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2021 Airshows

Decatur, IL Airport's 75th Anniversary Airshow Warbird Photo Review
Warbirds at the Decatur, IL Airshow 2021 - August 14-15, 2021 (Photos taken 8-15-2021.)   

Susan Dacy is in "Big Red" at the Decatur, IL 75th Anniversary Airshow.  In going through my first look of my photos from the show, this one just jumped out at me.  I decided to lead off the page with this photo.  The last time I saw Susan Dacy fly was in 2017.  After almost two years, it was good to finally to get back out and see a full-blown family airshow.  It was great to see Susan and many of the other performers I have not seen in several years. 

In the many times I have seen Susan fly, I have never had a chance to see her.  The Decatur Airshow did an excellent job in bringing the performers down the crowd line after their performances.  In the real world, Susan flies a 787 Dreamliner for a major airline. 

But I have gotten ahead of myself.  The last time Decatur, IL had an airshow was 25 years ago on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the airport.  No doubt the next one will be in another 25 years, which is really too bad, because this was a first class airshow all the way.  I am glad I was able to attend.

I actually learned that there was going to be a 2021 airshow at his airport from email in late 2020 from Mr. Tim Wright, Decatur Airport Director.  In his off hours, Mr. Wright is a historian of Oshkosh and FWD trucks.  He was helping me with some information on World War Two-era Oshkosh trucks for another website I have.  Somewhere in the email conversations, we found out we have a mutual interest in aviation and airshows.  Mr. Wright normally spends two weeks at EAA helping out there.  Once he told me there was a show coming to Decatur, I told him I would be there.  I am glad I did.

What was presented for free to the public was a show with some of the best aerobatic pilots flying.  This was in addition to the A-10 Demo, Heritage Flight, and the Golden Knights.

This is the first time I have seen parking in front of T-hangars as airshow parking.  In looking at the satellite photo of the airport before I left for the show, I wondered where all of the parking was going to be, as there was not much area for this.  When I pulled in and parked, I had my answer.  At least part of it.  There was also parking on the north end of the ramp and no doubt in some front yards in the neighborhood to the west of the airport.  Personal residences can be seen at the back of the photo.  The airport is landlocked to the west.  This actually worked out great for me, as I could go back to my truck for refreshments during the show.

These two helicopters were two of the three Illinois Army National Guard helicopters that were on static display for the event.

So was this Chinook.  My truck was parked in the area behind the porta-johns.  I sat in front of the Chinook up at the fence line.  It was very convenient to get back to my truck from where I sat during the show.  I liked this.

The big military aircraft on display was this C-130 from the Illinois Air National Guard in Peoria. 

These Star Wars characters had nothing to do with the airshow and I have no idea why they were there.  But they did stop so I could photograph them.  I never saw them the rest of the day. 

This photo was taken just before 11am and is looking north from the end of the crowd area on the south end.  There is still not much activity going on an hour after the gates opened, although a few chairs can be seen set up along the fence line. 

Showtime was at noon with the flag jump by the narrator of the Golden Knights. 

The weather was perfect for the show.  Clear skies with hardly a cloud and a temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

The rest of the Golden Knights team did their jumps after the narrator landed and thenwent to the announcer's stand.  I have not really been a big fan of the Golden Knights and like the show the Black Daggers do better.  But as I sat and watched, I really enjoyed their show.  I sat in my chair and took it all in like it was the first time I saw them.  It was at this point that I realized how much I had missed in the past two years.  I settled in to reintroduce myself to the performers.  While I took many more photos of the Golden Knights, there is not the room on the page for them as I wish to focus on the warbirds at the event.

Opening the flying portion of the show was Jeff Shetterly in his SNJ-6 solo aerobatic routine.  This is a great way to start any airshow!

This was the first time I have seen Jeff fly his impressive low-level routine.  I hope to see him again soon.

Jeff Shetterly was pumped as he came down the crowd line.

Susan Dacy on take-off.  I never tire of her act.  Lots of low level aerobatics in a Stearman making lots of smoke and lots of engine noise.  I could watch this act every weekend and not tire of it. 

Randy Ball taking off as normal in afterburner in his Mig-17. 

While Randy does some limited aerobatics, he is most well-known for his high speed passes in afterburner, like this pass in review at the end of his routine.

Randy Ball waving at the crowd after his routine.

This is the crowd at 1:45pm looking south from almost the end of the crowd line at the north end.  The ramp is not deserted anymore.

The crowd area ended just to the north of my location.  Beyond that was vehicle parking up to the hot ramp area in the background.

Sprinkled in among the warbird acts were the following aerobatic acts:  Mike Vaknin, The Phillips 66 Team, Rob Holland, Erik Edren, and Skip Stewart.  All gave excellent performances.  For the most part, I just watched like I had never seen any of them before.  Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to the fine points of their acts in the past because I saw several maneuvers that were new to me.  These guys are really good.

For some reason, I really like Skip Stewart.  Maybe it is because he has several predictable parts of his act that are down low where I have some chance of photographing them.
 

Once one sees Skip take off, they don't forget it.

He started flying sideways at show center and did his signature takeoff all the way to the end of the crowd at the north end.

He also cuts the top ribbon of the two strung across the runway while flying inverted. 

Then he cuts the lower one flying sideways. 

The Heritage Flight P-51 on the take-off roll.

Once the P-51 was airborne, the A-10 followed it down the runway.

The A-10 added several passes not normally in the Demo to make simulated strafing runs with pyro.  The last pass was this one, simulating a bomb drop.

The A-10 passes in review on its last pass.

This was a very nice Heritage Flight pass.

At the end the two aircraft do their criss-cross to the amazement of those who have not seen it before.

This was the last fly-by of the day, as the Mustang does an aileron roll at the end of the show.

I didn't really know how much I missed in what I will call a general purpose family airshow.  While it was not heavy on warbirds, those that did perform were quite satisfying.  I also enjoyed just sitting back and taking in all of the aerobatics and parachute jumping.  It was very good day.

My youngest granddaughter always says, "Can I do it again?!," after she does something she likes immensely.

Can we do this show again without waiting another 25 years?