Hi all,
today was another big day for me. Having done the China Aviation Museum at Xiaotangshan and seen so many other great aircraft on the trip so far, I was hoping the Airshow China would deliver yet more goodies.
The China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (namely Airshow China) is the only international aerospace trade show in China that is endorsed by the Chinese government. Since 1996, the show has been held at Zhuhai every two years, making this the 11th edition. The 12th Airshow China will take place November 6th-11th 2018. More details can be found at the following website;
Flight schedule each day can be seen at;
http://www.airshow.com.cn/…/Ar…/notice/2016-10-22/11471.html
I hinted back on the Shenzhen post at the pain getting the tickets for Airshow China and here is further explanation. We had always intended on going to this show, but the show website stated that no public tickets would be on sale on the day and that you needed to buy them in advance.
No problem with todays technology you might think? Just go to the website and buy the tickets right? Wrong unfortunately and it was just not that easy.
The show website points you towards a ticket agency and the website for ordering tickets in Chinese with no English option. Now using Google Translate, I managed to get so far through the process but when it came to payment, only Chinese Bank cards were accepted. No Visa, Mastercard or American Express (thank you very much)
So I rang the agency several times until I got someone that could speak limited English. She explained that I could buy the tickets but that they would need collecting from ticket agency building in the City of Zhuhai which is miles away from the airfield – so not able to collect them at the Airshow site itself.
I asked if she could post them to our hotel in Macau which is just a few miles across the border and they said no – they could only post to a mainland China address.
Thinking that maybe communication was the issue here, I asked a family member who works in the banking sector at Canary Wharf to help. He in turn asked someone who could speak Chinese to take up the task of ordering the tickets and get them sent to one of our hotels. Whilst they were initially confident in being able to sort this for us, they ultimately failed as there seemed to be a issue selling public tickets to foreigners. They did however suggest that we speak to someone based in China and see if they could help or risk a ticket tout outside the show. That sowed the seeds for the final solution.
The final solution was to ask the concierge service at the Langham Place hotel to see if they could help. They had all the same issues at first but it was pointed out that there was an app they could order tickets through. I think maybe this app was only available to Chinese people in China and it was in Chinese. The concierge guys talked to me whilst they went through the process and four tickets were purchased. They had to pay for them on their own credit card and I gave them the cash.
The next task for them was ringing the ticket agency and arranging for delivery of the tickets to the hotel at Shenzhen. Even that took some time to arrange and I must have been with the concierge guys for over one hour. It was well worth it in the end though.
Now please note that all this hassle was because we wanted public tickets. If you want to go on a trade day, I believe looking at the website, you can order them through the main Airshow China website or get them at the show after showing visa & passport. Now I had wanted to go on a public day as I thought that there would be more flying and it better suited the itinerary. Also I think the trade day tickets were close to £100 each, so cost was a factor.
Now given no option, I’d pay that if I had to (making it the most expensive show I’d ever paid to go in to) but the public tickets were much cheaper. This was put to all of us going out there before we left the UK and we had agreed the public days was to be when we’d visit.
So if you want to visit this show, think carefully about your ticket choice. We did encounter a ticket tout outside the show, but there is no way you can ask the tout to accompany you to the entrance to make sure the ticket is genuine and that you get in, because you have to go through security screening and a extra check for foreigners being a visa and passport check.
Like RIAT at Fairford the ticket is scanned once you are clear at the other side. We didn’t see tickets for sale when we arrived at the show so I assume the website was correct.
Well guys I’m not trying to put anyone off but I do want you to be aware and I hope this helps somebody else in the future.
