It was a dark and stormy night ... OK, I know that's a cliche opening for bad writing, but the night before the air show opening on July 11 was dark and stormy, and the morning of the fly-in wasn't dark but it was stormy.

unately, the rain pretty much stopped by midmorning and only hit sporadically during the Friday fly-in. But who thought wind was going to be a problem, as it was. Even though it

was coming mainly right down the runway, the 15 knots gusting to 19 knots delayed the arrival of most of the light airplanes until Friday evening and Saturday.

The crowd was understandably light on Friday, but there were enough people there to keep the airport from looking deserted. And we got some rumble and roar from the B-17 Yankee Lady when it made its press and VIP flight. Pilot and copilot of the B-17 were Duane Nelson and Dick Bodycombe, while Norm Ellickson was crew chief and Bob Bomar was assistant crew chief. Maintenance was handled by Gary Sheldon, Neil Frank, John Romanski, and Frank Nagy. Russ Welch was in charge of finance. Bette Watson took care of scheduling rides and myriads of other details. Yankee Lady is based at the Yankee Air Museum located at Willow Run Airport - West in Belleville, Mich.

A Yak 52 and Chinese derivative CJ6 also made several flights, providing decent intervals of marvelous "round sounds" from their radial engines and crowd-pleasing low passes from these retractable-gear military aircraft. The Yak was flown by Steve Vibbard, who also is the manager of the Ashtabula County Airport.

A good reporter is not supposed to insinuate himself into a story, but I can't help adding some personal observations. It was such a relief to see the weekend picture-perfect fashion. By 1000 hours Saturday, there was a full complement of heavy iron on the ramp, including the B-17, TBM, several T-6s, and, of course, a nice array of civilian and World War I aircraft. Best of all, our dreams came true. Beginning at 930 hours a line of cars formed at the show entrance and the traffic never let up. They kept coming all day Saturday and Sunday.

B-17 Yankee Lady

People were still showing up as paying customers as late as 1500 hours Sunday. In all, the event was such a success that if we repeat a show at this location next year, our biggest problem may be in finding a way to avoid having incoming traffic stretch for more than a quarter mile, as it did from time to time. On Sunday, even with four people collecting entrance fees, the line of cars stretched almost to Brown Road.

Saturday was the proverbial zoo, but that is meant in a good sense. Attendees got what they came for, namely, an opportunity to get up close and personal with taxiing heavy iron, their props turning and

awesome radials throbbing. Of course, the marshallers kept spectators at least 100 ft from turning props.

From my personal point of view, our visitors got a better heavy-iron experience than that provided at much larger and more heavily promoted shows such as the annual event at Burke Lakefront during the Labor Day weekend. Every time the B-17 cranked up for departure, virtually everything came to a halt as all eyes (and ears) turned to the magnificent bird. Truly, it was a showstopper. And as alluded to earlier, being close enough to have your bones rattled by the sounds of engines makes all the difference in the world. It is something you don't feel sitting in a grandstand or watching engine starts from a quarter of a mile away.

The TBM was a close second to the B17 in appeal. When it started up and began rolling toward the taxiway, there was no doubt that it is one serious airplane. Pilot Dave Tinker (a veterinarian in his day job), was a showman, making fast passes and brisk turns up over the crowd. TBM move that fast. It brought to mind the proverbial 280lb football lineman who can 10 sec. And, of course, the acoustical signature of its radial engine is always a delight to hear.

As a USAM member, I was especially pleased by the constant action all day Saturday and Sunday. In fact, sometimes there was too much going on. You didn't know what part of the ramp was the best place to be. At one point, the B-17 was taxing to its parking area, the TBM was also returnng, the Venom jet was making low passes, and several T6s were in various stages of cranking up, departing, and returning. If that wasn't enough, the Stearman, Yak, Chinese CJ, and Stinson added to the mix.

There could not have been a man, woman, or child on the ramp who did not think they were getting far more than their money's worth.

When Charles and Cindy Mazzola brought in their Chipmunk with RAF insignia, and nattily attired in their RAF flight suits, I figured at the least they must have come in from Canada. But no, they are USAM members and live in Mayfield Heights south of the Mayland shopping center, barely more than one-quarter mile from my own home in Lyndhurst. Many of us Their home locale seemed so inconsistent were surprised with the distinctly international flavor of to see a plane as their airplane and flight suits.


Theirs was an odd journey to get to Ashtabula. First they had a 50-mile trip west by car to Lorain County Airport where their Chipmunk is hangered, then 100 miles east to Ashtabula, with the process reversed to return home on Sunday.

The USAM volunteers, their family, and their friends also provided a marvelous food service. Most of them were at it during the entire event. The long line forming for Saturday lunch made it clear that food service clearly was going to be a profit center.

I'd like to say "Thank You" to all of the USAM members as well as nonmembers that volunteered at this years air show. Without the tremendous amount of time and effort these folks put in before, during, and after the show, we could not have done it. When you've been at the same location for several years, as we were at Lost Nation, it's a bit nerve-racking moving to a new airport. There were a lot of things we were unsure of, but with the help from Steve Vibbard (and Jay and Eva) at the Airport, Tony Husak and the guys from MARC radio-controlled aircraft, and all of you volunteers, we were able to pull it off. If you helped out at the show "thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Many of the participants have been to our other shows, the Yankee Lady crew, Chuck and Cindy Mazzola with their Chipmunk, the Ramseys and their Stearman, and of course, Chuck and Gretchen Reed are always a big supporter of our show. The fact that they choose to come back means that we're moving in the right direction!

