway Station and 4 on the Princes Highway, three southbound, two northbound). All bus times below are for Saturday except where stated.

Below are the last available bus times at major bus interchanges before the gates open (arrival stops in italics) (bus route in brackets):

• Warrawong Plaza, King Street – 7:29am (57)
• Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Crown Street, Wollongong – 7:42am (37)
• Warilla Grove Shops, Shellharbour Road – 7:44am (57)
• Wollongong Central, Stand C – 7:45am (37)
• Lake Entrance Road before Leewarra Avenue, Warilla – 7:47am (57)
• Stockland Shellharbour, Shellharbour City Centre – 7:52am (57)
• Figtree Grove, Princes Highway – 7:57am (37)
• Princes Highway opposite Victoria Street, Unanderra – 7:59am (37)
• Central Avenue after Fisher Street, Oak Flats – 8:02am (57)
• All Saints Anglican Church, Tongarra Road, Albion Park – 8:08am (76)
• Dapto Mall – 8:09am (37)
• Princes Highway opposite Albion Park Railway Station/Princes Highway opposite Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail – 8:10am (57, 50 minutes until gates open & 2 hours, 32 minutes until the flying program begins)
• Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Crown Street, Wollongong – 8:17am (37, Sunday)
• Wollongong Central, Stand C – 8:20am (37, Sunday)
• 145 Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail – 8:23am (37, 37 minutes until gates open & 2 hours, 19 minutes until the flying program begins)
• Princes Highway before Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail – 8:24am (37, 36 minutes until gates open & 2 hours and 18 minutes until the flying program begins)
• Albion Park Railway Station, Princes Highway – 8:25am (37, 35 minutes until gates open & 2 hours and 17 minutes until the flying program begins)
• Tongarra Road after Terry Street, Albion Park – 8:24am (76)
• Princes Highway opposite Fisher Street, West Wollongong – 8:28am (37, Sunday)
• Figtree Grove, Princes Highway – 8:31am (37, Sunday)
• Princes Highway opposite Albion Park Railway Station – 8:32am (76, 28 minutes until gates open & 2 hours and 10 minutes until the flying program begins)
• Albion Park Railway Station/Albion Park Railway Station, Princes Highway – 8:33am (76, 27 minutes until gates open & 2 hours and 9 minutes until the flying program begins)
• Princes Highway opposite Victoria Street, Unanderra – 8:37am (37, Sunday)
• Dapto Mall – 8:47am (37, Sunday)
• 145 Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail/Princes Highway before Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail – 8:59am (37, Sunday, 1 minute until gates open)

Route 76 also stops in Woollybutt Drive at 7:58am but will travel, as shown in the list above, around Albion Park for 1 hour and 34 minutes before arriving at the air show at 8:32am/8:33am. Alternatively, you can walk the 15 minutes from that bus stop to the air show main gates or catch the 8-minute shuttle bus to the air show main gates from Albion Oval, which is next to Woollybutt Drive.

Below are the last available bus times before the flying program (arrival stops in italics):

• Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong – 8:17am (37, Sunday)
• Wollongong Central, Stand C – 8:20am (37, Sunday)
• Crown Street opposite Fisher Street, West Wollongong – 8:28am (37, Sunday)
• Figtree Grove, Princes Highway – 8:31am (37, Sunday)
• Princes Highway opposite Victoria Street – 8:37am (37, Sunday)
• Dapto Mall – 8:47am (37, Sunday)
• 145 Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail/Princes Highway before Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail – 8:59am (37, Sunday, 1 hour & 43 minutes until flying program begins)
• Warrawong Plaza, King Street – 9:33am (57, Sunday)
• Warrawong Plaza, King Street – 9:34am (57)
• All Saints Anglican Church, Tongarra Road, Albion Park – 9:38am (77)
• Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Crown Street, Wollongong – 9:41am (37)
• Wollongong Central, Stand C – 9:44am (37)
• Warilla Grove Shops, Shellharbour Road – 9:48am (57, Sunday)
• Warilla Grove Shops, Shellharbour Road – 9:50am (57)
• Lake Entrance Road before Leewarra Avenue, Warilla – 9:51am (57, Sunday)
• Lake Entrance Road before Leewarra Avenue, Warilla – 9:53am (57)
• Tongarra Road after Terry Street, Albion Park – 9:54am (77)
• Figtree Grove – 9:55am (37)
• Stockland Shellharbour, Shellharbour City Centre – 9:56am (57, Sunday)
• Stockland Shellharbour, Shellharbour City Centre – 9:58am (57)
• Princes Highway opposite Victoria Street – 9:59am (37)
• Princes Highway opposite Albion Park Station – 10:01am (77, 41 minutes until flying program begins)
• Central Avenue after Fisher Street, Oak Flats – 10:06am (57, Sunday)
• Central Avenue after Fisher Street, Oak Flats – 10:08am (57)
• Dapto Mall – 10:09am (37)
• Princes Highway opposite Albion Park Station/Princes Highway opposite Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail – 10:14am (57, Sunday, 28 minutes until flying program begins)
• Princes Highway opposite Albion Park Station/Princes Highway opposite Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail – 10:16am (57, 26 minutes until flying program begins)
• 145 Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail – 10:23am (37, 19 minutes until flying program begins)
• Princes Highway before Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail – 10:24am (37, 18 minutes until flying program begins)
• Albion Park Railway Station, Princes Highway – 10:25am (37, 17 minutes until flying program begins)

Route 77 also stops in Deakin Street, Bridge Avenue, Wentworth Street & Industrial Road (Oak Flats), Wooroo Street, Karoo Street, Koona Street & Windang Street (Albion Park Rail) for local residents to travel to the air show between 9:16am & 9:26am on Saturday, arriving at Albion Park Railway Station, Princes Highway at 9:28am, 1 hour and 14 minutes before the flying program begins.

UPDATE: A significant flying program update was made on the 28th of February with the Hawker Sea Fury doing a 5-minute handling display at 12:48pm.

A Hawker Sea Fury is to make its Australian air show debut at Airshows Downunder Shellharbour 2024!

It was recently acquired by Paul Bennets Airshows, who will also present a handling display of a TBM Grumman Avenger (which will also appear in the Balbo), a formation flypast with 3 P-40 Kittyhawks & 3 aerobatic displays one with a Wolf Pitts Pro, one with an Edge 540 and the last being, The Sky Aces.

The announcement was made on the 19th of February with Paul Bennets Airshows rebuilding the aircraft after delivery (see above photo) in time for the air show as of the date of the announcement.

On each public air show day, the Hawker Sea Fury will conduct a 11-minute handling display at 12:47pm.

This latest announcement completes the flying program for the public air show days on the 2nd & 3rd of March.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, now held every 2 years, is on 1-3 March 2024 at Shellharbour Airport. Tickets can be bought here & merchandise can be bought via click & collect (at the event) here. Day 1 is only open to students, minimum Year 9, teachers & careers advisors including parents while Day 2 & 3 are open to the general public.

UPDATE: A significant flying program update was made on 28th of February with the YAK-110 flying at 10:46am & 3:33pm with a 7- & 14-minute aerobatic display respectively.

A YAK-110 has been announced to be part of the flying program at Airshows Downunder Shellharbour 2024!

It was announced on the 16th of February.

This aircraft has never appeared in any previous Wings Over Illawarra editions.

With its distinctive design including 1 extra-long wing, 2 tails, 3 engines & 2 cockpits, this unique aircraft will be making 2 11-minute aerobatic displays each public air show day.

On each public air show day, the YAK-110 will be the 1st display aircraft in flight at 10:41am, after the Skydive Australia Flag Drop & after the Balbo, will do a final aerobatic display at 3:37pm just before the day’s grand finale of the F-35 Lightning II military jet!

