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Spirit of St. Louis Airshow Warbird Photo Review
Spirit of St. Louis Airport, Chesterfield, MO - June 11-12, 2022 (Photos taken Saturday 6-11-2022.) 

How often do you see this at an airshow?  A deHavilland Mosquito followed by two Hawker Hurricanes and a Supermarine Spitfire are seen here taxiing out to the active runway at the 2022 Spirit of St. Louis Airshow.  While the event does not bill itself as a warbird show, every edition of the show features some of the best warbirds available for flying events.  Each edition of the show over the past decade has featured different warbirds.

But I am ahead of myself.  This photo was taken an hour and 45 minutes into the show.  There was a lot of warbird and military flying before these Merlin-powered warbirds taxied out. 

The first Spirit of St. Louis Airshow I attended was in May 2014, which was the first time the show happened after a six year hiatus.  I have returned for every event since then in May 2016, October 2018, September 2019, and June of this year.  Unlike other shows that are locked into a particular weekend, the St. Louis event has moved around, probably to be able to book the Blue Angels, which has been its headline act for most of those years.  Not being an annual event makes it something not to miss when it does happen.

The main parking area is huge and always filled with vehicles at the end of the day.  Parking is along runway 8L-26R which is 5,000 feet in length.  Approximately 500 feet of grass area between the taxiway and runway is available for parking. It is a long walk back to one's vehicle from the airshow crowd line.  There is also another lot to the north of the runway which is also always at capacity and a good hike from the crowd line. 

 
This is the entrance and exit to the event.  This photo was taken at 8:26 in the morning.  By the time the gates opened at 9am, there was a line out the gates and down the taxiway in both directions for quite a distance.  This is a well attended show.

The "Spirit of Freedom" has been a static display at each event since 2016.  It is a staple of the show.  

I have only ever seen the NASA "Super Guppy" once before and that was not at an airshow.  In May 2007, I saw it on a business trip to El Paso, TX at the NASA facility located there.  This unique and rare aircraft shows that the St. Louis Airshow team looks for and obtains rare aircraft for display.

The B-29 "Doc" has become a regular flying warbird for the past three events.

Showtime!  The P-51 was the first of many warbirds to taxi out for the show.  This took place before the show as the aircraft were taxiing out ahead of their flight times.  This year the show consisted of the warbirds shown flying in this report, three civilian aerobatic acts, a military jump team, two military demo teams, and the Blue Angels.  There were several warbirds on static display that did not fly for this event, although they have in the past. 

While not advertised as such, the Spirit of St. Louis Airshow has become a show that features warbird fighters and bombers at each event.  The show, while it has some of the same warbirds at each event, also rotates other prime warbirds into each show.  New to the show this year was a Mosquito, two Hurricanes, and a PB4Y-2.

There are still several types of warbirds that have not yet visited the show.  They include F4F, F6F, F7F, P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, P-63, PBY, PV-2. SBD, SB2C, S-2, and F-100.  Hopefully, the show will be looking at these types for future events.

Not long after P-51 taxied by, the PB4Y-2 turned onto the taxiway from the static ramp.  

This rare warbird is a long way from its home in Arizona, so the airshow did very well in finding a sponsor able to bring it to the show.

The Spitfire is from Virginia Beach, VA, and this is its second appearance at the show.

The U.S. Army Black Daggers did the opening flag jump just before noon.  Interestingly enough, they did not go back out and jump a second time during the show as they normally do.

Take-off time for the heavies.

The show has had several different B-17s at the event over the years. 

It is a long walk from the parking lot to the east end of the field, but it is well worth it as the warbird taxiway is located here.  One can watch the warbirds taxi out and then taxi back in.  The spectators can get up close to see, hear, and photograph them.  This show is unique in having a setup like this.

The B-17 started the event on a ramp not accessible to the crowd.  After flying, it came back and parked onto the static ramp were it could be seen by the spectators. 

Next up was the Spitfire.

While Matt Younkin's Twin Beech act is considered a civilian act, to me it is a warbird aerobatic routine because the aircraft served as a navigation trainer at Ellsworth Field in Houston, TX during World War Two.  I never get tired of watching and listening to this aircraft.

This is the second time this A-4 has been part of the Spirit of St. Louis Airshow.

The A-4 took off in preparation of being part of the Navy Legacy Flight with two EA-18G Growlers.

The two EA-18Gs gave us several very good high-speed passes.

There was a four-ship Legacy Flight.

This now brings us back to the initial photo on this page.  It is time for the Merlin flight. 

The last act we watched at the show was the F-35 Demo. 

It was 2:30 when the F-35 taxied back in.  Due to the heat, we decided to leave at this point and watch the Blue Angels from our hotel across the street from the airport.  It was another great day at the Spirit of St. Louis Airshow.