We had several new faces at the air show, Mike Cuy and his Peitenpol, Steve and Donna Hanshew with their CJ-6A, and Mark and Judi Ohlinger with their Bellanca Cruiser, to name just a few. These pilots, and many others showing up, are all local to the Cleveland area and volunteered to spend the weekend with us. And they've all expressed an interest in coming back next year. Having such a variety of aircraft and friendly people to talk to was a big draw for our show this year. There were a lot of comments from visitors on how much they enjoyed the show.

I would also like to thank Dave Fields from Vienna, Va., for coming to the show. He and his Grumman Tiger served as our photo ship and provided us the opportu nity to get some great photos and video. The video will be edited down to 15 min and ready for purchase next month. The photos will again be on display at the chili dinner at the Reed's, and orders may be placed then.

The reenactors enjoyed themselves and had some very nice displays, as did the Cleveland Classic Car club on Sunday. Unfortunately the Nuiport and Fokker triplane were unable to make it.

The Nuiport was still undergoing some repairs and the tri-plane was getting ready for-it's ride to Dayton {by truck) for that show. Both owners of these craft are looking forward to next year, though.

Because of the high winds, Chris Hopkins was unable to bring out the Gee Bee, but he did bring the Ryan racer and the Spartan. Both of them are beautiful aircraft. The CAP groups that came out were a great help, especially on Sunday with the large amount of visitors. Every one of them was extremely courteous and helpful.

With the tremendous amount of air traffic coming in, our flight line guys (FAST) were put to the test. We had a lot of people flying into the show as visitors, something we never had in the past, and we had a lot more flying of air-show aircraft. Not only were these guys able to handle the traffic, they did so with flying colors! (Sorry, had to get that in there!) Without their professionalism, organization, and dedication, we could not have done it. These are the people that keep the visitors, pilots, and aircraft safe and everything moving smoothly.

If you have any comments, good or bad from this year's air show, please get them to me soon. We will be having an "after" meeting to assess the show and gather suggestions for next year. All comments are welcome. Interesting side notes. The Dayton air show actually closed its gates at about 3:30 Saturday afternoon. The event was sold out. With over 110,000 visitors that day and a traffic jam on 1-75 for 12.6 miles, they could not let any more people onto the grounds. Super Corsair No. 57 owned by Bob Odegaard is again in the air. After blowing his engine last year at Oshkosh, he was able to finally get the engine back into it. With less than 2 hr on it, he then flew from Oshkosh to Dayton for the annual show. He also will be attending the Cleveland show this year. Two other race planes from Reno are scheduled to be at the Cleveland show, along with Cook Cleland.

In Memory of Joe Tobul. One notable absence from our show was, of course, our good friend Joe Tobul, who lost his life in a crash of his Corsair last year. Rob Roy, who owns the Gull-wing Stinson, volunteered two rides in the Stinson raffled off to benefit the Joe Tobul memorial. We were able to raise $150 with the raffle. I have sent this to Joe's son Jim and he sends his thanks to all those that helped. If anyone would like to make an additional donation to this fund, please contact me (216-5874027), and I will send you the flyer. The memorial group plans to locate it at Joe's hometown field in South Carolina this fall. All donations to this fund will receive a photo of Joe and, at various levels of donations, prints of a painting of Joe's Corsair.

Aug. 8-10: Yankee Air Force Show. This group has a terrific show each year at Belleville, Mich. This year will be even better with almost 50 aircraft on the tarmac. If you are planning on attending I suggest you call for rooms soon as possible since hotels in the area are almost sold out.

Aug. 15-17: MARC'S Giant Radio-Controlled Air Races, Ashtabula County Airport. These guys have helped out tremendously with our show and community parades. USAM will again have a booth at their event to sell what remains of our PX. If you are available to help at either the booth or to give these guys a hand setting up, please call me.

Aug. 16-17: The Lancaster Air Show will be held that same weekend as the MARC's event. (Lancaster is about 30 miles east of Columbus.) There will be a few familiar faces at that show, including the Ramseys with their Stearman and Steve and Donna Hansew with the CJ-6A. You will also notice that our terrific Flight Line Safety team is handling the show there and also will be helping out at the Yankee show. Congratulations guys!

Aug. 24: Mayfield Heights Parade.

Sept. 6-7: Lyndhurst Home Days. For more information on any of these events please call me at (216) 587-4027 or e-mail me at Halexanderl0@aol.com.

Sept. 20: Conneaut, Ohio D-Day reenactment.

Aug. 28: Our annual chili dinner will be held at Chuck and Gretchen Reed's home Chili will be provided, but please bring a side dish or dessert. Chuck and Gretchen have their own private grass-strip airport with a large number of light aircraft housed there. If you aren't familiar with the location, exit 1-90 east at Vrooman Rd., south on Vrooman to Carter Rd., east on Carter, east on Blair to Ford Rd., east on Ford to Trask, south on Trask to just past Balch to 5782. Better yet, buy a Commercial Survey Street Atlas of Lake and Geauga Counties, refer to Section 6. (See map below)