Air Show Atlantic 2025 – Summerside PEI

Summerside Airport on an overcast Saturday morning

Story and photos by Ken Kula

Canada’s Province of Prince Edward Island (PEI) is endowed with a picturesque shoreline and lots of history. It can boast that the initial meetings which led to the Canadian Confederation were held in Charlottetown (today’s provincial capital city) in 1864. In 1912, the island’s first powered flight was made at the Charlottetown exhibition grounds. From the beginning of World War II, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan brought the construction of several airports in the province to assist in the training of pilots and other aircrew. A pair of airdromes in the cities of Charlottetown and Summerside remained active after the Second World War and still exist today.

The former Canadian Forces Base Summerside, now known simply as Summerside Airport, was the site of the 2025 Air Show Atlantic. The air show has its roots from the CFB Shearwater air shows a few decades ago before that base converted to a heliport, with no fixed wing activity. The previous Air Show Atlantic was held at CFB Greenwood last year.

CP-107 Argus in Summerside’s memorial park

Summerside had been home to many maritime patrol aircraft which rumbled around the PEI skies for decades; it was an important base which housed CP-107 Argus and CP-121 Tracker aircraft through the 1980s and 1990s. The Air Force Heritage Park contains examples of these two aircraft types that are visible as one arrives at the Slemon Park industrial site, which encompasses the airport.

Pre-air show activities occurred on the two days before the weekend air show, on June 26th and 27th. Media Day was on Thursday June 26th, and many of the performers were on hand to talk about their backgrounds, their aircraft, and what to look for when they flew. The weather was decent for flying, with ceilings near 8000 feet and good visibility under the high overcast.

Rick Volker in his SF.260C

Rick Volker now flies a SIAI Marchetti SF.260C, a piston-engined military training aircraft. It is fully aerobatic and capable of at least 6 positive Gs. Rick previously flew a Sukhoi SU-26M and has extensive warbird experience in exotic aircraft like the Harvard, Spitfire, Hurricane and even an ME-109! He pursued aerobatics in a peculiar manner, as his “day job” allowed him to be able to take a 2-hour lunch break from work and practice his aerobatic routines. His wife is also a pilot and his operations manager, and Rick said that they like the side-by-side seating of the SF.260 when travelling to air shows, when compared to the tandem seating in aircraft like a Harvard.

Royal Canadian Air Force Hornet

Although the RCAF’s CF-18 Tactical Demonstration would deploy from the larger Charlottetown airport for the air show, a two-seat CF-188B was flown into Summerside by the demo pilot Captain Laurent “Sista” Dussault. He explained that he had departed from his base at CFB Bagotville and flew VFR (not on an instrument flight plan) at only one or two thousand feet of altitude in an easterly direction until reaching the St. Lawrence River. He followed the river until it spilled out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, saying hello to some friends and to a few boats too. He then proceeded to Summerside. He showed me his flight plan on his Foreflight knee board computer, an essential part of tactical navigation in the CF-18.

The Northern Stars

The Northern Stars Aeroteam is comprised of three former Royal Canadian Air Force pilots. I spoke with Mario Hamel, a former Snowbird #2 pilot with extensive civilian aerobatic experience too. A co-founder of the Northern Lights Team, he owns a Pitts S-12 (radial engined), flies a Pitts S2B for the Northern Stars and the Salto sailplane for Time Flies. When I asked him how he keeps straight which airplane he’s flying, he explained that since the S-12 has a Soviet radial engine which rotates in the opposite direction from the American S2B Pitts, he parks the S-12 until the air show season is over before getting back to the different airframe.

CP-121 Tracker in the Summerside Air Force Heritage Park

There were more people on the grounds too, over the weekend I spoke to a pair of gentlemen who had flown out of Summerside and both commented that the airport was a busy base while the Trackers were active.

