Songkran takes to the sky over Phuket

Les Vorosmarthy stole the show in this aircraft at the Phuket Airpark Fly-in

earlier this year. He, and it, will do the same over Patong tomorrow and Thursday.

PHUKET: -- PHUKET is in for a spectacular treat tomorrow and again on Thursday (April 13 and 14) when the island’s first “Sky High” show occurs over Patong Beach – weather permitting.

The highlight of the show will see world renowned stunt pilot Les Vorosmarthy performing breathtaking aerobatcs in his 350 horsepower, Extra 300L stunt plane.

Les will be performing spins, stalls, slips, slides, barrel rolls, snap rolls, wing-overs, loops, waterfalls, 'Immelmanns' and who-knows-what-else for 15 minutes each day between 2pm and 4pm.

There will also be a fly-by along the beach before Les appears on the horizon to amaze the crowd, estimated by the Patong mayor's office to exceed 100,000 Songkran revelers.

Tomorrow evening and into the night, there will be a hot air balloon “Night Glow”, with the balloon tethered to Patong Beach and hovering about 30 meters (about the height of a 10-storey building) above the sand.

The balloon's exact location on the beach depends on winds and cannot be determined until late tomorrow afternoon. However, the organizers say that the humongous and eerily silent sphere "will be visible for miles around and cannot be missed by anyone approaching the town from any direction."

Making Phuket’s first “Sky high Songkran” possible are the Phuket Governor’s Office, Patong Municipality and Phuket Airpark. The event is sponsored by the Phuket Gazette, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Aero Pro.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-04-12

This is not the original article issued online by the Phuket Gazette. Last night i read that two shows would be shown today, the first at 11am and the 2nd at 3.30pm.I double checked this morning and found the same article still online.

We were really keen to go see what one reader had said was well worth seeing. So off we went at 10am so we had plenty of time to get there and enjoy the show, preferring the early show to miss the heavy traffic.

11am came and went, we sat until 12.30, asked some local police if they knew what time the show was but they hadn't a clue, they could only tell us how great the show had been yesterday.On our return i find this new article.

Is it really so hard for the PG to get the correct information, or to post it in time for people to change their plans?!

He was buzzing around, making loads of noise (low level passes?) at well gone 14.00.

Red Arrows, Red Bull...... no need to worry about the competition yet.

World renowned? I don't think so...Google is your friend.

Still it made a change to see an aircraft in the skies over Patong.

I also was poised with camera at 1100, although I hadn't made a special trip.

Heard the bloody thing in the afternoon, but wasn't in a position to take any photos at that stage.

He was buzzing around, making loads of noise (low level passes?) at well gone 14.00.

Red Arrows, Red Bull...... no need to worry about the competition yet.

World renowned? I don't think so...Google is your friend.

Still it made a change to see an aircraft in the skies over Patong.

Maybe not "world renowned" by the general public but within pilot circles, my friend Les is well known. Don't believe the photo shown by the OP shows him. By the way, love this old saying a fellow Alaskan bush pilot told me..."If you're not a pilot you ain't shi*"