Spectators by the hundreds Friday took advantage of the cool, partly cloudy evening to enjoy the first day of the Air Show of Warsaw. It started with aircraft arrivals and plane rides, and concluded with the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team twilight formation show and fireworks. The Air Show continues today and Sunday. Aaron and Erin Hoak, Warsaw, brought their five sons to the show Friday. “We were here last year on Friday night and had a really good time and had a nice evening. And it’s right here in Warsaw,” Aaron said. The boys enjoyed the cars racing the planes and seeing the planes like the B-17 up close, he said. “I’ve got five boys and this is right up their alley. They’re all under 12 so they got in free,” he said. “Things that go fast, our boys like.” A flyer in the newspaper brought Jamie and Amie Olson to Friday night’s show. They’ve only lived in Warsaw for the past six months, having moved from Portland, Ore. “Because we had nothing going on Friday night,” Amie said as to why they took their kids to the show. “Our kids saw a crop duster and got excited so we thought we needed to bring them to the air show. We don’t have crop dusters in Portland.” Jamie said the five of them liked the aerial show the most. “And they’re excited for the fireworks,” Amie said. Guy VanDenburgh, of Union Mills, came to Warsaw for the Air Show because of Lill Danko, Warsaw. “She invited me,” he said. “We visit every other week.” Danko said they decided to take in the show Friday night because they thought it would be cooler weather and more comfortable. VanDenburgh said they planned to “just see the airplanes and have an elephant ear.” “He builds model radio-controlled airplanes. So for that reason, he’s told me about the big ones out there,” Danko explained. Tom Snyder, Wabash, has grown children who live at Chapman Lake and they invited him to the Air Show. “I didn’t know what I was coming to – just an air show. I saw the real thing in Vietnam,” Snyder said when asked what he was looking forward to seeing. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, going over there in 1968 and coming back in 1970. “I was there a year and two months,” he said. He and his wife, Nancy, also celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary a week ago, he pointed out. “It’s all been pretty good to me. It’s interesting,” he said of the show. Reese and his mother Lori Morel, Warsaw, were part of a group of four taking in Friday’s event. “He (Reese) is obsessed with airplanes,” she said, later noting they would be at the Air Show all weekend. “He has a flight simulator at home so he’s really into airplanes and how they fly,” she said. Reese said he’s been at the Air Show all three years and likes everything about airplanes. “It’s been awesome,” Lori said of the first night.The schedule of the Air Show of Warsaw for Saturday (subject to change): • 8 to 11:45 a.m., aircraft and helicopter rides • 10 to 11 a.m., Model A/C demonstration • noon to 3 p.m., air show including parachute demonstration, Al Schiffer F-4U Corsair Tribute to World War II veterans, Bob Richards Pitts S1S Tribute to Curtis Pitts, air tractor crop dusting demo, Bill Werth Pitts S2B, Patrick McAlee Pitts S1S, “Hot Blade” Jet dragster demo and race with biplanes, race with Hollywood Ninja ZX-14, PT-26 glider tow and demo, Dacy Airshows and Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team • 3 to 3:30 p.m., Warbird Review • 3:30 to 6 p.m., aircraft and helicopter rides Sunday: • 8 to 11 a.m., Sports Car High Speed Track Event • 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., B-17 rides along with other aircraft as available • 1 to 2 p.m., airshow including Dacy Airshows, Robinson Airshows, Billy Werth Airshows, Fly-bys with locals aircraft • noon to 4 p.m., weather backup time for Saturday airshow.
