Peru, IL TBM Reunion  Columbia, MO Veteran's Salute   Warbird Weekend June 29-July 1 - Battle Creek Warbird Salute   Spirit of St. Louis Airshow, Chesterfield, MO
2018 Airshows

TBM Reunion/Salute to Veterans Airshow Warbird Photo Review
 Illinois Valley Regional Airport, Peru, IL -  May 19, 2018 - Photos taken Saturday May 19, 2018.

This was the third year for the TBM Reunion at Peru, IL, and my first time there.  It won't be my last!

The simplicity of the show is its strength.  There were four hours of warbird fly-bys.  There were no civilian or warbird aerobatics.  There were no jet trucks, demo teams, military demos, and no parachute teams to clutter up the show.  For four hours, the crowd was treated to fly-bys from eleven TBMs, two Corsairs, one A-26, one Mig-17, one FM-2, three T-6s, and two T-34s.

Unlike many other warbird shows that promise a lot, and then end up delivering not nearly what was promoted, this event proved to be exactly the opposite.  Due to the lack of pre-event information on the website, apart from the listing of warbirds that planned to attend, I was not sure what to expect.  It turned out to be more than I had hoped!  The afternoon went fast, from all of action on the ramp and warbirds in the air.  Despite several warbirds not being able to arrive due to weather, there was still plenty of flying.  The airboss kept the show moving, and was not stingy with the warbird passes, like many other shows.  

To make it even better, parking and entry to the event were free. 

I plan to return in future years, and recommend this show for the warbird enthusiast.

Below are just a few highlights of the event.

Five of the eleven TBMs start their engines for the mass fly-over at the end of the show.  During the show, the airshow narrator announced from the ramp .

Back to the beginning of the show.  At 12:30 it was still hazy, but the fog has lifted.  There is enough ceiling and visibility to start the show.

During the morning this Corsair was stranded about 30 miles from the show due to the low ceilings.  Once the weather broke, it flew in and gave us several passes before landing.

This is John Conner's 4FU-7 Bu.133710, converted into the AU-1 configuration.  This aircraft was one of 94 F7Us built by Vought for the French Navy.  After serving with the French, it returned to the U.S. and MCB Quantico where it was restored.  The Marines then exchanged it for an earlier model Corsair, after which it was one of several Corsairs to star in the 1970's "Baa Baa Black Sheep" TV show.  This is the first time I have seen this Corsair.  John only did fly-bys and did not land at the show.

While the A-26 was doing fly-bys, Mike Gillian arrived in his FM-2 from the Chicago area.  We were then treated to several formation passes with the two aircraft.

My spectator location put me right in the middle of the ramp action.  A few moments later the entire crowd had to move back so we would not be under the TBM's wing when it taxied by us.

 

There were several passes with the unique combination of A-26, F4U, F-86 and FM-2.

The eleven TBMs launched and four of them did overhead formation passes. 

The seven remaining TBMs did low passes down the runway.

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A great day of flying is over.  Eight TBMs sit on the ramp after the show.