Date: April 28-29, 2007
Location: Vidalia, Georgia
Story by: Terry Wood, Jr.
Photography by: Terry Wood, Jr.

Whether you were looking for great tasting onions or a great airshow, then the Vidalia Onion Festival and airshow on April 28 and 29 in Vidalia, Georgia was the place to be.

The weather was beautiful with near 80 degrees and blue skys. The statics were made up of civilian and military including a Canadian CF-18. The Coast Guard had one of their Dolphin helicopters on display as well as some Navy and Army hardware. The USAF was represented by the A-10 demo team and the AF Reserves jet rail car. There were all kinds of vendors selling all the great airshow foods including those wonderful homegrown Vidalia Onions.

The performers line was just as impressive. Gary Ward with his MX2 put on his great routine that is making some of the big name guys in the business take note. Gary is really pulling off some hard-core maneuvers that will surly make him a household name in airshow circles. Jacquie Warda flew her Pitts all the way from California and my family and I spent some time with her and all I can say is she is one of the nicest aerobatic performers I have ever met. Her paint job on the Pitts really looks good against the deep blue skys over Georgia.

The A-10 demo team put on their great show with the USAF Heritage Flight at the end with a P-51 called Crazy Horse. The Army’s Black Daggers jump team made two jumps during the day, always giving us a bit of a heart stopping, as the chutes open after free fall. The AF Reserve Jet car made a few runs, and on one raced Gary Ward. The noisiest act had to be the Canadian CF-18. Even though this flight was not an official demo, the pilot did tear up the sky with some nice fast passes and touch and goes. You just can’t beat those twin jet engines.

Kyle Franklin was a nice surprise to see. He did his Piper Super Cub comedy act that really adds some spunk and excitement to the show. He does some things like dragging the wings on the runway and one wheel taxing around the field that really gets your attention. His Super Cub is painted like his dad’s Waco so there is no mistaking who he is when you see him fly.

There was an L-39 doing some fly-bys with a beautiful yellow and black tiger paint scheme as well.The show’s finale was the Aeroshell team and their T-6’s. Their formation work and aerobatics are breath taking. The four-ship team ended the show with the missing man formation in honor of the fallen Blue Angels pilot #6 opposing solo, Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis, who died the weekend before at an airshow in South Carolina. He will be missed. The Airboss was the always-cool George Cline and the announcers were the smooth talking dynamic duo Hugh Oldham and Dale Brisson.

This was another great show and a big Thank You to all that put it on.

Photo captions left to right: (1) CF-18. (2) Hugh Oldham, Jacquie Warda, and George Cline. (3) Gary Ward. (4) The crowd at Vidalia. (5) Crazy Horse. (6) Kyle Franklin in the Super Cub Comedy Act..