9th Annual Culpeper Air Fest
Culpeper Regional Airport may be a relatively small venue for an airshow, but don’t try to tell the organizers that. On Saturday October 11th the 9th annual Culpeper Air Fest took place. The weather was perfect and there was an immense crowd on hand. The parking lots filled before noon and people had to be turned away. The Bealton Flying Circus added to the day’s festivities. Bealton’s classic Bi-Planes performed aerobatics as well as their always impressive wing walking display. Mike Lakin performed in his amazingly agile Super Decathelon. Ron “Sag” Saglimbene performed in his Saia Marchetti SF260.
Ron represents the other side of aerobatics with his smooth graceful flying. Ron flies loops, Cubans, point rolls and other aerobatic maneuvers down low- making it look easy. Adding a unique twist to Ron’s act is his tri-color smoke system. His SF260 pumps out red white and green smoke throughout his demo. Kevin Russo flew in his beautifully restored SNJ-6/T-6 aircraft. His aircraft, a restored SNJ-6, was built in 1944 and delivered to Pensacola NAS FL in August 1945. Kevin purchased the aircraft 11 years ago and restored it back to the Pensacola colors. Charlie Schwenker amazed the crowd in his Extra 300. There was an incredible display of formation flying that consisted of several wonderfully restored T6s. The formation of classic warbirds was not something one would expect to see at a small show. Sean Carroll and his beautiful Yak 9 tore up the skies over Culpeper. The demo is fast paced and exciting. The headliner of the show was without a doubt Art Nalls. Art, a retired Marine, brought his L-39 and his amazing British Sea Harrier, FA.2. This show was the premier performance for Art in his Harrier. As Marine pilots like to say, the Harrier is the best way to convert fuel into smoke and noise; Art’s Sea Harrier lives up to that in a big way. After taking off in only a few hundred feet, Art performed several high speed flybys. Capping off his routine he hovered and turned his Harrier to the amazement of all. I’ve seen many Harrier demos and they never cease to amaze me. Just watching a jet aircraft hover is an incredible sight. Art Nalls has now brought the Harrier demo to the civilian airshow world. Now even the smallest shows can have an incredible military aircraft demo.
By Mike Sherba