Date: May 19-20, 2007
Story by: Ken Cheung
Photography by: Ken Cheung

The 2007 Deke Slayton Airfest celebrated their 10th Anniversary with the return of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels. The Deke Slayton Airfest is named in honor of the Hometown Hero Donald K. (Deke) Slayton. Deke was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. The show also marked a special moment for the Blue Angels as well. The Blue Angels returned to the sky to complete a full two-day weekend show after the tragic loss of Blue Angels' Pilot LCDR Kevin Davis.

The weekend shows had a nice mix of civilian and military acts. Some of the civilian acts included Dr. Bill Blank's Super Decathlon, who has been in every Deke Slayton Airfest since the show's inception. There were other notable performers such as Dan Buchanan's flying colors act. Despite Dan not having function in his legs, he demonstrated to the public what courage, perseverance, and determination can accomplish. His act along with some fireworks, add a nice touch to his performance. Other acts had a local flavor too, including Minnesota native Mike Wiskus in his Reddish-Orange Pitts and John Mohr in his distinctive yellow PT-17 Stearman and high-risk,low flying aerobatics. Otto the Helicopter rounded out the civilian acts. Otto is a Schweizer 300C helicopter, it was decked out with decorative eyes, nose, and mouth that are featured on the bubble canopy. Roger Buis, the pilot of Otto, entertained the airshow crowd with his slap stick routine with such maneuvers as the helicopter yo-yo and barrel racing with large road construction cones.

The final civilian act had the combined energy and talents of Roger Buis, John Mohr, and Todd Green to form the Untied Team. The fans were thrilled with the narration from the cockpits as they laid-out their stunt in front of show line center. Todd Green's attempts to transfer mid-air from John Mohr's Stearman to Otto the helicopter kept the attention of the fans. Needless to say, they were successful on their third try.

The military acts included the Viper East team representing the Air Combat Command. Major Jason "Buzzer" Koltes, in his 2nd season with the team, put the F-16 Viper through its paces, highlighting the show with the Knife Edge and Dedication Pass. Another returning act from previous years was the U.S Coast Guard from Traverse City, Michigan. The Team provided the crowd with a Search and Rescue (SAR) Demonstration. The demo gave a small glimpse of what our US Coast Guard does on daily basis as the quick response to those in distress at sea.

In the spirit of celebrating those who sacrifice, the airshow weekend had a ceremony at show center to honor the local soldiers, sailors and airmen that received The Purple Heart award in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the show, there was the Missing Man Formation flown by four T-6 Texans, and right behind was the B-25 Miss Mitchell in trail. They paid tribute to those pilots who lost their lives protecting our nation.

The weather did cooperate for most of the weekend. If you were there the entire weekend you got to experience most of what Mother Nature had to offer. It was both cloudy and sunny at times, but most of all, it was hot on the Saturday show. On Sunday’s show, the temperature dropped 30 degrees, with the wind gusting to give you a shiver. There were also on and off showers which made it interesting for the Blue Angels’ schedule, but as the dedicated professionals that they are, the show went on. The Blues took to the air as the last act on both days. The Blues paid tribute to their fallen comrade LCDR Kevin “Kojak” Davis. They also dedicated their show to Capt. Shawn McCaughey, the Snowbirds pilot who was lost in an accident the day before.

Certainly, avid fans of the Blue Angels noticed the delta formation had only had 5 ships. This was to give time for the new #6 Pilot, LCDR Craig “Merlin” Olson, to re-acclimate to the precise close formation flying. Merlin was also on the team in the 2003 to 2005 seasons, and appeared at this very show in 2004.

The Deke Slayton Airfest is one of my favorite shows to attend, with the sun at your back and the appearance of the Blue Angels. I could not think of anything better than spending time gazing at the sky, in awe of those magical machines and those Pilots who fly them.

Photo captions left to right: (1) The Blue Angels taxi for takeoff. (2) The Blue Angels solos cross at show center inverted. (3) The Diamond takeoff. (4) Opposing Knife-Edge Pass. (5) Another Blue Angels cross-over. (6) Otto performs. (7) Merlin waves to the crowd. (8) and (9) John Mohr. (10) Blues Sneak Pass. (11) Solo Take-off. (12) The Untied Team - John Mohr, Roger Buis in Otto, and Todd Green.