Celebrating milestones at The Biggest Little Air Show

Andrew Ritschel put on a thrilling performance with his high performance model Edge 540.

The 2023 edition of the Biggest Little Airshow celebrated two milestones for the Hiller Aviation Museum: The museum’s 25th anniversary and the 10th anniversary for this remote-control model aviation air show.

This RC pilot certainly has his hands full with a Boeing B-17 in one hand and a Cessna 170 in the other.

As with previous years, the Biggest Little Air Show, put on by the museum at its home base of San Carlos Airport (KSQL) in California, quickly sold out.

Sponsored by San Jose software company Peaxy, the event is organized to take full advantage of the 90 minutes the airport is closed for the air show.

Dave Mosher carries his F-4 Phantom out to the flight line.

Without any need for arresting gear, this model F-4 Phantom is guided down for a smooth landing.

Local clubs were out in full force to exhibit a wide range of flying models. RC pilots performed flight demonstrations with a variety of models, from creative foam models to sophisticated ones powered by ducted fan engines.

Surprisingly, this year’s lineup did not include any RC helicopters at an air show put on by a museum founded by helicopter pioneer Stanley Hiller Jr.

A subscale U-2 spyplane makes a non-stealthy pass overhead during the 2023 Biggest Little Air Show.

The flying started with various electric powered STOL aircraft, followed by an assortment of creative category models.

A demonstration of 3D aerobatics was next, using models with high thrust to weight ratios, allowing the planes to hover and perform other maneuvers not seen with real aircraft.

3D aerobatics model aircraft perform when the aircraft is intentionally placed in a stalled position, like this Edge 540.

A lovely model of a Hawker Sea Fury performs. The real ones were the last propeller-driven fighters to serve with the Royal Navy.

Various racing class drones then flew demonstration laps — some inhuman reflexes are needed to fly those.

A drone racer equipped with a smoke canister zips by during a racing demonstration.

The highlight of the show was an impressive, large-scale, high-performance 3D model demo, complete with smoke system.

An impressive collection of electric ducted-fan jets followed, dazzling the attendees.

An electric ducted fan model of a Spanish Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon climbs out after takeoff.

Last was a combat demonstration where models tried to cut other aircraft’s streamers with their props.

Great weather and nice flying conditions made for normal takeoffs and landings, resulting in a mostly incident-free schedule.

This Cub is on its way to an inverted flight orientation.

Once the RC flying was completed, the runway was re-opened for two full-scale aerobatic performance as the show’s finale. Yes, TWO, double what the show has always had.

First up was the Sukhoi West Demo Team, featuring Randy Howell and Cory Lovell, flying their Sukhoi SU-26 aerobatic aircraft. This performance would mark the air show debut for this duo.