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, now held every 2 years, is on 1-3 March 2024 at Shellharbour Airport. Tickets can be bought here & merchandise can be bought via click & collect (at the event) here. Day 1 is only open to students, minimum Year 9, teachers & careers advisors including parents while Day 2 & 3 are open to the general public.

UPDATE: A significant flying program update was made on 28th of February.

The flying & speech programs for Airshows Downunder Shellharbour 2024 have been released!

For the 1st time, the air show organisers have released the speech program for the schools & careers day held on the 1st of March. This day is only open to registered students (minimum Year 9), teachers & career advisors including parents.

You can read the flying & speech programs by clicking here and currently, the flying programs are the same for both public event days so you will not miss anything at this stage if you only attend 1 public air show day.

Returning favourites returning include the F-35A Lightning II, Balbo, Simulated Airfield Attack, Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules (unlike last edition, this will be on the public airshow days between 1:43pm & 1:55pm), opening 11-minute Flag Drop at 10:30am, Connie as well as aerobatics from Matt Hall Racing & Paul Bennet Airshows throughout the day including The Sky Aces, flying between 2:06pm & 2:18pm. Matt Hall Racing will be bringing a new aerobatic pilot, Emma MacDonald, to fly the Extra 300L between 11:04am & 11:16am.

The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly jet will also feature for the 1st time since 2016, flying between 1:55pm & 2:06pm, while the CAC Sabre MK32 jet will also feature for the 1st time since 2021, flying between 1:32pm & 1:43pm.

The finale for both public event days is the F-35 Lightning II, beginning at 3:49pm and lasting the final 11 minutes of each public day’s flying program.

The Wall Of Fire, a new tradition in recent years that concludes the air show, however, has not appeared on the current flying program but will feature at the end of the F-35A Lightning II handling display that concludes the flying program as the grand finale once again of this Illawarra air show.

The Balbo is now the 3rd last act in the skies and will appear between 3:26pm & 3:37pm each day, with 1 less warbird than last year. A Vought F4U Corsair, CAC Boomerang & P-40 Kittyhawk will not be a part of this year’s Balbo with only the latter plane returning to the air show but this edition with 3 of them! The 3 P-40 Kittyhawks will appear between 1:21pm & 1:32pm. A Supermarine Spitfire XVI & North American P-51 will be new Balbo participants.

There will be a wide assortment of warbirds flying throughout the day with Connie flying between 2:18pm & 2:29pm. The Connie (Lockheed C-121C Super Constellation) at the airshow is a warbird variant even though most were built for commercial public passengers, so it is technically a warbird but painted as a ‘commercial bird’.

There are also 2 more special announcements to come to fill the final 3 flying program slots!

The speech program for the schools & careers day opens & closes with an address by the air show organisers, the Aerospace, Maritime & Defence Australia Foundation. Keynote speakers are the Australian Defence Force & Qantas Group, who will speak twice. There are also speeches by Shellharbour Airport & Paul Bennett Airshows. Speeches about getting ready for employment are made in the 30 minutes after 12pm by the University Of New South Wales & Workpath Learning. The first 45 minutes of speeches after the Opening Address will be focused on women in aviation with a very likely appearance by Emma MacDonald in the 1st half hour. All speeches will be made in the new Speakers Pavilion.

There is no confirmation yet of any official flypasts for the schools & careers day. Last edition, a Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules made a surprise appearance at 12pm on that day.

For those who registered for the 1st of March before 15th February 6pm, they were also invited to an online-only 2-hour Aerospace Student Industry Information Session via Zoom co-hosted by the Royal Aeronautical Society: Australian Division on the 15th of February at 6pm.

The above flying/speech programs shows what is/was scheduled as of 16th February 2024 at 4:06pm & is subject to change. When the event begins, weather, mechanical issues with the aircraft, pilot availability or military requirements may have amended the flying program in its final displayed form at the Airport. The weather forecast for the air show will be released by the Bureau of Meteorology between 23-25 February 2023.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, now held every 2 years, is on 1-3 March 2024 at Shellharbour Airport. Tickets can be bought here & merchandise can be bought via click & collect (at the event) here.

