Gilmer Air Show A Rousing Success
Hundreds attend 8th Annual Fly-In and Air Show at Fox Stephens Field
Gilmer - Steve Dean and the Flight of the Phoenix Museum hosted their 8th annual fly-in and air show Saturday at Gilmer's Fox Stephens field.
The event was well attended, and the barbecue lunch served by the Longhorn Smokehouse was superb.
The vintage nature of the show was evident as one arrived. Many reconditioned autos, including several old Packards, were on hand. They were used in a short Veteran's Parade to a podium set up to highlight the vets in attendance.
Speeches honoring the veterans were given by State Representative Bryan Hughes and U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert.
Hughes thanked the veterans for their service, and presented Dean with a proclamation by Governor Perry commemorating the event, and a U.S. flag which had flown over the battlefields in Afghanistan.
Gohmert remarked it was great to be among real heroes, and noted the veterans were among the many who have fought for what he called our "inheritance of liberty." He also presented Dean with a flag, this one having flown over the Capitol in Washington.
With the lunch over, and the speeches out of the way, it was time to turn attention to the tarmac. Blue skies with patchy clouds, a light breeze, and perfect flying weather presented a beautiful backdrop for the high flying displays that were to come.
While most of the planes were World War II vintage, there were enough bi-planes and cutting edge prop planes on hand to keep any aviation enthusiast happy.
The show featured numerous wartime aircraft, including a DC-3 Gooneybird cargo plane, a gleaming B-25 Prowler bomber and two P-51 Mustang fighters.
to open the show, The 'Ready For Duty' crewed DC-3 dropped three parachutists trailing flags and ribbons as the National Anthem was played.
The Texas Twisters, a group of vintage T-34's, the Flight of the Pheonix's T-6's, both two seat trainer planes, then showed their stuff. While these were older planes, variants of this design are still in use today, training the military and private pilots of the future.
Next up was the Texas V-tails, a group of Beechcraft Bonanzas. The basic design of these vee tailed planes were introduced in 1945, and production was halted in the mid 1980's. Many of these fast and nimble planes are still in use.
The two Mustangs then took to the skies, flying some close formation maneuvers that amply demonstrated why the Germans and Japanese feared the powerful war-planes so much in WWII.
'Falcon Flight', a six plane aerobatics group from Austin, entertained the crowd with a display of close formation flying in a squad of home built, experimental "RV" aircraft.
The show was topped by a fly-over of a B-52 Stratofortress bomber from Barksdale AFB in Louisiana.
Closing the show was Jan Collmer in his Fina extra 300. Trailing marker smoke, he performed some breathtaking loops and rolls, as well as few stall maneuvers that defied belief.
Fox Field has just finished some runway and ramp renovations, made possible by a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration through the Texas Dept. of Transportation.
Dean, and a determined group of veterans, solicited local businesses, and raised $100,000 in funds. Using this, they received from the FAA a 10% matching funds grant, which gave the airport a million dollars for upgrades.
Most of the funds went for repaving, which were completed last week.