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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Ministry of Tourism Updates
Event to Feature Interactive Aviation Seminar For Students May 19 and A Three-Hour Aerobatic Show Culminating With Smoke At Twilight on May 20 PLANTATION, Florida - The Second Annual Grand Bahama Air Show, taking place May 19 and 20, 2017 at Taino Beach, promises to be bigger and better than its premier show and is already attracting scores of visitors to the island as well as members of the international press. The two days event, which kicks off with an Aviation seminar for students on May 19 and ends with a three hour air show on May 20, is being organized by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism in conjunction with Sun n Fun, the second largest aviation show in the USA and veteran air boss, John Wayne of John Wayne Air Cavalry, LLC. Western Air, Alpha Aero Group, The Bahamas Aviation Institute, Pelican Bay Resort, Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort, Flamingo Bay, Air Boss and Balearia Caribbean are also partners for the event.
According to Omar Isaacs, General Manager of Vertical Markets at the MOT, “this year’s air show is expected to surpass the incredible success of last year’s show and is touted to be bigger, better, longer and even more exciting. Show goers can expect to be captivated from start to finish with spectacular aerobatic and low-lying maneuvers from precise formation flying squads and skilled parachutists performing daring routines from high-speed, loud roaring aircrafts”. Some two hundred 10 to12 grade students from private and public schools in Grand Bahama and Nassau will be hosted to a special aviation seminar, taking place at the Western Air Hangar on Friday, May 19. The seminar, which begins at 10 a.m. and is being conducted by aviation experts from the United States of America and The Bahamas, will highlight the exciting career opportunities available in the aviation industry. Recruiters from Polk State College will also be in attendance.
Some fifty students will be selected from the group to participate in a special fly-out exercise, immediately following the seminar. Also taking place on May 19 from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. is an air show practice at Taino Beach. The family friendly air show which, commences promptly at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, at Taino Beach, is free to the public. Veteran parachutist Keith Walter will kick off the show with a Bahamian flag drop over the tranquil, crystal clear waters at Taino Beach, ending with his landing on the beach to precisely synchronized singing of the Bahamas national anthem, sung by the Grand Bahama Youth Choir. Daring low-lying maneuvers from precise formation flying squads will be performed by skilled pilots Paul Schulton of Christen Eagle, John Black Decathlon, and the Chuters. A crowd favorite last year, Schulton returns again this year and is “excited now more than ever,” he says. According to Schulton he “will perform some twenty aerobatic maneuvers including everything I did last year, the 250 feet high and low drops, inverted flat spins, vertical snap and torque rolls (flying straight up with backward twirls), double hammer heads flips (cart wheels in the sky) and a series of loops. At last year’s show I saw a man ray as I performed over the beach, this year I will be flying almost at ground level, I hope to kiss the man ray” he said.
The skies will illuminate at twilight when the Aero Shell team performs a fiery smoke finish, to end the festive evening. The Ministry of Tourism, through its Flying Ambassador program, is also conducting an exclusive competition for private pilots wishing to fly in for the Grand Bahama Airshow. Pilots are being offered discounted accommodations at the Pelican Bay Resort, Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort and Flamingo Bay. Ambassadors with the largest number of registered pilots for the fly in will win three days, two nights stay at the Pelican Bay Resort. For more information on how to register, participate or attend the Grand Bahama Air Show, call 1-800-32-SPORT, 1-242-352-8044 or visit: Bahamas.com/gbiairshow.
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