At the time, 15 Wing commander Col. Denis O’Reilly said there was a lot of work to be done and a lot of preparation needed to get things in shape for that weekend in July.
Now, the time has come.
The Saskatchewan Air Show will take place this Saturday and Sunday at 15 Wing, with crews busily erecting tents, signage and fencing during a media day on Thursday afternoon as the first performers began to arrive at the base.
“Things are looking fantastic,” said O’Reilly from a large VIP tent overlooking the airfield. “I think we’re going to have a great weekend, we have lots of people out there with tickets right now so we want to put on a great show for the people of Saskatchewan and I think we’re going to do it. After 14 years, the Air Show is back.”
As one might expect, it’s taken a ton of work to get to this point – from the simplest of preparations to the most arduous of tasks, sponsors led by the City of Moose Jaw and CAE along with an army of supporters have toiled to get the Saskatchewan Air Show off the ground almost completely from scratch.
That includes a large portion of 15 Wing itself. As hosts of the Air Show they’ve taken an immense role, to the point that it’ll be all hands on deck when the show kicks off at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
“We are responsible for everything, because when we open our doors to the public, we want to make sure the customer experience is first rate,” O’Reilly explained. “So we look at everything from portapotties to line-ups for vending and food, to things for families, parking, making sure the traffic flow is as expeditious and safe as possible.
“And of course, spectator safety is a priority, too, we want to make sure we have the best professionals on the job, whether it’s the air boss or the announcer, everyone behind the scenes is experienced professionals.”
O’Reilly later pointed out the school buses located on the tarmac across the runway from the VIP tents. Their purpose is part of the aforementioned safety – they mark a do-not-cross line for performers during the show, creating a large buffer zone to keep crowds safe.
And oh, what crowds there will be. O’Reilly estimated 18,000 tickets have been sold as of last weekend, a number expected to increase dramatically as the hour draws closer.
“We have so much space here we’ve anticipated for 25,000 to 30,000 people easily,” he said. “We want people to go to Saskairshow.ca and get their tickets, we promise you we’re working our best to give you the best experience possible.”
To that point, organizers are hoping the show will be the best there’s ever been at the local airbase.
“We’ve tried to reach through all the airshows in the industry going back to the one in 2005 and learn from the things we need to do better,” O’Reilly said. “From waits for the bathrooms to the food and having long lines for parking. All of these things are dis-satisfiers, so we’re focussing on the customer experience. And we want it to be for all ages, from a beer garden to the play area for the kids.”
Police from Regina, Moose Jaw and the RCMP will be on hand to deal with traffic, Moose Jaw fire services will be ready to deal with any kind of situation on top of the security and medical staff on hand from 15 Wing itself.
Gates open at 9 a.m. both days, with the static displays of aircraft and vehicles, historical displays, Kids Zone and concessions all opening at that time. The beer gardens open at 11 a.m.
Air performances begin at 12 p.m. and will feature five hours straight of action, including the Yellow Thunder Harvard team, Kent Pietsch and his Jelly Belly performance plane, the CF-18 Demo Team, F-16 Demo Team, Moose Jaw’s own Brent Handy in his Pitt Special biplane and, of course, the Snowbirds to close things out both days.
“It’s a massive process, but it’s a labour of love,” O’Reilly said of the Show in general. “I think people from Saskatchewan appreciate us and I think people from Moose Jaw have always appreciated us and it’s just our way of saying thank you.”
For tickets and more information, including the complete line-up, times, maps and everything else, check saskairshow.ca, and be sure to check moosejawtoday.com tomorrow afternoon for more about the show and performers!
