Hollywood comes to Lake Wolfgang

To mark its 5th anniversary, leading figures from aviation and aerospace, business and society gathered at the event resort on Lake Wolfgang to celebrate the presentation of the “Academy Awards of Aviation” at scalaria Living Legends of Aviation Europe. In its anniversary year, six award winners received prestigious honors, while five additional personalities were inducted into the Living Legends. Hollywood star Morgan Freeman returned to Lake Wolfgang for the second time since 2022 and together with actress Annabelle Mandeng, presented the awards at the evening gala. The air show delivered spectacular scenes over Lake Wolfgang, featuring The Flying Bulls, Red Bull Blanix, world record holder Dario Costa, the Red Bull Skydive Team, the Austrian Armed Forces and the Austrian Air Police. Earlier, international experts from industry and technology discussed at the Science Lounge how new mobility concepts, innovative aircraft and European space technologies could shape the future of flight.

The World as a Guest at Lake Wolfgang

The Living Legends of Aviation Awards have also become one of Europe’s most important meeting places for the international aviation and aerospace industry. Under late-summer skies, with unsettled weather at first, the Red Carpet at Scalaria Beach filled up on Saturday afternoon.

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The focus was on Hollywood star and host Morgan Freeman, who arrived with his partner, Dr. Linda Keena. Guests and award winners included Austrian Airlines CEO Annette Mann, Tatort actor Malick Bauer, actor and stuntman Aristo Luis, The Flying Bulls CEO Eskil Amdal, Living Legends of Aviation Executive Director Stacey Elsner and organizer Justin Lips, Gerfried Promberger, Commander of the Austrian Air Force, Shane Lundgren of the New York Explorers Club; Living Legend of Aviation Iren Dornier, Cyrus Brantenberg of Hellenic Seaplanes, luge athlete Max Langenhan and “Jet Pack Man” Issa Kalfon.

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Awards presented at the Gala

Among the 2026 award winners was Éric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, who received the Kenn Ricci Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award. The Lifetime Aviation Industry Leader Award was presented to Jérémie Caillet, President of Jet Aviation. Daniel Metzler, CEO and co-founder of Isar Aerospace, received the Eren Ozmen Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

The Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of FameAward presented to Didier Delsalle recognizes an extraordinary flying achievement. The former chief test pilot of Airbus Helicopters remains the only person to have successfully landed a helicopter on Mount Everest.

Marco Waltenspiel and Marco Fürst of the Red Bull Skydive Team received the Freedom of Flight Award. The two made aviation history by becoming the first people in the world to fly through London’s Tower Bridge in wingsuits.

Five additional personalities were inducted into the Living Legends and may now call themselves “Living Legends of Aviation”: ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who has completed two long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Slovak designer Prof. Štefan Klein, whose AirCar became the first flying car to receive an airworthiness certificate, Hans Jürgen Ostler, founder of HTM Helicopter Travel Munich and two legendary pilots from The Flying Bulls, Raimund Riedmann and Siegfried “Blacky” Schwarz.

Air Show by The Flying Bulls, the Austrian Aviation Police and the Armed Forces

During the “Flying Emotions” and “FlyingOpera” air shows, the sky above the Salzkammergut became a stage for aviation and music. World record holder Dario Costa demonstrated in his Edge 540 why he is considered one of the best in his field, while The Flying Bulls presented historic aircraft such as the Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, the Lockheed P-38“Lightning” and the aerobatic BO-105 helicopter. Peter Salzmann, Marco Füst and Marco Waltenspiel performed a joint skydive featuring a wingsuit foil and two wingsuits. The Austrian Armed Forces were represented by their new Leonardo AW169M, while the Air Police, together with COBRA, demonstrated operational scenarios. During the day, the Armed Forces and Air Police also provided information about pilot training in the public viewing area along the lakeside promenade.

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Erwin Schrott, Rolf Stahlhofen and Andrew Roachford Live

Bass-baritone Erwin Schrott delivered a musical world premiere with his performance during the airshow at Lake Wolfgang. Together with The Big Island Orchestra, conducted by Martin Gellner, he performed selected songs from his classical crossover album “Havanna Nocturna”, combining opera, orchestral music and aviation into an extraordinary overall experience. Other artists performing that evening included Rolf Stahlhofen, a founding member of Söhne Mannheims, as well as Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar, both frontmen of Mike + The Mechanics.

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Science Lounge: Where the Future of Flight Begins

Airbus Helicopters presented the new high-speed helicopter “RACER”, while FACC, together with Embraer, presented Eve Air Mobility’s fully electriceVTOL “EVE”. Rocket Factory Augsburg presented its approach to manufacturing rocket engines according to industrial mass-production principles, with the aim of making European satellite launches more economical.

Several of the technologies could also be experienced directly on site, from the “EVE” eVTOL simulator and the AVILUS “GRILLE” rescue drone to an original mock-up rocket engine of a Rocket Factory Augsburg and an AirCar model.

The panel, moderated by Annabelle Mandeng, featured Robert Machtlingerof FACC, Johannes Plaum of Airbus Helicopters, Dr. Stefan Brieschenk of Rocket Factory Augsburg, Daniel Dollinger of AVILUS, as well as Prof. Stefan Klein and Anton Zajac of Klein Vision.

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