A flying-close replica of the Southern Cross has been announced to be part of the flying program at Airshows Downunder Shellharbour 2024.

The Southern Cross was a Fokker FVIIB aeroplane & was famously flown by Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith in 1928 in the 1st ever flight over the Pacific Ocean, beginning on mainland United States at Oakland, California & finishing in Brisbane, Australia. The flight had stops at Hawaii & Fiji, the latter place giving the plane the additional honour of 1st plane to ever land there. During the flight, the world record for longest travelled radio message was broken when a message was sent from the plane, the longer way around the world, to South Africa. This radio message was one of many radio messages which included the 1st paid commercial radio messages sent across the Pacific.

The Southern Cross then made the 1st ever non-stop flight across the Tasman Sea & back between Australia & New Zealand in the same year before, in a separate flight to the United Kingdom, crash landing with no fatalities in the Kimberley of Western Australia in 1929. The undamaged historic aircraft was then donated by Sir Kingsford-Smith to his country & is now on permanent display at Brisbane Airport. In its retirement, it made a starring flying appearance in the 1946 biographical film, Smithy & underwent restoration in 1985.

The replica of the Southern Cross was built as a tribute to its famous pilot during the 1980’s before flying around Australia raising funds for the iconic Royal Flying Doctor Service during the 1988 Bicentenary of European Settlement. It flew until 2002 when a main wheel strut fell off during take-off resulting in 3 metres of its wing tip being damaged. It was acquired by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS), based at Shellharbour Airport, in 2010, who restored it to airworthiness, taking its 1st flight since 2002 on 5th December last year.

Using the traditional aircraft construction of steel tubing and timber & an all-wooden wing, it was built to modern standards with heat-shrunk and doped polyester in place of the original Southern Cross‘s Irish linen for the fuselage. Since 1988, it has flown around 555 hours.

The replica is also a world record holder, being the world’s largest flying-close replica. It also holds the Australian record for the largest one-piece wing ever manufactured.

When not flying, the Southern Cross replica is on permanent display at Shellharbour Airport’s HARS Museum. It may make other flights or engine runs at the Museum’s monthly Tarmac Days (the weekend of the 2nd Friday of each month) occasionally.

Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith was knighted in 1932 & 3 years later, disappeared over the Indian Ocean during a speed record attempt for a flight between Australia & the United Kingdom. He has never been found. Sydney Airport, then an aerodrome, was named in his honour a year later in 1936. 23 kilometres south of the air show is the home of the start of one of Kingsford-Smith’s other major achievements: the 1st commercial flight from Australia to New Zealand.

Seven Mile Beach (the long beach at the bottom of the above picture) was essentially Australia’s first commercial international airport. Used in 1933 by Sir Kingsford-Smith, it was the dawn of international commercial air travel in Australia before it eventually shifted north in 1938 to Rose Bay Water Airport on Sydney Harbour, which is still in use today for private charter sight-seeing flights, before shifting to Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport in the 1960s with the advent of the Jet Age.

A lookout, named in his honour, over Seven Mile Beach from the nearby town of Gerroa is a lasting legacy to this aviation milestone. To visit it, you catch a train from the air show to Kiama, then a connecting train to the next stop of Gerringong. Kiama Coachlines has a bus connecting Gerringong with Gerroa. It is a combined 17-minute walk from Gerringong Railway Station to the connecting bus stop & from the arriving bus stop to the Memorial Lookout. Alternatively, to rail/bus/walk, it is a 26-minute drive from Shellharbour Airport.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, now held every 2 years, is on 1-3 March 2024 at Shellharbour Airport. Tickets can be bought here & merchandise can be bought via click & collect (at the event) here.

When the ticketing arrangements for Airshows Downunder Shellharbour were announced on 1st November last year, it was revealed that general admission ticketholders who are driving to the air show need to pre-book their car parking online at a cost of AUD$10. The car park, linked by a free shuttle bus to the event, is at Albion Oval.

