Airport Day event attracts about 2,500 despite wet weather

The 10th annual Fort Scott Airport Day on Sept. 8, once again, was a success despite rain showers early in the day.

The rain, however, caused several key aspects of the event to be canceled. A couple of F-16 fighter jets from Tulsa were supposed fly over the Fort Scott Municipal Airport but canceled because of the rain. Ray Vetch, a heart surgeon and aerobatics pilot from Joplin, Mo., was scheduled to fly his Russian trainer airplane over the site but, again, rain forced him to ground the airplane. A classic bi-wing WACO that dates back to the 1920s didn't make the event either because of the inclement weather as well as numerous private pilots who decided not to fly into the airshow.

Still, the rain couldn't hold back around 2,500 spectators who decided to attend the day-long event.

"It was a success," said Airport Day chairman Bob Marshall. "I was pleased with how it turned out."

Although not as successful as last year, which Marshall affirmed as the "best one we've had," it no doubt was a hit with the audience. Airport Day attracted an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 people. The event is popular with non-local residents as well as the locals.

Several new pilots to the air show demonstrated their flying skills in the event for which the show is best known, the aerobatics show. Kyle Franklin and Matt Younkin, two young but experienced pilots, thrilled the crowd with their mid-air stunts. Also, Shannon Daniels and Phillip Butcher, two aerobatics pilots, performed for the crowd. Butcher was a last-minute addition, Marshall said. His plane was unique to the show because it was a military AP-6 airplane.

"I thought those guys, and all the pilots, did a great job," Marshall said.

In a touching remembrance to Dr. Guy Baldwin, a long-time aerobatics performer, the entire airport day staff wore T-shirts bearing a picture of Baldwin, who had performed at the last four Airport Day events. He died late last year when his plane crashed while performing in an airshow in New Mexico. Marshall said one of his friends, Randy Harris, told him that Baldwin's wife was pleased with the thoughtfulness of the T-shirts.

Also a last-minute add-on was a group from Joplin, Mo., called the "hooligans." They're a motorcycle stunt group that performed tricks on the taxiway and the runway on their modified racing motorcycles.

Editor's note: To see some of the aircraft featured at the Fort Scott Municipal Airport on Airport Day, turn to page 7.