New Orleans Airshow, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, Belle Chase, LA   Purdue University Aviation Day, West Lafayette, IN   C-47 Parachute Drop at the Air Force Museum   Good Neighbor Airshow, Chamblee, GA   Spirit of St. Louis Airshow, Chesterfield, MO    Dayton Airshow, Vandalia, OH    Marion, IN Fly-In/Cruise-In   Tri-State Warbird Museum Flying Showcase, Batavia, OH   Bowman Fest, Louisville, KY
2022 Airshows

Coles County Airport Airshow 2022 Photo Review
Warbirds at Coles County Memorial Airport, Mattoon, IL - August 20, 2022 

It has been way too long since I have had a chance to visit the Coles County Airport Airshow in eastern Illinois.  This show is put on every other year in August and is a fine example of a excellent show that belies the size of the airport.  The show was three hours long and, with an excellent cross section of civilian acts, warbirds, and a finale with the A-10 Thunderbolt Single Ship Demonstration Team.  This year the Coles County Airport Airshow had an AD-5W, AH-1, BT-13, SNB, TBM, T-6, and UH-1 that flew in the event.  For a show of this size, this was an excellent collection of warbirds.  I have been to many big name airshows that didn't have this many warbirds.

From a photographer's standpoint, this is not an ideal show, as the crowd faces south and the midday sun.  However, for the first half of the show, it didn't really matter where the sun was located in relation to the flying because it was hiding behind the clouds.  For myself, I went to the Coles County Airport Airshow to see the warbirds and the flying events.  In the process I tried to get a enough good photos to tell the story of the show.  

The T-6 "Spanish Lady" was the first warbird to perform at the event and did an aerobatic routine.  The aircraft comes from nearby Terre Haute, IN and performs at many local shows in Indiana and Illinois.

At 12:53 PM there was still plenty of cloud cover.  This was one of few photos of the T-6 I took that was not a gray image against a gray background. 

"Excuse me please, Skyraider coming through!"

 The Skyraider and a TBM were on static display for the first hour of the event.  They then each needed to be towed out to the fight line.

This made for an interesting operation, as the aircraft needed to be towed through the crowd.  The spectators moved out of the way and then set their chairs back up again. 

Eric Downing, owner of the Skyraider, is discussing with the tug driver the final location of the aircraft for engine start.

I have a relationship with Eric and this Skyraider that goes back to 2004.  At the time I was the Warbird Chairman of the Indianapolis Airshow.  One day I received a phone call from the airshow office that Eric had called in wanting to bring his newly purchased Skyraider to the show.  Some days you get lucky.  It was one of the very few times I had a warbird owner call to make a request to come to the show.  In this case it was a Skyraider, one of my favorite warbirds.  I called him back and we were able to work out arrangements for him to bring in the aircraft for the show.  Eric was easy to work with and always wanted to do his best to assist us in any way he could.  I had him back as often as possible in subsequent years.  In fact, one year as part of the arrangements, he provided a free ride in his aircraft for whomever I wanted.  I picked several of my volunteers along with my son who was volunteering in the pyro field with Rich Gibson.  I had my son sit in the right hand pilot's seat while the other riders and myself were in the back section of the aircraft.  The Skyraider is my son's favorite warbird.

Once the Indianapolis Airshow shut down after the 2012 season, I lost track of Eric.  I would see his aircraft at an airshow now and then, especially the St. Louis Airshow near where Eric lives.  But I could never find him around the aircraft, or he had one his pilots fly the aircraft as Eric was busy with business.  However, at the Cole County Airport Airshow Eric was there and I was able to visit with him for a few minutes before the show.  While it was great talking and getting caught up on each other's current situation, he did inform me he was planning on selling the Skyraider.  Depending on who purchases the aircraft, this could be the last time I will see it fly for a while.

Once the Skyraider was in place, the TBM also had to be towed out of the crowd. 

The crop duster that operates out of the Cole County Memorial Airport did several fly-bys for the crowd. 

Once the Skyraider became airborne, the St. Louis Chapter of the Skysoldiers put on its downed pilot rescue.  They did this with one Cobra and one Huey.  It was not until I was reviewing my photos that I realized that I had framed the picture to contain the Cobra and the moon.   This was a total surprise.

As the AH-1 Cobra makes it gunnery run, the clouds can be seen breaking up in the west.

The Cobra makes a gunnery pass.

The show included pyro.

The Huey is inbound with troops to rescue the downed pilot.  The warbird portion of the show is waiting at the end of the runway for its turn to fly.

Upon landing, the Huey stirred up some loose grass.

During the Sky Soldiers presentation, Eric was circling north of the airport to be the finale to the pilot rescue routine.  He gave us several nice passes.

The Indiana Wing of the CAF brought its SNB to the event.  Previous to the show, it did several passes up and down the runway giving us a "show before the show."

The Indiana Wing also brought its BT-13.

The Missouri Wing of the CAF provided the TBM.  Each aircraft did several passes for the crowd. 

Once the warbird flight was over, the Skyraider returned for a couple of passes with pyro. 

Once done, Eric left from the pattern and flew home. 

"The Spanish Lady" was back up for a second aerobatic routine.  It is 2:03 in the afternoon and for this flight, the T-6 flew in blue, not gray, sky.

Another first for me this year was the A-10 Demo.  As can be seen, spectators were getting up close to get a photo. 

The Cole County Airport Airshow had a well balanced and well run show.  It had an excellent mixture of warbirds, civilian and warbird aerobatics, the A-10 Demo, and pyro.  I hope to be able to return in August 2024 for the next edition of this event.