So what happens if someone shows up at the car park without a pre-booking, especially someone who is planning to buy an event ticket at the airport gate?

First & foremost, you will be turned away and redirected to another car park.

But where is this car park?

There are 2 possible car parks but which one we cannot be sure until event day. The Business Paper from the 7th of February 2024 Shellharbour City Council Traffic Committee reveals 2 car parks:

• Shellharbour City Stadium
• Parsons Paddock

Parsons Paddock would be the most familiar to previous attendees of the formerly named Wings Over Illawarra air show. This was the former general admission ticketing car park. However, for 2024, it has been relocated to the larger Albion Oval with Parsons Paddock now instead going to be the event’s staff, exhibitor & volunteer car park. Therefore, organisers have added an additional label to this car park: Potential public paid/unpaid.

This indicates Parsons Paddock is only to be used if there are vacant spots once it has been ascertained no more staff, exhibitors or volunteers are parking there but then the question is will it be paid or unpaid?

Albion Oval is nearly 47% larger than Parsons Paddock & we cannot recall Parsons Paddock ever reaching capacity so there is a good chance Parsons Paddock will not be used at all for general admission parking so that all but rules out pre-booked paid parking. They also could always decide to charge an in-person-only AUD$10 fee at the last minute if Albion Oval does reach capacity & there are no more pre-booked drivers looking for a spot, however unlikely that is. But what about unpaid parking? What about those who show up at Albion Oval without a pre-booking?

Well, they definitely will be directed to Shellharbour City Stadium, a 3-minute drive away. This car park has been labelled Unpaid Overflow Parking so it will definitely be used for those redirected from Albion Oval because they did not pre-book their parking online.

This car park is free but there are 2 (or 3) disadvantages:

• It is not on the shuttle bus route &,
• You will have to walk a minimum 10 minutes (750m), 20 minutes (1.5km) maximum to the shuttle bus or,
• Alternatively, walk the full 28 minutes (2.1km) to the air show event gate.

From the Shellharbour City Stadium car park, the closest the shuttle bus route gets is at the intersection of Croome Road & Cedar Street, a 10 minute or 750m walk away. However, there is no designated stop for the shuttle bus there so if the shuttle bus does not stop for you, which is likely, you will need to walk an additional 10 minutes to Southlake Illawarra BMX Club, which is where the shuttle bus picks up staff, exhibitors, volunteers & if any, air show spectators. In the event you need to go to Southlake Illawarra BMX Club, which is likely, if you end up parking in the western end of the Shellharbour City Stadium car park, it is actually quicker (11 minutes) to walk direct to Southlake Illawarra BMX Club instead of via Croome Road to check whether the Shuttle Bus will stop at the intersection with Cedar Street. Also, take into account that, if the shuttle bus does stop at the intersection of Croome Road & Cedar Street for you, it’s next stop is Southlake Illawarra BMX Club.

The shuttle bus takes 3 minutes to travel between Southlake Illawarra BMX Club & the main event gates. From Albion Oval, it takes 8 minutes (as it also stops at Southlake Illawarra BMX Club). Lastly, the shuttle buses’ frequency & the delays in stopping to pick up passengers will naturally add time to the above durations (unless it is a very frequent shuttle bus!)

Remember, the flight path of the air show is actually above you when walking to Southlake Illawarra BMX Club & to the immediately west if walking all the way to the event gate so if you think you are going to miss something, remember to just look up (but do not head to the runway perimeter as you will be turned away by security/traffic managers).

If Shellharbour City Council Stadium car park reaches capacity, those intended for that car park will be redirected to Parsons Paddock if not already redirected there from Albion Oval. Parsons Paddock will then likely be free parking (but with the additional benefit of a shuttle bus) if Albion Oval has not reached capacity for pre-booked parking.

As all parking is pre-booked online, organisers should have a good idea of how full Albion Oval could get by air show day & will be monitoring it in real-time if a late surge in bookings or unbooked spectators wanting a car parking spot arises. Based on previous editions, Albion Oval should handle the demand.

