News SEASON WRAP UP November 20, 2007 The 2007 season has been a fantastic one for me! Many thanks to all the Airshow Organizers, sponsors and volunteers who produce these events and a very special thanks to Airshow Fans everywhere who make all this possible! Visiting Nurse Association Airshow, Stuart, FL Nov. 9-11 This show wrapped up the season for me and what a perfect way to end the season. Perfect weather all weekend. This is a fun show, well organized with a great staff of volunteers, and they treat the performers really well! The local media does a great job with pre-show publicity and daily reports on the show and it shows up in the huge turnout. Wayne Boggs (Airboss) and Danny Clisham (Announcer) did an outstanding job. Photo shot by Airshow Fan, Chris Landgraff, as I am leaving the Stuart Airshow Boshears Skyfest, Daniel Field, Augusta, GA, Oct. 27-28 This is a very special show for me. I made my very first solo flight from here (turned loose by none other than the legendary Forest Boshears) in a Piper j-3 Cub many years ago. The second airshow I ever flew was right here in 1998 and I have flown here almost every year since then. Lots of friends, relatives, and fellow pilots in the audience so I have to be especially sharp flying this one! Perfect weather all weekend and good turn out. Great job by Airboss Larry Garner and Announcer Dale Brisson. Many thanks to my local EAA Chapter 172 for all the hard work volunteering at the show. Great Georgia Airshow, Peachtree City, GA, October 12-14. This is another great show that has been going on for a number of years and gets better each year. Last time I flew here was in 2001, the weekend before 9/11...great pleasure to be back! There was a special tribute to celebrate the 60th aniversary of the United States Air Force. I got to meet the Chief Master Sergeant of the USAF...I mean, like this man is THE Top enlisted person in the whole USAF! Stationed in the Pentagon! Airboss Wayne Boggs...outstanding job (anyone who has sat in on one of Wayne's briefing will understand the "Outstanding"!) Scott Slade, whose regular job is Host of Atlanta's Morning News/Talk WSB 750 AM, announced the show. Scott is a pilot and is a very polished and professional airshow announcer! Many thanks to the Dixie Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, based at Peachtree City, for all their hard work to make this a great show. North Georgia Air and Car Show, Rome, GA, Sep. 14-16 2006 was the first airshow for Rome in many years and the turn out was awesome so they did it again this year. Gene Schayer, John Bierowka, and Ron Chrylser (see www.transexpo.org) did a great job putting these shows together. There was the normal lineup of airshow acts but the focus this year was on a reenactment of the "Battle of Midway" which included lots of historic "Warbirds" and pyro (but no ships! Rome is at least 250 miles from the ocean). The script for the narration was written by aviator, author and attorney, Alan Armstrong. George Cline was Airboss and Hugh Oldham was announcer. I've been working with them since I first started flying airshows. No one can match Hugh for the enthusiasm he puts into announcing! He is an act himself! If you will check the Rome website (www.ngaaircarshow.org), on the home page you will find a poster that is truly a work of art. This was done by Marc St. Pierre (www.sweetapplephoto.com) for Gene Schayer as the primary poster for the show. If you look closely, you will see many different Navy aircraft on or around the aircraft carrier USS Lexington. Marc and Gene traveled to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola where Marc took pictures of most of the aircraft in the museum and a picture of a large model of the USS Lesington. He also took a few pictures of aircraft on display at NAS Atlanta. The Osprey picture was taken at the Columbus, GA airshow in March. The airship, USS Akron was taken from a Navy history website. He then spent many hours to put all this together in a poster. If you look very close, you will see that Marc placed me in the Corsair and Gene Schayer and others on the deck!