On with the Show
CASA describes an air show as organised flying performed at a public gathering or with public invitation. It does not include club events where there is no invitation to the public. An entry fee does not have to be charged, it must merely be a public event.
Included in the definition, as detailed in CASA’s Air Display Administration and Procedure Manual, are:
• an air show or pylon race, being an organised event with multiple acts to demonstrate aircraft capability for the enjoyment of the general public
• a single-ship display conducted for an organised event based on a general public invitation
• a flypast, being one or more aircraft overflying a public gathering for a non-aerobatic demonstration
• a fly-in, competition or cross-country event.
The first international air show was held in 1909, in Reims, France. Known as the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne, it ran over eight days and included the first contest for the Gordon Bennett Trophy which was won by Glenn Curtiss, in competition with Louis Bleriot.
The first air show in the USA was the Los Angeles International Air Meet in 1910. Attendance was more than a quarter of a million. called it "one
