Airborne Pyrotechnics
Grob G109B motor gliders · Day, twilight and night displays · Four-ship at SleapKosh 2026
A British family display operation that turns quiet composite motor gliders into moving points of light, colour and fire: elegant formation flying by day, illuminated smoke trails at dusk and wingtip pyrotechnics after dark.
- Independent public record
- From 2017
- Public record
- Displays documented by 2017
- 2026 display pair
- G-DEWS and G-CMHN
- Formation
- 1–3 advertised; four-ship flown in 2026
- Base
- Wing Farm, Wiltshire
- Status
- Active in 2026
The team
A family operation where aircraft engineering and display flying meet in one carefully controlled night-time spectacle.
Airborne Pyrotechnics is a British civilian display operation based at Wing Farm, Longbridge Deverill, near Warminster in Wiltshire. Team leader Tim Dews has flown the Grob G109B for more than three decades. The team's website names his son Tom as the second pilot, but the active group is now broader than that two-name description: 2026 posts also document Ben Dews and Ian Gallacher flying with the team. Their wider family background is closely tied to gliding, motor gliders and the engineering work carried out through Airborne Composites at the same private airstrip.
The act was developed around a useful combination of skills already present at Wing Farm. The family understood the G109B as pilots, Airborne Composites could maintain and repair composite aircraft, and the display systems could be designed and refined in-house. Rather than forcing a conventional high-energy aerobatic routine onto a motor glider, the team built a show around the type's long wings, low noise, smooth turning performance and ability to remain visually readable during twilight.
From one aircraft to an expanded formation
Airborne Pyrotechnics markets flexible one-, two- and three-aircraft displays for airshows, festivals, weddings and private events. The format can therefore be scaled to the available airspace, budget, lighting conditions and type of finale required. One aircraft can create a compact moving firework display, while two or more allow formation passes, mirrored paths, diverging effects and the familiar crowd-facing heart figure.
At SleapKosh 2026 the team performed as a four-ship. Tim Dews publicly thanked Tom Dews, Ben Dews and Ian Gallacher after the expanded display, establishing the four pilots without requiring an invented roster. The performance went beyond the one-to-three-aircraft options still advertised on the team's website, so it remains best described as an event-specific four-ship rather than a guarantee that every future booking will use four.
Quiet does not mean visually small
The G109B's restrained engine note is an advantage for venues where a loud display would be intrusive. The aircraft can work through graceful loops, wingovers, formation turns and solo repositioning without overwhelming the music or narration. Once LEDs, smoke and pyrotechnics are added, the long wings make each attitude change easy to follow and the flight path remains visible even after the airframe itself has disappeared into the darkness.
Engineering behind the effects
Airborne Composites describes itself as the other half of Airborne Pyrotechnics. The display is therefore supported by an operation experienced in composite-aircraft servicing, repairs, electrical work and motor gliders. That connection matters: airborne pyrotechnics and lighting are not simply decorative additions, but installations whose weight, wiring, firing logic, structural attachment, heat management and operational limitations must be understood before the aircraft reaches the display line.
The display
Long wings draw the geometry. Light, smoke and fire make it remain in the sky.
Airborne Pyrotechnics can present daytime smoke flying, a restrained twilight routine or a full after-dark pyrotechnic show. The composition is not fixed: aircraft number, sequence, noise level and effects are selected for the venue, weather, permissions and light available on the day.
Motor-glider formation
The long-winged G109Bs use close and stepped formations, smooth turns and measured closure rates rather than the rapid, high-energy geometry of compact aerobatic monoplanes.
Loops, wingovers and solos
Formation elements open into individual figures and repositioning passes, keeping the display moving while allowing each aircraft enough space for its effects to remain distinct.
Daytime coloured smoke
For daylight slots, smoke replaces the night-time fireworks and exposes the same broad arcs, turns and formation shapes against the sky.
LED aircraft outlines
Thousands of coloured lights define the fuselage and wings as natural light fades, allowing spectators to read bank angle, formation spacing and crossing paths after sunset.
Wingtip pyrotechnics
The team publishes a load of 4 kg of pyrotechnics on each G109B wingtip, creating sustained sparkling trails and timed bursts rather than a single short firework release.
Flexible finales
The team can combine its full-size aircraft with illuminated model aircraft or ground-fired fireworks. Two aircraft are used for the heart figure, while larger formations can spread the effects across a much wider night sky.
The aircraft
The Grob G109B is efficient enough to tour, quiet enough for intimate venues and large enough to carry a light show across seventeen metres of wing.
A self-launching touring motor glider
The Grob G109B is a two-seat, side-by-side touring motor glider developed in Germany as the improved version of the original G109. It combines a powered aircraft's ability to take off and travel independently with the long wing, airbrakes and efficient unpowered flight expected of a glider. Its fixed tailwheel landing gear, T-tail, upward-opening glazed doors and long, narrow wing give it a distinctive outline even before the display equipment is illuminated.
Composite construction
The airframe is built principally from glass-reinforced plastic. That was an advanced production approach when the type appeared and remains central to its smooth shape, durability and relatively low structural weight. Composite construction also sits naturally within the expertise of Airborne Composites, which services and repairs aircraft from the team's Wing Farm workshop.
Powered flight and gliding flight
A G109B can use its engine for take-off, transit and sustained powered flight, then reduce power or shut down and feather the propeller for more efficient soaring. Airborne Pyrotechnics does not depend on engine-off gliding to create the spectacle, but the type's low-drag airframe and glider-style handling explain why it can fly flowing, low-noise display paths without the aggressive power changes associated with conventional aerobatic aircraft.