A trio of members of the Canadian Skyhawks military parachute team

Friday’s practice day saw beautiful weather… blue skies and cool temperatures, a perfect air show day. We had bought the Shutterbug Photo Passes which got us in on the Friday through Sunday air shows in an uncrowded part of the show line near show center. One bonus was that we were allowed to park our car right on the fence line, saving the effort of lugging photo equipment and chairs for a long distance.

The Snowbirds’ new Tornado pass

The RCAF’s Snowbirds flew a stellar practice show, their 2858th display of their spectacular history, and then made a pair of additional passes to practice their presentation over Parliament Hill in Ottawa for Canada Day, soon after this weekend’s air show. A new formation pass this year is called the Tornado, with the solo jets rolling around the large formation of the other seven CT-114 Tutors; it was temporarily renamed the “Lobster Roll” to reflect PEI’s seafood prowess.

RCMP’s Pilatus PC-12NG 

Saturday’s air show had more high clouds which didn’t affect the flying. A diverse static display included a pair of Royal Canadian Mounted Police aircraft, an Airbus H-125 helicopter and a Pilatus PC-12NG. One of the Pilatus pilots mentioned that they’ll be receiving new PC-24 jets soon.

NAV Canada is the provider of ATC services in the country, and although they didn’t have one of their aircraft on display, they did have a racing car they sponsor displayed… and yes, they are accepting applications for air traffic controllers!

PAL’s Fisheries Patrol Super Kingair

PAL Aerospace displayed a quartet of aircraft, including a Bell 407GXI helicopter, a Beech 200 Super King Air outfitted with surveillance gear for fisheries patrol, and a new Super Kingair 360ER, with extended range fuel tanks and more powerful engines, plus beefed-up landing gear to handle the added weight. Both a Sikorski S-76 and another Super Kingair medical evac aircraft were displayed too, but the Kingair quickly departed in the morning with an obviously higher priority awaiting it.

On board the RCAF CC-130J Hercules, the best seat in the house?

Canadian military aircraft on the ground included a CP-140M Aurora and a CH-149 Cormorant, both based at CFB Greenwood. An RCAF C-130J Hercules was in from CFB Trenton and a CH-146 Griffon helicopter attended from nearby Camp Gagetown.

The air show production crew at Summerside

A highly entertaining mix of flying ensued from the initial Skyhawks parachute team jump through to the CF-18 Tactical Demo at the end of the show. Unfortunate scrubs from the expected performers list included a Spitfire from the Collings Foundation, which remained in Albany, New York with a mechanical issue. A CP-140 flight demo didn’t occur either. Air show announcer Ken Hildebrand narrated much of the show, his calm and steady voice continuously kept the events rolling, without any awkward silence. His knowledge of each performer and their routines definitely added to the show. 

Time Flies, a CJ-6 towing a Salto sailplane; both would separate and fly solo routines

Besides the military Skyhawks, the Snowbirds and CF-18 performers, four more very different varieties of aviation were displayed for the show spectators. Waterloo Warbirds’ Harvard Mk.IIB was a well preserved former military trainer. Rick Volker’s SF.260C was high energy, while Time Flies’ Chinese CJ-6 and Salto Sailplane performed with lower energy, but very graceful aerobatics. The Northern Stars in their Pitts S2Bs were a combination of all styles of these performers, from dizzying speed and rapid rolls to sharp formation loops.

Unfortunately, Sunday’s weather changed dramatically from Saturday’s relatively clear skies to low ceilings and visibility from rain and fog. This caused the whole day’s flying to be cancelled, although the static displays were fully staffed.

Spectators line up to tour the inside of the CP-140 Aurora at Summerside

Looking ahead, the 2026 edition of Air Show Atlantic will move to another venue, this time at the St. John (New Brunswick) Airport during the weekend of August 29th and 30th.

A huge amount of thanks go from me to the 2025 Air Show Atlantic volunteers and staff, including Tracy Morgan-Boudreau, the show’s Media and Public Relations Director. As for this year’s venue, PEI’s hospitality and charm added to a great weekend of aviation history and excitement.