There have been quite a few airshows that have gone by the wayside in my area, but the good thing here is that there have been other, smaller events that have sprung up to take their place. Some of these have turned out to become yearly fixtures, others as one-off events or shows held every several years.
Yeah, it does kind of stink that the Kalamazoo shows, Muskegon Air Fair, Skyfest Michiana, Goshen Freedom Fest, the Elkhart Airshow and others are gone, but there have been plenty of other events in this area that have sprung up. A group of warbird owners in the area is very active in getting to local fly-in's and have done several one-off airshows in various locations in the past couple years. There's going to be an awesome one-off event at Goshen this year held in conjunction with the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival, which will feature vintage aircraft, warbirds and drag racing on the runway. There have been warbird fly-ins at various locations the past several years too, including what is becoming a fun, yearly event at Elkhart that's basically a formation flying and aerobatic contest. A show just started at Warsaw, IN recently that offered the chance to see Dean Cutshall's F-100 in the air- and that's coming from a show in just its second year of existence! Maybe I'm just lucky with the area I live in, but there's something worth attending and within a reasonable driving distance every weekend from early May through early October.
I would urge everyone to support their grassroots airshows. A lot of shows start out small, and the only way they're going to get bigger and give you something resembling your "golden age" warbird shows is with your support. I've been going to airshows for over 20 years, and I've seen a lot shows start out, grow and ultimately fall by the wayside. The best you can do is attend, support and hope for the best. You might get lucky and have something like the early Yankee Air Displays become Thunder Over Michigan right in your backyard.
A lot of times, the smaller shows provide better flying than the big shows anyway. You might get to see more interesting formations, or warbirds in the air multiple times, or maybe an aircraft that is usually a static display flying as a featured performer. At the big shows, the P-51 might fly once. At the small shows, you might see a formation flight with something else, an aerobatic display, and the aircraft flying a circuit with other warbirds. Just a better bang for your buck. I've seen a Sea Fury, P-51 and Corsair in formation at barely-advertised airshow. One of the highlights of my year last year was getting to see LOW fly-by's from the BAHF C-54 with a candy-drop at the Warsaw, IN airshow. Also saw P-51, FM-2 and Corsair in formation, then solo aerobatic displays from each at a fly-in that wasn't billed as anything more than a formation flying and aerobatic contest. Thunder Over Michigan and those types of shows are fun, but being surprised by what a little show throws at you is just as fun.
I miss the Grumman Cat Flight, the Air Zoo warbirds, F-14s, big military presence at shows, etc. but my experiences now are every bit as good (if not better) than they were 10 years ago. Yeah, things change, and sometimes that sucks, but my experience has been to roll with it and continue enjoying the opportunities that present themselves. I've got about a dozen events planned this year, ranging from local EAA fly-in's to airshows and everything in-between- and over half of those are events I've never attended before and am not going out of my way to go to.
Sorry for rambling. I just love airshows. Best way to experience my love for history and warbirds.
_________________ Matt
|