Date: May 19-20, 2007
Story by: Carl Wilcox
Photography by: Carl Wilcox

The H.L. “Sonny” Callahan Airport is located near Mobile Bay in Mobile, Alabama. As we were driving to the airport, we passed the battleship USS Alabama moored in the bay. Visitors can go aboard the Alabama to experience how sailors lived in WWII. If I didn’t have airshow on my mind I believe I would have made a right to take a walk down memory lane. Mobile also has some fantastic seafood restaurants and a gorgeous view of the bay,but on this beautiful bright sunny Saturday the airshow was my top priority.

The Festival of Flight had a good assortment of static aircraft. Some of the static aircraft consisted of a CJ6, Fa18, A10, B25 “Yellow Rose”, a C130, and many helicopters. The red Star Squadron was represented by numerous YAK 52’s and CJ6’s. At 10:00 o’clock eleven of the Red Star’s and a T6 took off and performed precision formation flying. As the Red Star’s were landing, a demonstration of Radio Control jet aircraft dazzled the crowd. I have read about and viewed these unusual models on the internet, but had not seen one actually fly. The models look and sound like their real counterparts, so much so that when four jets took off, I closed my eyes and could swear they were real. Later the crowd went wild as a beautiful model F/A-18 Super Hornet demonstrated some outstanding maneuvers and speed.

Numerous warbirds including a P51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, and a T-28 flew several low flybys for the crowd. When all of the warbirds and YAK’s landed, the Grumman AgCat took flight featuring Robbie Grice. Robbie was performing his routine when the AgCat’s tail hit the runway and he lost control, causing the plane to hit the ground. The crowd went silent and watched in disbelief as Robbie exited the heavily damaged plane and fell to the ground. Emergency workers rushed to the crash site and assisted Robbie into an ambulance. After about an hour or so of clean up removing the AgCat from the runway, the airshow continued but noticeably low keyed.

The next performance featured Greg Koontz doing his Super Decathlon act and then his comedy act with the J3 Cub. As always, Greg did a great job. Four F-16s from the Alabama Air National Guard helped top off the afternoon making several formation and high speed passes.

The Fairhope Welcome Center ran shuttles every hour taking those interested in a little shopping downtown. Several of the women took off, leaving the men to watch the show and brood over their empty wallets. This is the first year that Fairhope has held this event as an airshow. In the past, it was featured as a fly-in. From what I have seen, this show will be a huge success in the years to come. I would highly recommend this airshow to anyone interested in warbirds.

If you make it a weekend trip and don’t want to go to the airshow both days, go over to the USS Alabama or dine out at one of the fabulous seafood restaurants.

Just a note regarding Robbie Grice, after being taken to the hospital with apparent back injuries, it was reported that he was released later on Saturday. Our prayers and hopes go with Robbie for a speedy recovery.

Photo captions left to right: (1) Corsair. (2) T-28. (3) Model F-16. (4) T-28 and P-51. (5) Robbie Grice in the Ag Cat. (6) The Ag Cat after Robbie's accident. (7) Greg Koontz inverted in the Super Decathlon. (8) Alabama Air National Guard F-16. (9) Greg Koontz's Truck-Top landing.