Airport Open House and Airshow Held on Saturday

On Saturday, August 24th from 9 AM to 1 PM at Sheridan County Airport, Sheridan Pilots Association hosted an Airport Open House, Fly-In & Air Show. The day kicked off with a pancake breakfast, and a large crowd gathered to enjoy the breakfast, see the airplanes, helicopters and classic cars on display, and watch the planes perform various stunts.

There were passports for the youngsters, and they could have them stamped at the various vendors who were at the show, including Sheridan County Search and Rescue, 307 Pilots School and Rotor School, and Flying Cowboys R/C Club.

Justin Heid, president of Sheridan Pilots Association talked about this year’s event

He added about the upcoming show and some of the sponsors who made it possible.

To put on an air show, safety is a big concern. Bob Evans was the air boss for the event. He is with Mile High Air Boss out of Colorado that do air shows around the country. He explained what an ‘Air Boss’ does at the shows.

Evans has been involved with airshows for over 25 years and has been an Air Boss for around 12 years.

Jeff Overby, who hails from Arizona, announced the acts and talked about what he does.

He added that being an announcer for the airshow is kind of fun, as he gets to explain what the G-Forces are like on the body, or what the pilot is doing to make to make the planes do rolls and tumbles and loops, and all the things the pilots do. He also talked about the planes used to do the maneuvers.

The old 1943 Aircraft served from 1943 until 1958 and was once sold at a military auction for $385. He added that the plane was once a WWII pilot training plane. Alan Cook was the pilot, and as well as flying in airshows he is also flies for a major airline, sitting in the left seat on a 737.

One of the airplanes was a red biplane that pilot Danny Sorenson designed and built. It is christened, “Unfinished Business.”

Overby talked to Sorenson about something else he brings to every airshow.

The third plane was a lightweight yellow plane, designed for extreme maneuvers. Pilot Bob Freeman piloted the yellow plane, which was the first one every produced, and Freeman got interested in flying after he attended an airshow similar to the one held at Sheridan.

The pilots took the planes through their paces, with rolls, loops and dives. The planes had smoke trails created by pumping biodegradable oil into the exhaust nozzles of an aircraft.

This allowed the spectators to follow the flight path as the plane performed the various maneuvers.

The Sheridan Pilots Association thanks these sponsors.

For more information about Sheridan Pilots Association, visit www.sheridanpilots.org.