Airshow soars

Blue Angels, aerial performers to headline

After a five-year hiatus, the Lynchburg Regional Airshow is finally returning May 21-22, promising to be one of the biggest air shows in the country this year. The show will feature a lineup of aerial performers and historical and interactive displays. The show will honor military and service personnel through its theme, “a salute to service.” A portion of proceeds from the show will be donated to support these individuals, and on Sunday, individuals with military or service credentials will be granted complimentary entrance to the show.

Gen. David Young, co-founder of the Liberty School of Aeronautics and president of Freedom Aviation, guarantees that there will be something for everyone, both young and old.

“It’s a clean, fun-filled family event,” Young said. “There’s something for everybody, from the noise and excitement of the Blue Angels, to the gracefulness of Julie Clark’s flying. All of our performers are locked in and will be released over the next few weeks to build up excitement about the show.”

Along with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and aerobatic pilot Clark, the show’s in-air line-up includes Warbirds, several types of military aircraft, and the Navy SEALS jump team, the Navy Leapfrogs.

Of particular interest to the Liberty University community will be a “missing man” formation performed in honor of Tom Coble. Coble was a Liberty graduate who served as Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr.’s personal pilot. Coble was also instrumental in both supporting the foundation of the school of aeronautics and enabling the 2011 airshow. Coble was killed in his personal L-39 plane when it crashed in 2012. His grandson, current Liberty student Ryan Coble, will be riding in an L-39 among the formation of Warbirds in his grandfather’s honor during the upcoming show.

There will also be ground events at the airshow, which will appeal to younger audiences. Young and Ernie Rogers, co-founder of the school of aeronautics and current director of the airshow, hold the educational initiative of the event in high regard.

“Involving the school kids was my personal quest — expose kids to opportunities in aviation and its history,” Young said.

One attraction especially promises to enthrall children: the Candy Bomber, a large C-54 transport whose name derived from its role in the Berlin Airlift following WWII. During the airlift, Army Air Corps pilot Gail Halvorsen and his crew came up with the idea when they saw kids lining the fence at a Berlin airbase to watch the planes.

“The crew started dropping them candy,” Young said. “They would take handkerchiefs, tie a candy bar to it, and drop it as they were coming in to land. They became known as the Candy Bomber.”

This caught on with other aircrews, who soon began duplicating Halvorsen’s initiative.

Halvorsen will be at the airshow in May. The interior of the Candy Bomber has been converted into a museum, commemorating the Berlin Airlift. Not only will the aircraft be on display, but it will also fly and drop candy for local schoolchildren on days prior to the airshow, replicating the famous candy drop from more than 70 years ago.

The show will be hosted at the Lynchburg Regional Airport. The event will be a different experience from the show that was held in 2011. The changes include a new location at the airport with improved views of the show center, 3,000 on-site parking spots, additional entry and exit gates, designated entrances, and a greater safety and law enforcement presence. The majority of the airshow acts will be visible only within the airport gates.

“I want people to appreciate and experience it,” Young said.

He said the move will help prevent the previous show’s parking issue from happening again and makes the show in fuller compliance with the Blue Angels’ and FAA’s standards.

“The challenge we had the first day of the 2011 show of transporting attendees to and from the airport will not exist this year,” Young said.

There were more than 32,000 attendees for the last show, and Young purports that there could be closer to 40,000 this time around. Liberty is the title sponsor of the airshow, making it an “LU Presents…” event. The university will provide support in the way of parking, transportation, personnel and even IMAG screens, which will show air events up close to audiences on the ground.

“This show would not be possible without the support of numerous sponsors, including AREVA, Harris, BWXT, Centra Health and many others who have contributed enormously in the way of financial and technical resources,” Young said.

Not only do sponsors play an integral role in making the show happen, but the volunteers for setup do too. Setting up begins a week prior to the event. It typically takes about 700 volunteers a day during the event to maintain and to support any needs of the audience, and it is a great way to see the show.

Groups from Liberty are welcome to volunteer and should contact Barry Moore, the director of volunteers, at bnmoore@liberty.edu.

“We would love to have volunteers,” Young said. “We generally do it by groups, because if you have 700 individuals volunteer, it’s very difficult to manage.”

If a club, school group or church group wants to volunteer collectively, it can. Depending on what the group does to serve, there could be a financial benefit for them.

Visit lynchburgairshow.com to get more information or to order tickets before prices increase May 1.

Jarrett is a news reporter.