Greenwood-area and national aerobatic pilots will show off their skills in the sky Saturday at the second annual Greenwood Air Show.
Organizers say that this year’s event will be bigger and better than its debut.
“It’s going to be a great event,” said one of the air show organizers, Frank Kimmel of Kimmel Aviation Insurance. “Last year, it came together on a whim. This year, we’ve planned it out. It’s going to be something you’re not going to want to miss.”
Pilots will perform flying maneuvers like sequenced rotations and spins, while leaving a trail of white puffs of smoke in the blue sky.
“We were so excited last year when we saw so many more people than we thought were interested in aviation,” said organizer Cyndi Long, site operations manager of GE Capital Aviation Services.
Long said that about 3,500 people attended the event last year. She is anticipating a crowd of the same size at the airport again this year.
Along with the new extended times, added talents and live entertainment, the event will feature a rarity, even along the air show circuit — a night show.
“The air show was such a success last year,” said Kimmel. “With some of the feedback we received, we decided to just make it a day of festivities and have a night air show as a big finale.”
The night show, starting at dusk, will consist of three aerobatic performances.
The Aeroshell Aerobatic Team will be one of the night acts, performing at twilight.
“We are really fortunate to have the Aeroshell team,” said Kimmel.
The team, which has performed together for more than 25 years, will fly World War II trainers known as North American T-6 Texans, or just Texans.
Matt Younkin will perform his much sought-after routine in the air show circuit, “Magic by Moonlight.”
Younkin will fly a Twin Beech 18, which is a large freight-carrying aircraft decorated in flashing lights.
“The lights on the airplane shine through the smoke,” said Kimmel. “It’s a really neat effect.”
The other night act will be Stan Musick, a doctor from Jackson who moonlights as an aerobatic pilot. He will also fly a Texan.
The night show aerobatic pilots will also perform during the afternoon show held earlier in the day.
In addition, the day show will feature several local aerobatics pilots, such as Wayne Roberts of Grenada with Mike Rinker, Mac McNeer of Greenwood and Kimmel, who is a newly Federal Aviation Administration-approved aerobatics pilot.
“We are really fortunate in Mississippi to have a pretty deep talent pool of air show pilots,” said Kimmel.
The North American P-51 Mustang from the Vicksburg Southern Heritage Air Foundation museum will also be performing during the day show.
This year, there will be two separate time slots available for free airplane rides with local pilots, once before the day show and once before the night show.
“Last year, the local pilots met so many people and had fun flying,” said Kimmel. “We’re all excited about it this year.”
And while planes are buzzing around in the sky, the ground will be just as lively.
There will be inflatables, live entertainment and the same food vendors as last year, which seemed to be a hit with those attending, said Long.
Wristbands can be purchased for $5 for daylong bouncing. There will be a $10 parking fee.
The event also serves as an open house for the businesses located at the airport, which are sponsoring the event.
“We want to give local people an opportunity to see what’s at the airport and why it is important to our community,” said Allan Hammons, an organizer of the event. “There are a fair number of businesses that relate to aviation there. There’s a lot of activity at the airport — probably a lot more activity than most people realize.”
The current airport was built in 1942 and became active in 1943 as an Army Air Force Base. Known then as the Greenwood Army Air Field, it was used to train pilots during World War II.
“It was a small city during its day,” said Hammons. “About 4,000 people lived there.”
Hammons said the base had 65 miles of highway and nearly 400 buildings. There were 200 brick apartment units located at the base, where many military families lived. Today, only five of those buildings remain.
“The War Assets Adminstration built this base specifically for an army to train to win a war,” Hammons said. “Greenwood was one of the larger airbases in Mississippi.”
Thousands of pilots were trained at the base. After the war was over, the base was turned over to Greenwood.
Although the airport is actually located in Carroll County, it is now owned by the city of Greenwood and Leflore County, with a five-member board.
Greenwood’s airport, which was located at what is now the Industrial Park, moved to the base in 1968.
“The airport and industrial park had both been greatly improved by the army,” said Hammons.
In the past, there have been air shows at the Greenwood-Leflore airport. None of the events, however, has been an annual affair.
Hammons recalled a time in Greenwood years ago when families would go out to the airport on a Sunday afternoon and watch planes fly off into the sky.
In a way, the Greenwood Air Show recreates this — with a day of spending time with friends and family at the airport.
“The Greenwood-Leflore Airport is a huge asset and is valuable to our community,” said Hammons.
For more information about the Greenwood Air Show, visit www.facebook.com/GreenwoodAirshow.
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