If you do park at Shellharbour City Stadium and decide to walk the full 28 minutes (1.2km) to the main event gates, head to the intersection of Ceder Street & Croome Road, then the next intersection north (the northern Croome Road Sporting Complex entry) & then follow the shuttle bus route to the main event gates.

A last alternative if you really want to park at Albion Oval is to pull over in a nearby street, stop the car engine, get your smartphone out, book the car park online & then rejoin the queue (but it’s best to pre-book before you join the queue the 1st time).

Lastly, also remember this is The Aerospace, Maritime & Defence Australia Foundation Limited‘s 1st edition at the helm of this Illawarra air show, the closest to Sydney. Their last air show, the biannual Australian International Airshow, Aerospace & Defence Exposition at Avalon Airport near Melbourne in March last year had serious traffic management issues.

In the end, train is still the recommended way to travel to/from the air show with Albion Park Railway Station less than 100 metres from the main event gates. The Station can connect spectators by rail from Shellharbour, Wollongong and Sydney & by coach from the Southern Highlands via an additional train to Canberra, Griffith and Albury.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, now held every 2 years, is on 1-3 March 2024. Tickets can be bought here & merchandise can be bought via click & collect (at the event) here.

Last week, Airshows Downunder Shellharbour opened a new online merchandise shop containing a total of 37 products – all each under AUD$100.

Divided into 3 sections – apparel, headwear & accessories, it has lots of new merchandise on offer.

Apparel, which is also divided into 3 subsections – unisex, ladies & kids and infants sells mainly t-shirts as well as a polo, hoodie & infant romper.

Headwear sells mainly caps as well as bucket hats.

Accessories has the most diversity in product range with it selling mainly magnets, keyrings & can coolers as well as a tripod chair, coin, sling bag, pin, luggage tag, picnic rug, woven patch set & sticker set.

An infant bib is also sold in both Apparel & Accessories sections.

To receive merchandise before the airshow (i.,e. the rest of this month), you will need to purchase before 14 February. From 14 February onwards, merchandise purchased online can be collected at the event. If you do not collect it from the event, your order will sent to your shipping address after the event.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour will still have multiple physical merchandise outlets open during & at the airshow but if you do not want to miss out, it’s best to order online as early as possible!

Also, if you are buying merchandise to use at the edition after the March 2024 edition, remember the airshow is now every 2 years & not annually so most products (except the coin, pin, polo, luggage tag, picnic rug & infant bib and romper) will be well out of date by the next airshow as they are labelled with ‘2024’. The next Airshows Downunder Shellharbour edition won’t be until March 2026.

Lastly, when ordering online, note all headwear will not be posted for delivery until 21 February as the event is awaiting a backorder.

The best-selling products right now are:

• Adults Acid Wash Cap (AUD$35),
• Event Tripod Chair (AUD$20) & the
• Unisex Jet T-Shirt (AUD$50)

The most affordable product is the:

• Sunset Sling Bag (AUD$5)

The most expensive product is the:

• Unisex Jet Hoodie (AUD$99)

You can visit the online merchandise shop at https://airshowsdownundershop.com.au/, which is a separate website to the official event website. Merchandise is produced by Motorsport Distributors Group selling through Shopify.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, a flagship Sydney Spectacular, is on 1-3 March 2024 at Shellharbour Airport. Tickets are not sold via the online merchandise shop. To buy tickets, click here.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour has revealed major ticketing changes for the air show in the 1st major announcement since The Aerospace, Maritime & Defence Australia Foundation Limited took over the event’s management in March 2023.

Most of the changes mentioned in this article were announced on 1 November 2023.

For the 1st time ever, tickets are being sold online only. They will not be sold at the gate.

All tickets now include access to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) Museum static aircraft displays. The Very Important Person (VIP) Experience ticket option is also now called The Wings Pavilion, named after the air show’s former name, Wings Over Illawarra.

The new operators have also removed all weekend passes meaning all tickets are now only for 1 day of the air show so if you want to attend both days, you need to buy 2 single day tickets per person.

