LOCAL acrobatic aviation group Očovskí Bačovia thrilled onlookers at the Slovak Air Fest in Očová, near Zvolen, on August 31. The two-day international air show provided visitors with a view of dozens of aircraft and helicopters in the air and on the ground, the SITA newswire wrote.
The performance by Hungarian pilot Zoltán Veres, the world champion in air acrobatics, was a hit with the public. His closest rival was Peter Podlunsek from Slovenia, who also performs in the AERO GP international air race. The expert pilots turned eye-popping acrobatics, sometimes only a few metres from the ground.
During the event, the Kindernay’s Flying Circus, a Czech group that re-enacts dog fights from the first and second world wars, displayed a replica of the Blériot, which was the model flown by Milan Rastislav Štefánik. The replica, which is 10 percent smaller than the original, is not finished yet. Once it has an engine, the plan is to fly it over the English Channel.
During the Air Fest, the Flying Circus re-enacted the last flight of legendary German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron". His dog fight with Arthur "Roy" Brown is one of the best known of World War I.
The visitors also saw acrobatic shows by Ali Özturk from Turkey and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, as well as Mi-17 and Mi-24 military helicopters.
