Planes soared in the air with twists and turns that captured spectators’ attention, many of them trying to capture the moment with cameras on a picture-perfect day.
Aviation Day at the Columbus Municipal Airport provided plenty of excitement for thousands Saturday who came to catch a glimpse of aviation in the sky and on the ground.
With planes filling clear blue skies with unforgettable images through much of the event, Aviation Day was expected to exceed the anticipated 7,000 attendance, airport director Brian Payne said.
“It’s been a great turnout,” he said.
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The fifth annual event attracted many families and children, including Columbus residents Rain and Roger Barker. They brought their 7-year-old grandson, Chase Vanlingdon, visiting from Juneau, Alaska.
The youth said one of his favorite parts was getting an opportunity to check out the Yankee Lady, a World War II B-17 plane that was offering rides to visitors.
Vanlingdon’s grandparents found their first visit to Aviation Day enjoyable.
“It’s a family kind of thing,” Rain Barker said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
The event, with a special “American Heroes Edition” theme for this year, honored military veterans.
The noon military aerial demonstration was one of the popular draws for visitors, many of whom watched inside a transient hangar as a way to escape the sun, with mid-day temperatures approaching 90 degrees.
A moment of silence and the playing of taps was observed to remember John Walter, a longtime volunteer with the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum who died Dec. 12 in Columbus at age 96. Walter was in the Army Air Corps and flew 46 combat missions over Germany as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot.
Four Red Star Pilots, who did a missing man formation in the air, were accompanied by the Yankee Lady B-17 to honor Walter.
Pilot Cliff Robinson provided plenty of thrills in the air as he flew a Stearman plane with various twists, turns and loops, a popular sight for photographers.
The event was also an opportunity to provide education to the public about aircraft.
Patrick Joyce, a member of the Louisville Soaring Club based in Seymour, came to show off his sail plane, which can fly without an engine.
The sail plane is pulled into the sky by another airplane and is able to remain flying through a column of air known as a thermal, Joyce said.
The plane was a popular attraction for children as they got to check out the aircraft at one of several booths at six new hangars recently added at the airport.
“Kids seem to love it,” Joyce said. “This is a fun way to learn.”
Other visitors took the opportunity to check out military vehicles and aircraft on the airfield.
Briana Bonnell, who arrived with her father Larry, used Aviation Day to fly on a Huey helicopter that served in the Vietnam War.
Both Columbus residents were smiling as they got off their flight, which provided a glimpse of Columbus in a new way.
Briana Bonnell said flying in the helicopter was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her.
“It gave you an opportunity to feel the situations I will never be in,” she said, referring to wartime.
“It was a very neat experience,” Larry Bonnell said.
He said he comes to Aviation Day to see how aircraft have evolved over time.
“It’s neat to see everything here and where it’s gone,” he said.
However, Aviation Day is also an opportunity to learn something new, he said.
“You learn a lot of history … the history you can relate to, the guys that lost their lives fighting for us,” Bonnell said.
Organizations such as the Bartholomew County RC Fliers Club showed off their model airplanes guided by remote control. The group was promoting its open house planned from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 16 at the old Petersville landfill on 25th Street east of Columbus.
“It’s a good way to pick up a member or two,” said John Vinson, president of the club.
But for Vinson, his favorite part of Aviation Day is the camaraderie that exists and being able to share his hobby.
“It’s the challenge of flying a plane,” Vinson said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”By the numbers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
1942: Year the Boeing Stearman plane on display was built
14: Number of airplanes giving rides
9: Number of planes involved in the air show
6: Number of new hangars added to the airport during a ribbon-cutting event
4: Number of Red Star planes in the sky honoring John Walter, a longtime volunteer with the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum who was a former B-17 pilot and died in December.
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