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VOL. 2/ISSUE 51
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014
Stuart Air Show back with the military big boys Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE
patrick.mccallister@yahoo.com
They’re back — those amazing military jets that shake the ground, roar with the Phoenix and mesmerize everyone. “Last year we didn’t have the military jets, so our crowds were down,” Michael Roberts, vice president of the Stuart Air Show said. “We had about 35,000. We should top 40,000. Our ticket sales are already ahead of last year, with the military coming back.” In other words, the Air Force F-22 Raptor and Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier are people magnets. “The Stuart Air Show has never had these,” Roberts said. The show will launch on Oct. 31, 5 to 10 p.m., with a special Halloween edition. Elisabeth Glynn is Stuart Air Show’s new executive director. She said in addition to thrilling twilight shows by the likes of the Aeroshell Team and Mike Wiskus, among other hits, there’ll be fireworks and live music by the Spaz Band. “We’ve incorporated even more family activities,” Glynn said. “We’ve got trick or treating and a kids’ costume contest.” The show will continue on Saturday, Nov. 1, with gates opening at 9 a.m. Roberts said folks shouldn’t wait to arrive at noon when the aviation performances start. “If they come out early, we do a World War II re-enactment complete with German and American re-enactors,” he said. “We get anywhere from 75 to 100 re-enactors from three states. They come down and set up World War II tents and cots. That grows every year.” The battle re-enactment will start at 10 a.m. After the planes launch, they’ll fly until 4 p.m. The schedule will repeat on Sunday, Nov. 2. Oh, and
File photo by Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer The Geico Typers are making their first appearance at the Stuart Air Show this year. that Raptor and Harrier, they’ll fly both days. Last year, the airshow decided to take off despite turbulent weather. Other shows canceled. Remember the federal budget sequestration that started last year? It grounded the Air Force Thunderbirds, Navy Blue Angels and other military jet displays at airshows for the entire season. The Stuart show did have the Air Force Command Center Alpha last year, and a Thunderbird jet on static display, but that was it. The mobile center is a multi-media promotion and recruitment tool that goes wherever receptive crowds will be the largest. But the military is back in a big way, despite new hostilities against the group in Syria and Iraq calling itself the Islamic State. “We lost a display aircraft, because of the bombing of (Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria),” Roberts said. This fall, Stuart wraps up the air-show circuit on Florida’s eastern coastline. The Melbourne Air & Space Show and Wings and Waves Air Show, Daytona Beach, did their things earlier this month. The only other airshow in the Sunshine State in November is the NAS Pensacola Open House – Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show. “It’s probably the biggest event in Martin County,” Roberts said. “On the Treasure Coast, it’s the biggest (air show) in the area.” The show raises funds for several area charities, including the Road to Victory Military Museum, Stuart, and Martin County Community foundation. Other supported charities include The ARC of Martin County and more. General admission tickets for Friday’s
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