The 2026 pair: two former RAF Vigilants
Current 2026 appearances use G-DEWS and G-CMHN. Both airframes previously served with the Royal Air Force as Vigilant T1 cadet trainers. G-DEWS is construction number 6504 and carried the military identity ZJ967. It has now regained the personalised civil registration it wore before entering RAF service. G-CMHN is construction number 6548 and was RAF ZH197. The pair was publicly shown after air testing and appeared together at the 2026 Midlands Air Festival.
The earlier familiar pair
G-CINO, construction number 6355, and G-OFIX, construction number 6394, were the recognisable Airborne Pyrotechnics pair through recent seasons, including their 2025 appearances at SleapKosh and Peterhead Scottish Week. They also have an earlier connection with the AeroSPARX story. Photographs therefore need to be dated and captioned carefully rather than assigning either pair automatically to the team's current season.
Lighting, smoke and wingtip installations
The display fit adds thousands of coloured LEDs, engine smoke and pyrotechnic equipment at the wingtips. The team's published figure is 4 kg of pyrotechnics on each wingtip. That number describes Airborne Pyrotechnics' installation and should not be treated as a normal G109B capability or assumed to apply to every motor glider fitted with display equipment.
Alternative silhouettes
The team's published aircraft options are broader than the two motor gliders. A Silence Twister can add the outline and pace of a compact homebuilt aerobatic aircraft, while a Grob Twin II offers a pure two-seat aerobatic-glider segment with smoke and wingtip effects. Model aircraft and ground fireworks can also be integrated into a larger event production.
What the four-ship means
SleapKosh 2026 demonstrated that Airborne Pyrotechnics can assemble a larger formation than its normal two-G109B pairing. Tim Dews, Tom Dews, Ben Dews and Ian Gallacher are the four pilots publicly linked with that display. It does not prove that four identically equipped G109Bs form a permanent fleet or that four aircraft will be offered at every event.
The story so far
From composite motor-glider expertise in Wiltshire to a four-aircraft night display at Sleap.
14 March 1980
The Grob G109 prototype flies
Grob develops a side-by-side touring motor glider that combines independent powered operation with efficient soaring. The improved G109B follows in 1984 and later enters RAF service as the Vigilant T1.
Over 30 years
Tim Dews builds G109B experience
The team's official account describes Tim Dews flying the G109B for more than three decades in the UK and overseas, creating the deep type knowledge that later underpins the display operation.
2015-2016
An earlier shared chapter with AeroSPARX
AeroSPARX is established in 2015. Contemporary material shows Guy Westgate and Tim Dews flying together under that name, including a BBC One Show appearance for the Queen's 90th birthday in April 2016. The two organisations later develop separate identities.
2017
Independent Airborne Pyrotechnics activity is documented
The team's own archive records Tim Dews's illuminated G109B displays during 2017, including private events and the Junior Nationals closing ceremony. This provides a firmer public starting point than assigning an unsupported foundation date.
2018
The dusk act gains wider attention
Organiser and spectator feedback highlights the combination of fuselage lighting, wingtip fireworks and restrained motor-glider flying. The act establishes a recognisable identity without requiring the noise or speed of a conventional night aerobatic aircraft.
February 2019
Airborne Pyrotechnics reaches New Zealand
The display appears at Wings over Wairarapa. Tim Dews flies one Grob, with his son Ben as passenger, while New Zealand pilot Jonathan Turnbull flies the second. Earlier wording that named Tim and Tom as the two pilots was incorrect.
September 2021
International Sanicole appearance
The pair flies at Belgium's International Sanicole Airshow, presenting formation and solo elements with LED lighting and wingtip pyrotechnics during the event's specialist evening programme.
2023-2025
A regular day-and-night attraction
Repeated appearances at events including the International Ayr Show underline the team's two-sided format: pyrotechnics and LEDs for evening flying, followed by coloured smoke for daylight presentation.
2024-2025
G-CINO and G-OFIX remain the familiar pair
The two aircraft appear at Midlands Air Festival, Duxford Flying Evening, SleapKosh and Peterhead Scottish Week, carrying Sydney Charles promotional titles during the 2025 season.
May 2026
Two former Vigilants enter the display line-up
G-DEWS and G-CMHN appear together at Midlands Air Festival after returning to flight. Their RAF histories as ZJ967 and ZH197 add a new cadet-training chapter to the team story.
10 July 2026
A four-ship at SleapKosh
Tim Dews, Tom Dews, Ben Dews and Ian Gallacher combine for an expanded night display. The larger formation is a documented event-specific development, not a replacement for the one-to-three-aircraft booking formats still advertised.
Identity & comparison
Airborne Pyrotechnics and AeroSPARX can look similar from the crowd line, but they are not the same team.
The confusion has a real history
Both acts use Grob G109Bs, LEDs, smoke and airborne pyrotechnics, but the similarity is not coincidental. Tim Dews flew with Guy Westgate during AeroSPARX's early period. G-CINO and G-OFIX also appeared under the AeroSPARX identity before becoming strongly associated with Airborne Pyrotechnics.
Airborne Pyrotechnics today
This is the Wing Farm operation near Warminster, led by Tim Dews and linked directly with Airborne Composites. Its website names Tom Dews as second pilot, while current 2026 activity also documents Ben Dews and Ian Gallacher. The current display pair is G-DEWS and G-CMHN.
AeroSPARX today
AeroSPARX is now the separate Husbands Bosworth operation established in 2015 and presented by Guy Westgate and Rob Barsby. Its programme includes formation aerobatics, night pyrotechnics and integrated productions involving ground effects, lasers and drones.
Date the photograph before naming the team
The same registrations can appear under different historical identities, and the active Airborne pair changed for 2026. Reliable captions need the aircraft registration, event and date, not a judgement based only on long wings, LED colours or pyrotechnic trails.