While visiting the air show by train is still the recommended option, if you are planning to drive to the air show, General Admission (GA) Event Parking now must be pre-booked at a cost of AUD$10 per car, AUD$5 per car more than last edition. The event parking area has also been moved from Croome Road Sporting Complex to Albion Oval:

To get to Albion Oval via the Princes Motorway, the quickest way to the event parking is via the Princes Highway offramps. The Tongarra Road/Illawarra Highway offramps are a slightly longer drive despite being the most obvious offramps on the map above. A free shuttle bus to/from the air show will still operate from the GA Event Parking.

Ticket categories have changed. ‘Adult’ now means people aged 16 or older (last edition, it was 17 or older). This results in the Family category now being for families of 2 adults & 2 children aged 15 or younger (last edition, it was 2 adults & 2 children aged 16 or younger). The Concession category now also applies to senior cardholders, veteran cardholders & students with a valid student identification card (last edition, it only applied to pension card holders). Group (20 people minimum) ticketing discounts have also been removed & as mentioned at the start of the article, As mentioned earlier, VIP Experience is replaced by The Wings Pavilion.

The ticket prices below are based on the price on air show day. The prices are lower if bought before February 12 as part of early bird specials:

Ticket Type	Last Edition (November 2022)	March 2024 Edition	Price Change
GA Adult (17+)	AUD$60	AUD$85	+AUD$25 (42%)
GA Aged 16	AUD$30	AUD$85	+AUD$60 (183%)
GA Child (Aged 5–15)	AUD$30	AUD$40	+AUD$10 (33%)
GA Child (Aged 0-4)	FREE	FREE	0 (0%)
GA Concession	AUD$50	AUD$85	+AUD$35 (70%)
GA Family	AUD$150.00	AUD$210	+AUD$60 (40%)
Gold Pass Grandstand	AUD$150	AUD$175	+AUD$25 (17%)
VIP Experience/Wings Pavilion	AUD$250	AUD$275	+AUD$25 (10%)

Tickets went on sale on November 23 last year with early bird specials until 12 February 2024.

Gold Pass Grandstand & Wings Pavilion holders this edition will receive a distinctive wristband (last edition, it was a lanyard). There is no priority entry or souvenir bag for Wings Pavilion ticket holders this year though. All other aspects of the Gold Pass Grandstand & Wings Pavilion ticket option are the same as last edition. The Wings Pavilion menu is detailed at the end of the article.

In related air show news, vintage vehicles will return after airport construction & poor weather prevented their appearance last edition. There will also be increased amenities across the event site this edition including more food and beverage outlets, shade, seating & toilets.

Airshows Downunder Shellharbour is held on 1-3 March 2024. The latter 2 days are the public air show days. Day 1 is a schools careers day. All tickets are on sale here now.

Wings Pavilion Menu – correct as of 1 February 2024

Morning Tea
Oatmeal & apple pies
Corn & zucchini fritters; smashed avocado, smoked salmon, sour cream

Lunch
Tunisian style chicken, roasted chickpeas, currents, pistachios, pomegranate
Roasted barramundi, zucchini, spring peas, mint & soft goats’ cheese, preserved lemon dressing

Sides
Baby potato, apple cucumber & artichoke with coriander pesto
Roasted field mushrooms, tabbouleh & lentils
Baby spinach, balsamic roasted beetroot & Spanish onion
Fresh baked breads, butter

Dessert
Boutique Australian cheese collection: Shadows of blue, Maffra cheddar and Willow Grove brie with biscuits, lavosh, fruit paste, dried figs & pears, fresh strawberries & red grapes
Caramel cheesecake & chocolate fig tarts

Afternoon Tea
Petite beef pies, tomato jam
Sausage rolls, tomato jam

Beverages
Sparkling Wine
Sauvignon Blanc
Shiraz
Several Beer Options (inclusive of zero alcohol)
Cider
Non-Alcoholic Beverages (Soft Drinks, Juice, Water)