The show itself was totally worth it for me even though it’s not the biggest – quality over quantity best describes it. Where else are you going to see the Chinese military stuff that we saw? And seeing the two Russian display teams was a bonus too. Also not to be sniffed at was the reasonable amount of Chinese general aviation. The public day we did was scorching hot and well attended by the Chinese public. I hope you enjoy the photographs below;
https://www.flickr.com/…/62861611@…/albums/72157678390656646
Static:
10537 ** Chengdu J-10B Firebird Chinese Air Force
6366 ** CAIC Z-10K Chinese Air Force
10156 ** Shaanxi Y-9 Chinese Air Force
30472 ** Shaanxi Y-8 KJ-500/ZDK-06 AEW&C Chinese Air Force
11098 ** Xian H-6K Chinese Air Force c/n 02411
LH96101 ** CAIC Z-10A Chinese Army
no marks ** Xian Y-20 Chinese Air Force c/n unknown
12-139 ** Chengdu JF-17 Thunder 2 Sqn Pakistan Air Force
RF-76740 ** Ilyushin IL-76MD Candid Russian Air Force
RF-78790 ** Ilyushin IL-76MD Candid Russian Air Force
no marks Guizhou JL-9/FTC-2000G Mountain Eagle c/n
“JL90003”? Sudanese Air Force?
50002 ** Enstrom 480B Chinese Police
B-002A ** AVIC AG600
B-0052 ** Oxai Aircraft M2 Skywave
B-10AN ** Diamond DA.40DS Diamond Star TDI
B-10CE ** Quest Aircraft Kodiak 100
B-10DE ** Diamond DA.40DS Diamond Star TDI
B-10EF ** Pacific Aerospace 750XL
B-10EZ ** Mooney M.20TN Acclaim Type S
B-10FU ** Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porter
B-10GF ** Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter
B-10HD ** Gippsland GA-8-TC 320 Airvan
B-10JF ** XtremeAir XA-42 Sbach 342
B-10LJ ** Comco-Ikarus C42E Cyclone
B-10MP ** CZAW Sportscruiser
B-70MV ** AutoGyro Europe MTO Sport
B-0223 ** Diamond DA.40DS Diamond Star TDI
B-0413 scrape Pilatus PC-12/47E HB-FQN
B-3008 ** Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200ER
B-3370 scrape Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200ER
B-9223 ** Shijiazhuang LE-500 Little Eagle
B-9377 ** Cirrus Design Corp SR22
B-9593 ** Cirrus Design Corp SR22
B-9778 ** Cirrus Design Corp SR22
B-9806 ** Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan
D-EMPX ** XtremeAir XA-42 Sbach 342
N350ER Beechcraft B300 Super King Air 350ER
N391MQ ** Van’s RV-12
(N179SR) ** Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey LSA c/n 1042
(N239SM) ** AirMax SeaMax M-22 c/n 065
N471LP ** Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey LSA
N613CL ** Cessna 680 Citation Latitude
N800ZH ** Piper PA-46R-350T Malibu Matrix
N866SP ** Glasair GS-2 Sportsman 2+2
N5071F ** Fairchild-Hiller FH-1100
N90457 ** Hiller UH-12L-4 Raven
RA-89035 ** Sukhoi SSJ-100-95LR Superjet 100 Yamal Airlines
SP-GFB ** Aero AT-3 R100
ZU-RFW ** Rotorway A600 Talon
Other types noted in the static but mostly with no known registration or
construction number – any help appreciated. Photographs are on Flickr.
no marks Airborne Edge XT912 red c/s
no marks Airborne Edge XT912 white c/s
no marks AutoGyro Europe Cavalon Pro white c/s
no marks AutoGyro Europe Cavalon blue c/s
no marks AutoGyro Europe Calidus yellow c/s
no marks AutoGyro Europe MTO Sport white c/s
no marks AutoGyro Europe MTO Sport green c/s
“D16” Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Bee
type
no marks Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Bee type
no marks Bell 407
no marks CAIGA A2C
no marks CAIGA A2C-3
no marks CAIGA AG300
no marks Celier Aviation Xenon 4XL c/n CAC 14/15E09AA0112?
