From little acorns great oaks grow

And in the case of the Heidelberg Wheels of Thunder airshow this seems to be the case.

 Following on to the conceived in 2007 as a fund raising fly-in for a local school from all accounts the 2007 event was enjoyed by all, even though the weather poured a damper on the festivities. 2008 saw the event come back bigger and better. Heidelberg for many years was synonymous with an excellent motor museum that no longer exists although many of the exhibits were re-located to the Franschhoek Motor Museum in the Western Cape.

The school decided to maximise this heritage and organised a multi encompassing event which included many motor vehicle dealers and clubs attending the Heidelberg airfield. Attendance exceeded all expectations to the extent that additional parking areas had to be created for the visitors. The two-wheeled motorists were not to be left out and there was a large contingent from the Harley Davidson Motor Cycle club. There were some exquisite examples of these magnificent steel Hogs on display.

Air festivities

Mass radials fly-past

A large number (in my estimate around 80 or so) aircraft attended ranging from small kit builds to the DC-3 flown by Flippie Vermeulen from Flying Springbok Safaris. His display of this grand old lady of the air was breathtaking. I have never seen this aircraft so beautifully displayed before, the positioning for the photographers was superb. Ian Puntas, flying the Sportcruiser was just as spot on with his displays to allow the photographers amongst the media contingent the best shots.