Culpeper Air Fest takes Flight October 8th

CULPEPER, Va. - Sept. 30, 2016 - PRLog -- October 8^th will see Culpeper airport celebrate its seventeenth annual Air Fest, bringing aviation excitement and education to the community through the yearlong dedication of a group of volunteers working together in true Culpeper tradition.

Buses, provided by Culpeper Schools, will start leaving EVHS and CCHs parking lots for the airport at 8:45 and the free show will start at 9:00 am with an opportunity for the youngsters to fly a model aircraft courtesy of the Culpeper model Barnstormers.

The Szcur father and son team, both world champions, will then give a model flying demonstration that literally cannot be equaled followed by the Germanna Community College sponsored quadracopter race. This is the final race of a number of contests already held by 4 high schools in the region, will be a first for Culpeper and promises to be an exciting conclusion to a program devised to introduce young people to new technology.

The conclusion to the morning's model aircraft flying will be a series of demonstrations of high-speed jet model aircraft by the Hobby Hangar in Chantilly.  You will be impressed with the skilled pilots and the technology that has been able to produce such remarkable aircraft.

At 12:30 our local heroes, the Flying Circus will take to the air and parachutists carrying our national flag will sail across our skies accompanied by the National Anthem sung by a talented Culpeper High School teacher, Catherine Ter Weele.

The fighter that changed air warfare, the P51 Mustang, Cadillac of the skies, will hurtle across the runway, with all the wonderful sounds of it's 12 cylinder Rolls Royce Merlin engine. It's pilot, Andrew McKenna, will show you why it was such a successful fighter with a performance calculated to raise the hair on the back of your neck!

As a contrast, the Flying Circus will then do an acrobatic performance in a Stearman, the WW2 biplane trainer that introduced future Mustang pilots to the realm of flight. Slow it may be, but it was and is a handful to fly making it a wonderful trainer.

Joe Edwards, a local retired astronaut, will show off the big Navy trainer, the T-28, which, with its over 1200 hp radial engine prepared a pilot to move on to more powerful aircraft.

The tiny Chef Pitts Special will show you that an aircraft can still do aerobatics without the engine running and then Kevin Russo will fly his big T-6 ,which requires careful energy management to do the aerobatics he performs with such skill. Paul Dougherty will provide a variation of the small biplane theme with his Christen Eagle in a contrast to the Chef Pitts Special.

A change of pace will bring Art Nalls, retired Navy test pilot and Harrier owner, to show off the L-39 jet trainer and then another big contrast when Manfred Radius brings us what is arguably the most graceful aerobatic routine in the world with his H 101 Salt sail plane, all performed to classical music.

Scott Francis in his MX Special brings an explosive routine that brings even experienced pilots to the show line to watch. And then we have our own Steve Nixon with a helicopter act that will alternately bring gasps of excitement and laughter to the spectators.

Charlie VandeBossche will fly an aerobatic routine in a Russian training aircraft, a nimble Yak 52,which will be a counterpoint to the return of the Chef Pitts Special demonstrating what it can do with the engine running.

Followed by a big crowd favorite, the Flying Circus Wing Walker.

A new act for Culpeper will be the 3D Dimension Parachute team followed by Art Nalls in the worlds own privately owned Harrier that always brings the crowd to its feet with its remarkable ability to hover with such grace and still travel at speeds which have made it one of the world best fighters.

The grand finale will see thirty or more of the warbirds on the field take flight with demonstrations of formation flying which will bring back many memories of the past in a moving demonstration of what air power used to look and sound like.

All this is brought free to Culpeper by a dedicated band of volunteers working throughout the year to raise money, to plan and operate the Air Fest supported by so many of our local institutions. Law Enforcement, Fire, Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, the schools and many others all come together to give Culpeper a show which has the admiration of people in the airshow business through out the USA. It is a demonstration of Culpeper volunteerism of which we should all be proud.


www.culpeperairfest.com