no marks Comco-Ikarus C42 Cyclone
no marks CZAW Mermaid
no marks CZAW SportCruiser
no marks Dynali H2S
no marks Glasair GS-2 Sportsman Amphibian
no marks Hunan Sunward SA160
no marks Jabiru Aircraft Jabiru J160-C c/n 312
no marks Jabiru Aircraft Jabiru J230
no marks Just Aircraft SuperStol
no marks Mooney M.10T
no marks North Wing Scout XC Apache
no marks Pipistrel Taurus
no marks Pipistrel Virus 912 SW 100
no marks Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey LSA green c/n c/n 1045
no marks Robinson R-44
no marks Rui Xiang RX1E
no marks Technam P.2006T
no marks Technam P.2010 c/n 036
no marks Trixy Aviation TrixyEye Police
Nearside flightline:
XX177 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX219 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX227 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX232 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX242 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX244 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX245 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX278 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX310 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1W Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX319 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX322 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A Red Arrows Royal Air Force
XX325 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 Red Arrows Royal Air Force
01 ** Chengdu J-10AY Firebird 1st August Display Team Chinese Air Force
03 ** Chengdu J-10AY Firebird 1st August Display Team Chinese Air Force
04 ** Chengdu J-10AY Firebird 1st August Display Team Chinese Air Force
08 ** Chengdu J-10AY Firebird 1st August Display Team Chinese Air Force
09 ** Chengdu J-10AY Firebird 1st August Display Team Chinese Air Force
11 ** Chengdu J-10SY Firebird 1st August Display Team Chinese Air Force
12 ** Chengdu J-10SY Firebird 1st August Display Team Chinese Air Force
no marks ** Xian Y-20 Chinese Air Force
13-149 ** Chengdu JF-17 Thunder 2 Sqn Pakistan Air Force
13-150 ** Chengdu JF-17 Thunder 2 Sqn Pakistan Air Force
02 blue ** Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29UB Fulcrum Swifts Russian Air Force
07 blue ** Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29UB Fulcrum Swifts Russian Air Force
29 blue ** Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum Swifts Russian Air Force
30 blue ** Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum Swifts Russian Air Force
31 blue ** Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum Swifts Russian Air Force
32 blue ** Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum Swifts Russian Air Force
02 blue ** Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker-B 237 TsPAT/Russian Knights Russian Air Force
05 blue ** Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker-B 237 TsPAT/Russian Knights Russian Air Force
12 blue ** Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker-B 237 TsPAT/Russian Knights Russian Air Force
17 blue ** Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker-B 237 TsPAT/Russian Knights Russian Air Force
20 blue Sukhoi Su-27UB Flanker-C 237 TsPAT/Russian Knights Russian Air Force
B-00NC ** CAIGA AG300
B-00NZ ** Rui Xiang RX1E
B-00PW ** Harbin Y-12F
B-10JE ** XtremeAir XA-42 Sbach 342
B-10JT ** Cirrus Design Corp SR20
B-50AM ** Rui Xiang RX1E
B-7341 ** Sikorsky S-76D
B-7765 Bombardier Aerospace Global 5000
B-9242 ** Shijiazhuang LE-500 Little Eagle
B-9775 ** Pipistrel Taurus
B-KTK ** Robinson R-44 Raven II
B-LUV ** Cessna 172R Skyhawk
B-LUW ** Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP
M-HKND ** Dassault Falcon 7X
N9151T ** Hiller UH-12E
Exhibition Halls:
B-7785 ** Agusta-Westland AW.109SP c/n 22324
B-7783 ** Agusta-Westland AW.139 c/n 31133
(B-70MX) ** Agusta-Westland AW.119Ke Koala c/n 14910
no marks ** Harbin Z-19E
no marks ** Changhe Z-11WB
B-10KQ ** Diamond DA.42M-NG Twin Star c/n 42.MN034
B-10LW ** Diamond DA.20-C1 Eclipse c/n C0665
B-9449 ** Diamond DA.42M-NG Twin Star c/n 42.MN032
B-7798 ** Bell 407GX
no marks Bell 505 Jet Ranger X (mock-up?)
no marks ** Corbi Air Alto 100
no marks ** Impulse Aircraft Impulse 100
Airport movements:
B-1922 Boeing 737-86N China Southern Airlines
B-5548 Boeing 737-86N Shanghai Airlines
Regards,
Grant Robinson
Oxford Aviation Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/139252716488773/