On August 22 and 23, 2015 the Festival of Flight Air & Car Show returned to the New Garden Airport in Toughkenamon PA. The crews started bright and early uncovering their aircraft and prepared for the day’s events. For the early birds, this was a great opportunity to talk calmly with the crew members and photograph the aircraft without being “photo bombed”.
This year’s festival counted with the presence of aerobatic pilots Scott Francis and Jason flood, Jerry Wells in his canary yellow Bucker Jungmeister and your standard array of vintage liaison and trainer aircraft. The warbird flights continued with Kevin Russo and the SNJ, T-6 formation who performed the Missing Man Formation. Kevin Russo remained in the air for his solo performance. Greg Koontz & The Alabama Boys made fans laugh with his flying farmer routine. Everyone looked on in amazement as he landed the piper cub on a platform mounted above a pick-up truck. The Mid Atlantic Air Museum ambassadors B-25 “Briefing Time” and TBM Avenger were on hand as the show closer.
This year’s special guest was the second oldest Lockheed 12A Electra. This aircraft was used in the motion picture “Amelia and “42 The Jackie Robinson Story”. Of the 130 originally built of this type only 8 remain airworthy. Unfortunately this aircraft didn’t take to the air. It was only on static display.
New Garden’s own Matt Chapman with his new custom-designed Extra 330LX (in the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University livery) flew an aerobatic routine alongside Mini Matt R/C aircraft controlled by Dave Malchione. Every bank and turn performed by Chapman was accompanied in synchronization with the remote controlled likeness. At times it is difficult to distinguish the R/C aircraft from the real McCoy.
Undoubtedly many fans went to New Garden to catch a glimpse of Mark Murphy in his P-51D “Never Miss”. She was prominently displayed within the crowd line for all to get a closer look. This aircraft is truly a gem. Although Mark Murphy didn’t close the show, the crowd got significantly thinner following the P-51’s routine. This speaks louder than the rumble of his Merlin engine.
The Festival of Flight can be considered a local airshow. It is quaint and the lack of a massive crowd, gives it that down home intimate feel. However, the flight pattern is perpendicular to the runway and the backdrop is the sun. These conditions make it difficult for fans and extremely challenging for photographers.
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